Meditation in Ordinary Daily Life

Meditation in Ordinary Daily Life.
The Buddhas Basic Advice:
In the Discourse on How to Establish Mindfulness, there is the following section on Clear
Comprehension:
A meditator when moving forward or backward is clearly aware of what they are doing;
when looking ahead or behind, clearly aware of what they are doing; when bending,
stretching when carrying� things , clearly aware of what they are doing; when eating,
drinking, chewing, savouring when passing stools or urine when walking, standing, sitting,
falling asleep and waking up when speaking or staying silent, they clearly aware of what
they are doing.
That is, whatever the meditator is doing, that is what they must be mindful of.
In other words, the sitting meditation is only a part of the practice as a whole. The
Buddha wanted us to develop a meditative life. To know what we are doing at all times.
A life of fulltime awareness. The danger for meditators is to raise the sitting meditation
practice to the position of a magical ritual as if all we needed to do was a little sitting in
the morning and in the evening (perhaps) and liberation from suffering is assured.� Too
often meditators think sitting meditation is the be-all and end-all of the Path. I once met a
meditator because of this. He had been tremendously ardent, spending months in intensive
meditation only to come out and live the 'good life'.� After years of this so-called practice,
achieving very little in terms of inner peace, he had achieved little but sorrow and despair.�
He felt the five years of so he had spent on the meditation practice had been a great waste.
So it is this dependence on meditation sitting as the one and only practice that leads to
disillusionment and disappointment.. Eventually the meditator may abandon the practice
altogether as useless! So sitting meditation is only part of the Buddha's path, though
undoubtedly necessary.
The Middle Path
The rules that guide the monastic life show clearly that the Buddha wasn't teaching simply
a meditation practice but a way of life, a way of living day to day. The Middle Path is a
description of how life as a whole should be led by someone eager to attain liberation
from all suffering. This Middle Path in its broader aspect means not to fall prey to sensual
pleasure, not to over-indulge in sensual delights.� Nor should we believe that self-
mortification such as long fasts will bring us anywhere nearer the goal.� Moderation in all
things! Secondly that we should be careful not to transgress the basic moral laws for this
produces harmful affects for us and for others.� Thirdly, that we should make great effort
to improve ourselves by the practice of the Perfections.� This is all put as the Four Great
Efforts of the Eightfold Noble Path - to eradicate existing unwholesome habits and practices,
and not to allow any new ones to establish themselves; to introduce new wholesome ways
of thinking and behaving and to develop what wholesomeness we already have.
Starting the Day
As an aid to this growth and as a part of the meditation, we need to bring Right Awareness
and Right Concentration right into our daily lives. This is what a lot of meditators find very
difficult and confusing. So, let us see what meditation in daily life might mean. The day
really begins with how we have slept for we often wake with the mind that fell asleep. If I'm
depressed or angry before I go to sleep, sure enough the same emotions will overtake me
when I wake or soon after.� Therefore, we need to fall asleep in a meditative way so that
at least any negative frames of mind are weakened and positive ones reinforced. So we
should try to go to sleep with the mind in meditation. Just gently placing the attention on
the process of breathing or observing the sensations in the body caused by our state of

mind.� Alternatively, a good practice is to review the whole body, starting at the top of the
head and slowly working our way down to the tips of the toes, observing all the sensations
on or in the body. Alternatively, following the instructions on how to practise Metta, put a
loving thought in the heartmind and repeat over and over again. At some time, it is also
important to make a firm resolution to wake with the alarm, to set the mind to wake up.�
The alarm is only an aid. So that when we wake, we can sit up quickly and observe the
mind, catching the first mood of the day and developing that watchful attitude.� Once the
mind is clear, we can make the next firm resolution not to let a moment of the day pass in
mindlessness.� All effort will be put into achieving continuity of awareness.� Resolute
determination plays a significant part in the meditative life.� It is, in fact a Perfection to be
developed. We don't have to become neurotic over breaking them.� We need to see such
resolutions as attempts to recondition the mind.� Remember the Buddha's teaching that
will is Kamma. We need to strengthen the will, to make it strong enough to carry through
our skilful decisions.� For instance, getting up that little bit earlier to do the regulation forty
minutes or better one hour meditation is very difficult at first, but if we persevere a new
habit will be established. You may also find as so many meditators do that the more
mindfulness is maintained, the less sleep is needed. So we start the day with a decision to
develop continuous awareness. We resolve, we determine to do it and eventually we will
achieve it to a fairly high degree.��
