Having listened to B. Alan Wallace's podcasts on buddhistgeeks, I want to know if it is really necessary to devote 8 hours a day at least, for life, to become enlightened as opposed to even 3-4 hours a day, as he indicates.
Are the traditional mediation practices the only way to follow a path, or is it sufficient to simply concentrate in the same way as one would concentrate on the breath, but on day to day tasks.
For instance, could one practice a craft with the same sort of dedication and receive the same results as breath practice or mantra etc. and combine earning a living with meditative devotion.

What do you think, dharma overground people?

Don't know how much interest there is, after all this time, in this being responded to, but I'll give it a go.


Not having listened to the referenced podcast, I'll venture a response nevertheless, based on the information given in the question.

Is it necessary to "devote 8 hours a day at least, for life, to become enlightened...?" If you're asking about actual practice in reference to "devot[ing] 8 hours a day" toward becoming enlightened, then, no it may not require all that much in terms of a dedicated meditation practice. Three to four hours a day in meditation/contemplation practice, though, sounds like a reasonable amount of time to commit to (at least for a while). Although this may differ for different individuals. It is really an individual decision and choice to take. Do whatever you have to do in order to achieve the goal.

On the other hand, if what you are asking is in reference to the quotation about devoting "8 hours a day at least, for life, to becoming enlightened" with regard to practicing the overall practice in one's day, the objective is to be practicing the practice at ALL times, not just for eight hours during the day. And, quite simply, the practice I'm referring to boils down to the practice of being mindful, which practice is what Gotama taught when all is said and done.


One might say that the final objective of the meditation practice is just that: to be able to "simply concentrate in the same way as one would concentrate on the breath, but on day to day tasks." This would be one definition of mindfulness. Yes.

Yet, if one is attempting to do this from the get-go without any learning or training in calming the mind and preparing it to see things as they are (according to the way that the Buddhadhamma teaches), he may run into some obstacle by not having practiced any of the teachings with genuine awareness, but rather becoming absorbed in worldly matters, which are often the source of dissatisfaction to begin with. The ending of greed, hatred, and delusion toward the world and worldly events is the stated goal of the training. This leads to nibbana or the ending of mental effluents with regard to the world and mundane events or phenomena. In order for this to occur it entails the ending of ignorance, also, which of necessity requires a mind that is discerning and self reflective.

The purpose of the training, as it was originally laid out, is to reconstitute the mind out of its conditioned state such that it has the opportunity to view things as they are, rather than how it may have come to be conditioned through bias or prejudice to view or see things. The word "things" here refers to phenomena, as in mundane events and happenings, both physical and mental. The Buddhadhamma was meant to teach people how to end their suffering (dissatisfaction) on a mental level with regard to both physical and mental stress. With regard to the former of these two types of stress, while it may not be of much help with ending physical suffering, it can be effective in one's response (or attitude) toward his physical suffering such that that suffering does not take on an inordinate amount of stress in one's mind. In other words one becomes able to endure whatever physical suffering one may be experiencing without adding any further mental stress to the circumstance.