Spiritual Practice: Real-World Tips for actually getting it Done.

Hey guys!

Inspired by Dave's amazingly interesting thread - the phenomenological fruits of practice - and a convo with another member of this forum on tips on daily practice - I thought we could each post tips that we have personally found valuable in generating real-world phenomenological fruits of the path. Perhaps tips our future selves would give our present self.

Some basic cursory tips and context is as follows:

Over-thinking is just a habit whose tyranny may be broken as so many others; habits are subtle, common and promoted by our culture. The essential point is, being lost in mind is merely a habit of mind, as such, can be '˜cut through' like all habitual preoccupations of mind with the below tips.

When I notice any mental habit pattern, I just notice '˜it' (with it being a place marker for whatever IT is '“ name your '˜apparent' problem) and upon noticing it, let it rest of its own accord - no big deal - nothing is a big deal in this context. It is we who make something a 'big' deal, and WE who let it go - all habits of mind - reactions to some 'It'!

Practice is ongoing and has its ups and downs, as I fall back into distraction - out of relaxed, 'uncontrived', natural present moment awareness - I simply notice it, and back into present moment awareness - so simple; no big deal!

The practice is this: just do the above. Be natural at all times; mindful of the present '“ naturally aware. Mindful of habitually trying to '˜do', or '˜not to do', which is by definition, contrived, and not natural present moment awareness. Rest in that natural open spaciousness. Thing is, we ARE it naturally; so DOING or TRYING is ego. Notice the doing of ego, and relax that - let ego dissolve, which by definition, leaves natural pristine cognizance which sees and knows all phenomena as it is. Simple! This is heart advice for on the cushion and off.

[cont.]

Augment the above non-dual practice with practicing Jhana meditation. Jhana has two benifets: it relaxes the mind and ego, making it easier to be spontaneously happy and natural, which sets up conditions which make it easier to let go of the habit of ego '˜doership' and practice natural, uncontrived, present moment awareness '“ perhaps going to 4th Jhana (through Shamatha) and then moving to natural, uncontrived, present moment awareness (non-shamatha vipassana - clear seeing of what is); and (2), Jhana has a transformative effect on said body/mind and consciousness through awakening and transforming chi and kundalini energy; leading in a circular fashion back to (1).

Processing of unconscious material will likely result. Refer to previous tips on habits of mind.

The thing is, Rigpa is none other than natural present moment awareness - the intrinsic pristine clarity of reality itself - however, being trapped in ego - as a habit patern - which is both a view and an energetic state of body/mind/consciousness, we fail to experientially notice our natural state here and now - natural present moment awareness.

Simple. Both easy and very difficult to do. ;-P

Oh, a final tip. The more time spent on the cushion in practice that you do, the easier it will be. At least half hour per sitting, twice a day. Optimally, three, one hour sittings will be noticed to have a profound effect on your well-being, happiness and ability to let the ego '˜habit' dissolve and directly notice Rigpa. I mean this literally. Practice does bring results!

In kind regards,

Adam.

Notice that habit patterns needn't necessarily cease in and of themselves, and yet they spontaneously come and go - naturally self-liberate - so thinking, emoting and any other display may be ongoing, and we are just mindful of this in an uncontrived manner, in present moment awareness; however, falling into distraction - getting lost in the display, and thus, lost in the elaboration - no longer naturally aware in the pristine clarity of present moment awareness is the source of our suffering - hence, non-dual practice in the natural state.

" (2), Jhana has a transformative effect on said body/mind and consciousness through awakening and transforming chi and kundalini energy; leading in a circular fashion back to (1).
."

Hi Adam,

Could you please elaborate more on this in experiential/phenomenological terms. Also, I'm not sure what (1) is referring to.

Thanks,

Amr

P.S. I follow your posts closely.

"Hey guys!

Inspired by Dave's amazingly interesting thread - the phenomenological fruits of practice - and a convo with another member of this forum on tips on daily practice - I thought we could each post tips that we have personally found valuable in generating real-world phenomenological fruits of the path. Perhaps tips our future selves would give our present self."

Great idea, Adam.

Here's a simple tip: Do your best to practice in the Goldilocks Zone - not too hot, not too cold.

Richard Dawkins (love him or hate him) uses this term to describe why life is sustainable on Earth. Somehow we ended up in the Goldilocks zone, and life naturally flows from this state.

I think practice works in the same way, but maybe not quite as precise. It applies to all areas of practice. Not too tight, not too loose. This will take you a long way.

~Jackson

the most amazing tip I've gotten so far and the one that is by far the most effective is:
limit your practice to just what you can perceive and experience RIGHT NOW -- don't look for certain sensations or experiences, just stick to now. everything one ever needs is contained right here in the present moment in this body and mind.

Practice present awareness while doing excercise. The excercise is relaxing while invigorating the mind. There are also studies that show excercise assists in learning. the catch is you have got to want to be doing the exercise. Part of practice is learning to stay with present awareness, so I think there is a helpful connection here.

If the mind is too agitated for present awareness, narrow the focus with present awareness to physiccal sensations, for eg breath, sounds, sight and the mind will relax. Once relaxed shift to wider awareness.

A friend said" "it is not easy for me to be in present moment awareness."

My response is as follows:

I suspect it's not easy any of us - me neither! When - if - we notice we are not lucidly present - lost in elaboration of a constricted view - I just notice this, and naturally shift back to present moment awareness. Later, when I habitually fall back into distraction - out of cognizance of present moment awareness - that is fine - the play of Dharamakaya - however, in time, when I notice I am distracted, as noticing is itself a spontaneous shift out of distraction and back into present moment awareness, at that point, I am back in present moment awareness. So it is back and forth all day, all the time. This is fine - the natural play of reality. No judgments. Judgments are habitual elaboration patterns of ego; such elaborations are the source of our suffering.

We can liken being lost in elaboration or distraction as similar to being lost in a dream at night while sleeping. Being in present moment awareness is like being lucid in that dream. The dream may or may not continue as it naturally does; however, we are now lucidly present and aware to what is. So simple!

[cont.]

The more times we notice distraction, the more the habit of distraction is steadily eroded - thus, we see a spontaneous and effortless purification of the habit patterns of 'ego'; leaving behind, or making more obvious - even in the presence of distraction itself - the pristine clarity of present moment awareness, which is all there is; for what other than present moment awareness, can possibly apprehend the elaborations of mind?? Elaborations of mind happen in the present moment, do they not? They and WE, at all times, whether we notice it or not, are in present moment awareness; hence, effortlessly notice distraction, and in so doing, we naturally notice present moment awareness!!

Such is the effortless, uncontrived, practice of no-practice!!

In kind regards,

Adam.