Deliberately� Purposefully� Intentionally
What form does continual awareness take?� Firstly it is awareness of all the tasks we
normally complete in a day, especially the normal ones, the habitual ones.� The ones we
would normally do on automatic pilot. These range from brushing the teeth, to drinking
a cup of tea, to routine tasks at work.� Anything manual and physical needs to be done
with awareness. Done deliberately, purposefully, intentionally.� Even closing drawers,
opening cupboards should be done as if for the first time.� A good technique to bring
mindfulness to bear in our mundane tasks is to do them just a little more slowly and with
careful deliberation.� Another is to repeat the action that was done mindlessly. This sort
of practice brings calmness and equanimity into our lives. This is more easily done if we
approach all actions and tasks as if they were ceremonies, as if we were doing them clearly
aware of what they are doing� in front of someone we respected. I often like to imagine
the Buddha himself just sitting somewhere unobtrusively in the room.� How mindful I'd be
if he really were!�
Ceremony
Drinking tea is a national habit if not neurosis, but it can so easily be turned into a real
meaningful act.� Instead of rushing through the preparation, filling the kettle up with the
tap full on, splashing water everywhere, banging the kettle down, plugging it in, grabbing
the cup and saucer, banging the cupboard door shut.� Same routine at the fridge for
the milk.� Pouring the boiling water into the pot as quickly as possible. Tapping your
fingers, eating cake, gulping it down while we wait for it to brew.� And then, what we've
been longing for all along, in two short gulps the tea's gone.� Our minds here, there and
everywhere.� Not actually tasting a drop.� Two, three cups go down and not a single drop
is truly tasted.� The whole fandango is finished of with a hurried wash up.� No wonder we
forget whether we've had a cup oftea or not! Doing all this mindfully, deliberately, carefully,
taking ones time, drinking the tea as if for the first time in our lives, lifts this ordinary
mundane activity into a meditative exercise which not only increases our mindfulness, but
fills that moment with order and beauty.� In Japanese culture, this sort of idea produced
the famous and beautiful Tea Ceremony, but it runs like a motif through a lot of how the
Japanese behave, even to the ceremonial bowing before martial arts. To us, it might seem
a little over the top, but if we do ceremonise our lives, we shall see it beautifies all our

actions.
The Art of Listening
The second area we need to look at in our daily activities is our relationships and
communication with other people.� Again it is especially the usual, the ordinary, the
habitual communication that needs to be de-robotised and made meaningful.� We have to
observe how we are communicating with our spouse, children, friends, people at work,
neighbours,� and compare this to the attentiveness we devote to what the boss says� or
to the diagnosis of the doctor.� We need to cultivate the art of listening.� When we listen
attentively, giving our whole attention to what is said, we also become aware of the opinions
and conditioned responses in our own minds.��� Sometimes we can achieve a
concentration in our listening so that these are subdued. For listening to someone means to
hear what they're saying as if for the first time.� If this is really happening, there will
always be a break before a response while the mind assimilates what has been said and
thinks of an answer. Too often our conversations are fencing matches.� My concern is to
get the other to acknowledge what person to agree with .� The other person is doing
exactly the same.� There's no listening to what the other is actually saying, only as to how
it affects 'my' position in the so-called 'discussion'. No wonder there are so many
misunderstandings and mistaken assumptions.� When we converse with each other, there's
no need to respond immediately.� What is really needed is to be� truly aware of what the
other is saying.� In counselling, there's a technique used by a counsellor to show the client
that they have understood what's been said. To show the client theyve really been listening
and also to find out whether in fact theyve understood the client's situation. At the end of
the client's complaint or explanation, the counsellor will say something like:� so what youre
saying is ...� It is always a wonderful moment when the client's face brightens up and
relaxes.� Finally, someone who's really listening to what they're saying.� Someone who's
understood. We communicate to understand each other.� To know each other better.� At
deeper levels, its sharing experiences, supporting and comforting.� This is all impossible for
someone who can't listen. Such a person always starts off from the wrong premise and
usually puts a foot in it.� Listening is an art and the base line of any relationship. People
who can't listen, cant relate.� To listen properly is to be fully aware of what the other is
saying and feeling.
Creating Space 1
The next important practice, once we are clear of what it generally means to be aware in
our daily activities and relationships, is to create a space.� Our society with its accent
on time passing, punctuality and dead lines, creates a rush, a race.� Everyones running
every which way.� Everyone's speeding.� If you can do four jobs at once, thats good.
