In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

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Silas Day, modified 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:18 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:12 AM

In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

Posts: 23 Join Date: 4/4/19 Recent Posts
I Have found that the most helpful practice (for me personally) is to engage with awareness, noting, concentration, etc... throughout the day as wholly and completely as you can, when at all possible.

Whether it is doing the dishes one dish and breath at a time, really and fully listening to others and my own self, paying close attention to the emotions, sensations, thoughts, moods, mindstates and qualities that arise within me and then to watch them fade away without ever actually grabbing onto them. It has truly been astounding what this has done to my practice on the cushion and life experience in this ever flowing moment. 

I don't have near the sharpness of concentration that I would have if I was on retreat or living in a monastic/simpler setting, but even living like this for a for a little over a month has unearthed, recognized, uprooted, and assuaged so much anguish and bereveament from the cacophony of the unexamined that I am suprised that more people don't do this! in fact from what I have found, very few people seem to try to do this. 

I want to ask those of you who do engage in this daily kind of practice. What advice would you have for staying engage with the practice even when engaged in highly intellectual work(like reading a dense dharma book, working in a complex excel document, or organizing a large event)? It seems to be the only time when I truly cannot maintain the practice.

Thank you oh so much in advance. Best Wishes
pieva, modified 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:36 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:31 AM

RE: In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

Posts: 36 Join Date: 3/15/19 Recent Posts
Silas Day:

What advice would you have for staying engage with the practice even when engaged in highly intellectual work(like reading a dense dharma book, working in a complex excel document, or organizing a large event)? It seems to be the only time when I truly cannot maintain the practice.

I might be wrong, but do you still need to practice in these cases? If you are concentrated on the task, live in the present moment and not wandering away in your thoughts? Although I do remember someone saying that in case of intelectual work they do checks periodically.

From the every-day practice, my favourite is itching sensations and stopping my hand from scratching. Driving strictly to the speed limit, despite the urge to go a bit faster. Stopping reactions to kids' annoyances is the tough but frequent one.
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Nick O, modified 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:51 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 7:51 AM

RE: In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

Posts: 317 Join Date: 11/5/17 Recent Posts
Cultivate joy! It was an ingredient long overlooked my practice on and off cushion. Imagine Right Sati as the flame of mindfulness that you need to keep burning hot throughout your day with joy as the fuel. Practicing this way clearly defines dukkha and dukkha-nirodha, moment to moment.  
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 8:29 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 8:29 AM

RE: In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
I have very similar experiences. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to keep it up while doing intellectually demanding work, which is a pity since that is what I do for a living. I would imagine that it takes years, maybe decades of practice to resolve that. I take micro pauses to reconnect with the practice. There are plenty of opportunities to do that. Thanks for reminding me to keep at it!
Matt, modified 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 11:21 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/14/19 11:11 AM

RE: In The Moment and of The Moment, advice on full day practice

Posts: 316 Join Date: 1/14/14 Recent Posts
Silas Day:
...
I want to ask those of you who do engage in this daily kind of practice. What advice would you have for staying engage with the practice even when engaged in highly intellectual work(like reading a dense dharma book, working in a complex excel document, or organizing a large event)? It seems to be the only time when I truly cannot maintain the practice.
...

My thought is that the best practice depends on the context (and the person, etc etc!).  In the situation you describe, I found that I could be easily distracted by the desire to check email, go to the bathroom, get a drink, switch to some unrelated problem, etc etc... all symptoms of a mind having a hard time with the desired task so then switching to something that would hopefully replace the disatisfaction of struggle with the satisfaction of getting some little other thing done.

So, the practice I started doing is to place a paper on the desk, right in front of my, between me and the keyboard, right under my wrists as the hands are on the keyboard. I'd write on that paper a very short description of what I wanted to do for the next N minutes. Then I'd set a timer. Then, when I noticed I was doing anything that was not the desired task, I'd stop doing that other thing, I'd write down the distraction on the paper and resolve to not do that till the timer expires. It was a good practice for me! I still remember the interesting moment of realizing that I was on my feet, half way across the room to the water fountain, comparing the fluffy need to get a drink with the thorny task I just abandoned, the satisfaction and fear of turning back to my desk and dive back into the thorns.

I now frame that practice in the TMI sub-mind training theory.  That submind that wants to do something and gets snubbed by my executive function eventually stops trying to distract me.

..... I just thought about 3C!!!  I re-read your post and had another thought: when on the spreadsheet you could set an intention to keep your eyes on the sheet some very narrow view.... then when you wander, spend a moment trying to see if there is an illusion of self, an illusion of unsullied satisfaction, an illusion of permanence present in your experience.

Or you could try to categorize the nature of your wandering as either ignorance, greed or aversion.

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