In February, formal practice continued as calm abiding generally inspired by TMI. I started to see how difficult calm abiding practice really is for me. Not that the experience of doing it is unpleasant in any way, but rather that I am simply not able to place my attention on one object, continuously, for extended periods of time (even after several months of regular practice). For whatever karmic or other reason, my progress in insight-heavy practices has been much faster than concentration-heavy. Not a “problem”, just an observation. In order to boost my off cushion concentration, I started wearing a smartwatch that buzzed every 5 minutes. I increased this to every 1 minute by the end of the month & found that it helped me maintain continuity of concentration off cushion.
I read the Magus of Java & started to research Neikung, which led me to restart a daily grounding practice of horse stance for 15 minutes with lower dan tien stirring at the end. I tracked this using a habit tracker app that I started earlier in the month. I completed 12 healthy habits daily throughout February using this app & continued it into March. I noticed the maintenance of a pattern: as my basic life functioning increases, my heart opens more & I just become a nicer person.
I met with my spiritual friend & we spoke about calm abiding practice. They thought that by working with my chi more through various means, I could accelerate my progress in calm abiding. Since I was already working with horse stance, I figured I was covered on that front. They had other theories about how calm abiding practice could be reframed or understood from different perspectives & that could help progress. None of these suggestions had a big impact for me.
I attended a variety of group practices at the local dharma center. I also continued classes there & learned ‘how to be a Buddhist’ (i.e. things related to ritual, etiquette, etc). I added in refuge, bodhicitta & 7 limbed prayer before daily formal practice & dedication after. As of this writing, I plan to continue with that, or something like it, moving forward.
I read the Magus of Java & started to research Neikung, which led me to restart a daily grounding practice of horse stance for 15 minutes with lower dan tien stirring at the end. I tracked this using a habit tracker app that I started earlier in the month. I completed 12 healthy habits daily throughout February using this app & continued it into March. I noticed the maintenance of a pattern: as my basic life functioning increases, my heart opens more & I just become a nicer person.
I met with my spiritual friend & we spoke about calm abiding practice. They thought that by working with my chi more through various means, I could accelerate my progress in calm abiding. Since I was already working with horse stance, I figured I was covered on that front. They had other theories about how calm abiding practice could be reframed or understood from different perspectives & that could help progress. None of these suggestions had a big impact for me.
I attended a variety of group practices at the local dharma center. I also continued classes there & learned ‘how to be a Buddhist’ (i.e. things related to ritual, etiquette, etc). I added in refuge, bodhicitta & 7 limbed prayer before daily formal practice & dedication after. As of this writing, I plan to continue with that, or something like it, moving forward.
Comments
Post a Comment