I'm planning on a 10 day retreat late this month.  In the spirit of the 'rules for myself on retreat' thread, I'm thinking about the 'retreat rules' thread, except it's about how to manage myself before the retreat, when not on the cushion.

See http://www.dharmaoverground.org/dharma-wiki/-/wiki/Main/ReformedSlackersGuide/en

Start by believing SE is possible; if I don't believe it, I won't get it, cause I'll be slacking off.

Next, believe it's possible for *me* on *this* retreat.  What do I have to do to believe this will be it for me?  Do I have doubts?  Address those doubts with action, study, experience, outreach...

Sit for an hour, twice a day.  More if possible.  The goal is to hit the retreat EQ-ready, with good concentration.

Off-cushion, maintain continuous awareness. I think getting this right is huge, and not easy, I'm still figuring it out.  I've heard one should maintain continuous awareness of the breath, as you  are always breathing, so why not use that? In the course of a  normal day, I do many things that require all my attention, for example  to avoid car collision on the road, or avoid slicing my finger off in the kitchen.  So I think I should drop the breath awareness when the situation demands.

Here's another way I've been practicing continuous awareness: maintain continuous awareness of what I'm trying to do at any given moment.  For each task, at each moment, know what the bleeding edged of events is, and then maintain continuous awareness of the sensations that keep you informed of that bleeding edge event.

Driving:  it's all about the eyes, putting them where new information is coming from.  When sitting at a red light, knowing that it's going to change and I want to catch the instant of change.

Walking in the house:
Again with the eyes: in my toddler house, it's about not stepping on stuff, putting my visual attention on the floor area in front of me as I walk about.

When a glance shows me that the floor area ahead is clear, I shift my visual attention to charting a path exactly between furniture, doorway frames, people, etc.

When I have clear path charted over clear floor, I move my attention to the near distance where new scenery is unfolding, like the room beyond the doorway or around the corner as I move forward.

When moving hands for a direct purpose: it's about the sense needed to succeed in the purpose:

When stretching out my hand to point at a character on the computer screen, I put my eyes on the space between my finger and  a particular character feature, watch that space shrink as my finger gets closer.

When reaching to pick something up, put attention on the sensations at the finger tip that is about to make contact with the object, as if having no idea how hot the object might be and not wanting to get burned.

Renunciation: what retreat adjustments an I make now, before the retreat, instead of waiting till retreat day-1 to change my behaviour?

Other ideas?  Other threads that I should read?  Comments encouraged!

http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/going-for-stream-entry-on-goenka-10-day.html

I have similar goals to you in my upcoming retreat and found the above blog post very helpful. Read the comments too, I'm not sure what retreat you will be attending but this is catered towards Goenka retreats (but you can easily view it from Mahasi style).

Looking through relevant stream entry threads or searching these forums is helpful too and threads are generally tailored towards Mahasi style insight.

I've found the major commonalities between those succeeding are their intent, focus and willingness to go for it 100%. Follow the instructions to a tee and every single moment be mindful as you have already noted in the OP.

Familiarise yourself with the insights and read people's descriptions or stories on their own stream entry experience in each insight (I'm big on role modelling those who have succeeded.)

Good luck mate and I'll be watching this space too for more tips

Here are some thoughts...

Realize that getting stream entry isn't anything than doing "the basics" -- a lot of people complicate things by worrying about special effort, special techniques, being great at investigation... but SE happens when you are present with what is occuring over time. If you can realize that it is nothing more than THIS MOMENT, right now, that needs to be experienced, and if you simply do it moment by moment, you'll get SE. There is a great story from the life of Dipa Ma about how she taught her retarded/low IQ relative noting practice and she got SE in a few months... simply because the relative did the technique.

Remember that physical sensations are always "NOW", so if you are feeling lost, just find a physical sensation. That's why you could do awareness of breath all the way to full awakening. Physical sensations are also one of the easiest ways to maintain practice off the cushion. "What are the physical sensations of what I am doing?"

It is impossible to know when SE happens. Even though the stages are stages, there is often confusion and doubt and then "what was that?". It kinda happens when you least expect it. So never think you are far away or close, you don't really know, and anticipation doesn't change a thing. Let go of that additional pressure, just apply the basic technique.

Mindfulness itself comes and goes pretty much beyond your control. So don't form an identity about how much you are or are not staying on your object. Obviously have the intention to stay with it, but don't worry about losing it, don't get excited having stayed with it. Just be with the changing moment of experience.

Lastly, awareness takes no effort, especially as things get EQ like. Not obvious, so it might be worth checking out. The moment arises and the knowing is already there. So experiment with letting go and simply watching without a lot of effort. You can enjoy the experience changing before you eyes/mind and that is being mindful, too. Even awareness of thoughts and daydreams have their own knowing. In higher EQ, things can get drifty, which is fine. As long as knowing is there, you can let go. If you get lost, no big deal, when you realize you have been lost, then in that instant you are back to being mindful, the knowing is there, so just continue.

Good luck! 

It's such a tremendous act of compassion to just love the improvisational art of meditation without expectations, like someone who just so loves their craft in and of itself, like some sort of mechanical designer who just loves getting their hands dirty, taking a sort of loving pride of all the grime and dirt and their messy workshop that is a testament to their love of the craft. They don't give a shit if they get paid with the money of awakening, they love their craft for free.

I have my own journal that reads just like this thread and I eventually shifted my attitude to what X X said because it felt like such an act of love and was also the right move towards SE, which feels like a betrayal to the goal but isn't. Or at least, my levels of peace and concentration jumped considerably. I say up the ante even more and simply believe SE can happen anytime, anywhere, on retreat or off retreat.

Hi Gedankan, I like that link, it's been helpful.  My upcoming retreat will indeed be Goenka 10-day.  Thanks for the good cheer!

Matt