Five, that's better. No wonder there's so much pressure about, so much stress.� So much
straining.� No wonder the greatest killers are heart failure, blood pressure, strokes and so
on.
According to Buddhist psychology, only one consciousness arises at one time. The human
mind is capable of doing only one thing at a time. You can't be conscious of two things at
the same time.� We think we are. When we sitting the cinema, we seem to experience all
the five senses at once. We see the film.� We hear the music and dialogue.� We taste the
ice cream, smell the smoke and feel uncomfortable in our seats.� We seem to be in bath
of sensual pleasure all at once. But actually, each consciousness arising at vast speeds no
doubt, is aware of only thing, one incoming sense data at one time.� I am either seeing the
film, or hearing the sound track or eating the ice cream and so on.� But such is the speed
of consciousness and such is the higher power of the mind to relate and integrate all this
that I believe it is all happening altogether, all at once. But we have been fooled, just like
the celluloid film tricks us into believing we are seeing one continuous action and not� a

set of individual frames. So the important rule to establish in the meditative life is to do one
deliberate action at a time.�
Of course, there are many things that have now become automatic, such as walking.� Here
we are discussing those actions that take deliberation, that have to be done with a certain
amount of awareness or thinking. Walking is normally automatic, but it isnt if we're crossing
a high, narrow mountain ridge.� Then we are very much aware of how we are walking.�
And if when this walking ought to be a conscious activity, we decide to look at the scenery,
we shouldn't be surprised to fall off. Here we are concerned with deliberate action, actions
that need our attention.
In the morning, for instance, we might find ourselves eating our meusli and cornflakes,
talking to the family and reading the gas bill all at once.�� No wonder we feel confused.
That things are getting on top of us.� At work or at leisure, it is good to organise the tasks
ahead, but accept limitations, accept the reality of what's actually happening. Don't be
confused by thoughts of what ought to be happening.�
Suppose the day is very busy and full of interruptions. If we now view these interruptions
not as disturbances and nuisances, but simply accept them as the next thing to be done,
we shall free ourselves of a lot of anger and frustration and stress. Suppose I'm doing some
written work, filling out forms or something and someone approaches me for information.
When they 'interrupt' me, with excuse me' all I need say is, 'I'll be with you in a moment'.�
In that moment, I� recollect where I am with the work I'm doing.� To be aware is to
remember.� Then I� turn to the questioner and devote myself to that request.� Once
the request is answered, I note I have completed that task and go back to the written work
where I have left a marker.� No disturbance.� No anger.� No stress.� Just moving from
one job to another, creating a small space to recollect.� If the person approaching is full of
stress and bother, I dont become involved in that.� I keep my attention to the problem and
reassure the person.�
It's the same in a family of children, all jumping up and down for attention, just when
poor old mum and dad were looking for a bit of peace and quiet. What an opportunity to
train!� This way of working, one job at a time with a small space in between, makes for
concentration and efficiency.
Creating Space 2
This small space has also another important function. It stops the accumulation of emotional
states.� Missing that alarm in the morning and over sleeping, Jack suddenly wakes up and
realises he's going to be late.� Panic.� From that moment there's a world-shattering rush
to get to work on time.� The morning wash at top speed, water and soapsuds everywhere.
The breakfast is shovelled in, scalding tea gulped with a yelp. Jack then legs it to the bus
stop and spends the ride tapping his fingers and biting his lip. Or driving like a madman,
swearing at friend and foe, prepared to run over man, woman and child, cats and dogs.
Finally, he arrives at work. Is that the end of the panic?� Of course not!� Whether he's
late or early, he has set the pace for the day.� The whole day becomes a phrenetic
onslaught with rush, anger, frustration, anxiety, stress and so on.� At the end of the day,
his only comfort a bottle of aspirin or worse!� All this has now, of course, stopped. For
Jack is an expert meditator. Now when he's late, he notices the sense of panic and anxiety.
But he doesn't respond. He talks himself out of rushing, accepting the fact he's late.� He
puts effort into concentrating on what he's doing.� He may move faster, but not wilder.
When he gets to work late he accepts this fact and realises that from now on there's no
need to keep up the faster pace.� He relaxes back into his normal routine.� No anxiety, no
frustration, no angry outbursts, no rush, no stress. This technique of letting our reactions
to events subside is of paramount importance if we want to cultivate a general state of
calmness. This technique is enhanced by self-reflection.�

Self-reflection
This is the process of self-monitoring throughout the day.� But not the self-monitoring of a
Big Brother, full of do's and don'ts and oughts and shouldn'ts, but of a nurse who is caring
for their patients.� It is simply a matter of recording the state of play and deciding on
action to remedy or enhance the situation.� Just as a nurse takes a constant temperature
reading and acts appropriately.� This is another way of stopping emotions and moods from
snowballing.
