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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (23916)	7/27/1998 8:59:00 PM
From: Craig Richards	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

What I find to be the obstacle is the practice of meditation, in fact. It requires self discipline which I don't seem to have. Is there any way to study Buddhism seriously which doesn't require meditation? I know this is probably a stupid question, but it is a serious one. Christine, I think a better question is: "Does the practice of meditation require self-discipline?" There are many forms of meditation. Some of them do in fact require self-discipline to practice. But there are others that can be integrated into your daily routine. If I knew you better I could make a few suggestions on how to fit meditation into your daily routine, but let me relate a few anecdotes that should give you a better idea of the possibilities. One teacher was approached by a student who was a very successful type A businessman. This man asked the teacher for a meditation practice. The teacher realized that the businessman was too busy to maintain a regular meditation practice, and also realized that the man did not have a good understanding of how the spiritual world relates to the everyday one. So this teacher came up with the following practice: Every time the man flushed the toilet, he was to do it as mindfully as possible, and be fully aware of what he was doing. Another example of integrating meditation with everyday life is a woman who was raising young children. Of course she was very, very busy, and did not have the time for a regular practice, as she had to constantly watch the children. The teacher asked her where she was least likely to be disturbed in the house, and it turned out that she never got disturbed while in the hallway. So every time she walked through the hall, she became mindful of her breath as well as how she was walking. Since she went through the hall many times each day, this gave her many opportunities to practice on a daily basis. So the key here is not to change your life to be able to do meditation in a preconceived fashion, but rather to find a meditation practice you are comfortable with and adapt it to fit your life. Craig