| | The way I remember it is, "it's better to dig one 100' well than ten 10' wells". That is, if you want to try somebody's method, really try it for a while, and don't mix it with other advice. There are weird kind of practice inertias that build up when you practice dilligently every day.
On there being parts you don't like, I'd do them anyway, as advised to by the person teaching the method. If you were doing weightlifting with a personal instructor, there would be days and exercises you didn't like, but the instructor might be asking you to do them because they're beneficial. Many serious monks have been teaching a certain method for decades, and have watched thousands of people undergo the process. They may have very complicated and nuanced reasons for asking you to do things exactly that way.
In my own practice, even when I got advice from a certain monk that really helped my practice, I ignored other parts of what he was advising, because it sounded stupid to me. Later I did more like I was advised to, and my progress improved a lot. I learned my lesson and I try to follow the instructions as given, even if I don't like them. After seeing the method work, I'm able to think why the advice made sense the whole time. I just couldn't understand before actually doing it and seeing it work.
My practice is this: wake up, eat a small amount, enough to actually wake up somewhat, and sit without a timer. Usually it feels like I'm done after around an hour and a half. I take a long walk on my way to and from lunch, and that whole time, I'm doing the "moving around" version of the same practice. For the rest of the day I try to remember to do the same kind of stuff, but usually at some point my brain seems worn out. But its stamina is slowly improving. |