Now Jill, Jack's wife, got to work this morning, early enough, but feeling tired and
depressed. As soon as she walks in, her boss says something she didn't like at all. She gets
angry about it.� All morning she is alternately, depressed, tired or angry. She angry about
being depressed and depressed about being tired and tired of being angry. When she goes
for a break, everything irritates her.� She's really miserable and her colleagues ignore
her.� Now sitting on her own, depression is fuelled with self-pity.� Her only consolation is
to go home, shout at Jack, and the kids, kick the cat and lock herself into a room, sulk and
in really bad times take Prozac!
Jill, however, is now an expert meditator too.� She has learnt the technique of living
with moods and emotions, of existing peacefully with them. She develops a friendly
attitude towards them, one of acceptance.� She still suffers from depression, but now she
acknowledges it as a fact, as a result of past conditioning. She tries to feel it as it really
is. She decides that though the depression is going to hang about, probably make her less
efficient, her energy and attention will be directed to the job in hand, to communicating with
people, to raising the will to be helpful, open and friendly.� By doing this she knows the
depression wont dominate her life.� She knows there wont be reactions to it, like anger
and self-pity and anxiety.� It may remain all day, all week, all month, all year, but her
attitude to it now is as to physical pain, backache or headache. She's not going to let it
highjack her life.� She knows these sorts of attitudes are allowing the depression to lose
steam, to lose energy.� She knows she is reconditioning herself, re-educating herself.�
It's hard work. It's painful.� But every so often she feels that the depressions are passing
away just that little bit quicker, that they are never quite so deep, that she is no longer so
suffocated by them.� The moods, once so solid, now seem more soft. She feels a general
lifting towards calmness, peace and joy.
The Inward Glance
Unfortunately, the Buddha neither discovered nor offered a quick magic cure.� It's all hard
persistent work.� Jill knows that this technique, based on awareness, has to be regular and
constant.� She trains herself into the habit of the inward glance.� Moving from room to
room means opening and shutting doors.� In that small moment, that break in closing the
door, she pauses to look inwards, take stock and lets go of whatever mood was built up in
the room she's left.� She clears her heart and mind, returns to an equilibrium.� Walking
down corridors and up stairs, during tea breaks and natural breaks, she sees in them all
occasions for this gentle self monitoring.� This continual effort to let go of negative states
of mind. This continual effort to establish self-awareness.� And then the turning outwards
to being aware of all that is around. Jill knows now from personal experience that keeping
this awareness, making these sorts of decisions, leads to equanimity and clarity of mind.�
Her depressions come and go, but she's no longer depressed by them.� In time even her
depressions will pass away.
The Diary
An extension of this continual process of self-monitoring which is simply a way of being in
touch with ourselves and of getting to know ourselves better is to keep a diary.� There
are many ways to keep a diary, but the purpose of keeping this diary is to heighten one's
self-knowledge and to use it to encourage oneself in spiritual training. Writing can often

get things off your chest.� Writing about an occasion that upset us, we can ask, what
was it that actually got me upset.�� Why did it do so? Was it a rational response?� Did
the response help the other, the situation, me?� What would be a better response in the
future.
For instance, I knew someone who was having problems with his child. He talked about how
unruly and angry the child was.� As he talked he happened to mention that he often got
quite angry with the child.� When we discussed it, it occurred to us that maybe the child
was simply reacting to his anger and even modelling himself on his fathers behaviour, as
any dutiful child should!� A lot of the problems passed when he changed his behaviour.
Perhaps if he had kept a diary, he might have been able to make this connection between
the child's behaviour and his own before it became a problem.
The Tough Nut
Now that we have established as it were, a basic disposition towards daily life, we can
be more proactive.� We can take the offensive.� Wean search for techniques which will
enhance our lives the more.� The first one is to tackle the Tough Nut.� Everyone has a
habit or personality trait they would dearly love to lose.� It could be a strong habit such a
smoking or a social nuisance such as a loud voice or always opinionating.� The first is to
make the resolution to change. Then we need to use our self-observation techniques and
here a diary is very useful in order to observe when, where and with whom the habit is
likely to occur.� As we come to know the occasions of the habit, we can form strategies,
firstly so that we are not overcome by the habit and secondly so that we can undermine its
hold on us.�
My father used to be a heavy smoker, forty cigarettes a day and the full-blooded, thick
tar stuff.� He used to sing in a choir, but had to stop for continual sore throats.�� The
doctor even then, this is sixty years ago mind! advised him to stop smoking if he wanted
a long singing life.� He did. And he hit the habit where it hurt most.� The one cigarette
most difficult to abandon was the one after lunch when he would sit and relax and perhaps
doze.� Since he came home for lunch, he decided instead of smoking and instead of getting
irritable with others, he'd take it out on the piano.� Not only has he never smoked since,
but he became a dab hand at the piano.� This is positive action.� It hurts.� We've got to
work at it.� But it does work!
