Forum: Dharma Overground Discussion Forum

Apologies in advance if I'm asking fo excessive hand-holding. By inclination I'm something of a "tell me what to do and I'll do it" sort of man.

My background: I was introduced to Theravadan Buddhism a bit over a year ago. Early on I read Bhante Gunaratana's "Mindfulness in Plain English," Daniel's blook, and a smattering of material on mindfulness such as: The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh; Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn; The Mindful Way through Depression by Jon Kabat-Zinn et al; and some others. In addition I've listened to dozens and dozens of hours of Gil Frontsdahl's podcast from the Insight Meditation Center.

At first my goal in practice was to work with my "stuff." It's helped immensely. Mindfulness was calming, of course, but it also helped to investigate mental states, where they arise and what's really going on. Stuff Daniel referred to as "ordinary wisdom," but which seem to me might be an important component of sila training. It also seems to me to be a taste of where the path leads: ordinary insight -> ordinary wisdom -> ordinary happiness; I project that ultimate insight -> ultimate wisdom -> ultimate happiness is vaguely similar, except that it's ultimate. I want that. Starting from that perspective, I want the whole tamale. The big E.

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My practice began generally following "Mindfulness in Plain English." I'd focus on the breath, attempting to focus on the sensations in my nostrils. Over a few months I went from about half an hour per day and built up to about two hours per day. At the same time, though, my practice became somewhat fragmented: after reading MCTB, I added noting; based on general reading on mindfulness, I added what amounts to choiceless awareness. So my sittings were somewhat of a mishmash of concentrating on the breath, attempting to broaden my awareness to include "everything," and using noting to support the latter. I didn't consciously choose between these; I basically "went with the flow" and did whichever occurred to me at the time. In conjunction with "choiceless awareness," influenced by MCTB, I tried to be aware of things appearing and moving on.

For a while I also attempted to enter the first Jhana following the short instructions linked from somewhere on this site. AFAICT, without success. My powers of concentration aren't especially well developed.

A few months ago I stopped sitting. Not entirely sure why; I'd have said I "got busy." A Buddhist friend commented that people seem to stop sitting "when they're dealing with something serious and about to make a breakthrough." Dunno about that one way or the other. During those months I've tried to be "present" and "mindful," usually by cultivating alertness rather than noting--perhaps best described as a seat-of-the pants effort to exercise choiceless awareness while going about daily activities.

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Recently I've tried to resume sitting. I can't sit for an hour at a time like before; in fact torpor comes over me in the first 20 minutes and practically knocks me on my back. I've signed up for a retreat in August at the Bhavana Society in WV, and between now and then I basically plan on trying to "push through" the sleepiness and continue trying to cultivate mindfulness at all times.

And so we come to my question.

So far my practice has been characterized by some lack of focus or direction. Daniel's book mentions several exercises, but I seem to need more by-the-numbers advice to understand where to begin, what to do next, how to tell when it's time for that next step, etc. Call me impatient, but I'm interested in the "direct path," the way to get the maximum results for my effort. Can I reach stream entry this year? What's the "best" route and what kind of results can I realistically expect?

I realize the question sounds very broad; hopefully the summary of my practice puts it in context enough to make sense of the question. And I realize that different techniques work better for different people, and that people move at their own rates. But it seems like I'll get farther with a timely, "just do this," than with the salad-bar sampling approach I've been using. And a sense of what to expect would both be encouraging and provide insurance against crazy expectations.

Thanks for your attention!

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If at all possible I would suggest going on a retreat as early and for as long as possible and is reasonable. As Daniel mentions in his book a retreat early in the practice can do a lot to jumpstart the practice. Otherwise it can be easy to not see a lot of progress get discouraged and stop practicing once the new wares off.

Oops posted before I saw your third post. It's good that you are going on retreat at Bhavana though I don't suspect it will help you with a single technique. If led by Bhante Rahula he will generally present several techniques depending on how long the retreat is. Generally he starts with Anapanasati then gives noting instructions then gives body sweeping instructions. Anapanasati can be good for stabilizing and building concentration and noting can be especially good for maintaining continuous mindfulness and building momentary concentration.

When I go I generally follow instructions until he starts the body sweeping. At that point I generally stick with noting. Also, the formal meditation schedule is fairly laid back so if your feeling sporty you can add some sitting and walking during the breaks and in the evening.

Author: Adam_West

I would suggest asking around and get a sense of a few different methods that seem to work for entering Jhana, then try them out yourself and see what works for you. Not everyone takes to the same methods. For example, I find the breath profoundly uninteresting; however, looking at your mind as the object, profoundly relaxing while maintaining attention of your mind and letting go of everything else I find to be a profoundly interesting and useful way to entering Jhana. The reason why I recommend the practice of Jhana is because it results in bliss, joy and peace etc. which is profoundly enjoyable and rewarding and which seems to have a great benificial affect on our sense of wellbeing. This will reinforce or reward our practice, which means we will keep practicing, which is the important thing. Later we can switch to formless vipassana and move forward with our practice. But unless our practice bears fruit soon, we may give up practice and never get anywhere.

Personally, I think good practice is self-perpetuating, self-evident; but that is a different story. The important thing is to keep practicing and not give up. :-) Consider checking out Wallace's Attention Revolution for a practical text and context on Jhana. Good luck! :-)

In kind regards,

Adam.

My advice would be to return to the breath, it is an excellent foundation for both concentration and insight. Get it well developed and then follow one methodology and stick with it until you make real progress. Most methods will work for most people eventually but it is all about being consistent. You can't change jobs every week and expect to get anywhere with your career.

In your situation, I'd suggest a half hour of brisk walking while focusing on the breath and then a half hour of sitting while focusing on the breath. Try that for a few weeks and then build up a new regimen on top of that base.

all the best
take care

Good questions and answers.

One more thing: try every second mindfulness of exactly what is, regardless of the specifics of your technique, and when you can do that, try going for many times per second. This level of precision and inclusiveness of what is going on really helps. As to fast, noting is really fast, particularly if done all day. It can be a rough ride, but that's the trade off.