What are the factors involved?�� Firstly that insight into the harm of any particular
habit.� Then the resolute determination to change. Then the strategy. And most important,
the prize!� Always make sure there's present at the end. My father returned to the choir he
loved.
Developing Goodwill
But its not only against our negative side we must take the offensive, we need also to
put energy into the better sides of our personalities. Firstly we need to set the mind onto
positive from the first moment of the day.� After the morning meditation practice, Metta
should be practiced. Metta means goodwill, benevolence, open-heartedness, kindness, care;
a universal, impartial love.� Again it is by making this inner decision, talking to oneself,
suggesting to oneself a better way to be, convincing oneself, that the ground for resolute
determination is established.� By setting the mind at goodwill, once negative states have
been allowed to pass, that goodwill will automatically arise. This goodwill then stands as
barrier to any habitual negative responses such as anger.� It allows the heart to feel things
from the others point of view.
Now in this practice, it is very important to be able to offer love to oneself.� At first
most people think this is selfish.� But actually it's self-care.� It's the difference between
cooking a well balanced meal for oneself, and spending �50 on a beef Stroganoff a la
nouveau cuisine. Knowing the difference between self-care and self-indulgence is crucial to

undercutting any feelings of hate we might have towards ourselves. Just as we can care and
comfort others, so we can care and comfort ourselves. Just as we encourage and support
ourselves, so we should encourage and support others. In this vein, it is good practice to
take one of the Perfections as a special practice.
Maybe it's patience.� I'm impatient with myself and others. I'm easily irritated and
angered.� So let this be my special practice. As we develop one Perfection, we shall
discover that the whole personality is affected and all the other Perfections are also
enhanced.� Since our personalities and relationships are all interdependent and
interrelated, this bettering of me inside myself will begin to better my relationships with
others, allowing others in turn to develop their relationship towards me.
Inclining towards Nibbana
So far we have talked on a psychological and social level.� But how does all this lead
to spiritual insight, to the experience of the supramundane, of what there is beyond
the psychological and the social, beyond the body and mind?� This whole process, this
continual effort is all to do with purifying the mind.� When the mind is pure, the Spiritual
Faculties can emerge and intuitive knowledge arise. These faculties are confidence, effort,
concentration, awareness and wisdom.�� In fact, these faculties can come together at
any time whatsoever.� That momentary concentration of these factors, when they are all
balanced is known as Khanika Samadhi. It is a well known phenomena in the scriptures.� A
lay woman became Sotapanna on intuiting anicca, transience, in the crackling of her baking
bread. Ananda, the Buddha's attendant, attained arahatship, while placing his head on
the pillow to go to sleep.� A modern meditation teacher intuited anicca, the fundamental
impermanence of the universe, while watching a dog pass by. This moment is beyond our
personal control.� It simply happens when all the conditions are ripe.� We don't have
to worry about it at all.� It will arise� of its own at any time, while doing anything.�
The Nibbanic experience is beyond conditions and arises when the factors conducive to
its arising are mature.� We cannot make it happen no more than we can make ourselves
forget something.� It happens naturally as a consequence of all our endeavours to train in
the Perfections and to remain mindful.
In this connection, let me add that to be aware and alert is not necessarily to be self-
aware.� In Insight Vipassana Meditation, once the concentration is high, all we know is
the process of the breath.� Up until that moment we were aware of ourselves being the
objective observers.� When that objective observer vanishes, and all we know is the
process of breath, then that is the sort of pure awareness we need to achieve insight.�
This can't be brought about by an act of will.� The observer cannot make itself vanish. It
happens quite naturally once the concentration and focus are developed enough.�
So it is in ordinary daily life. I might be doing a mental task, such a writing a letter or
physical task, such as mowing the lawn.� At first, since I'm trying to do the jobs mindfully,
I might be aware of myself. But as I give myself to the task, I lose this self-awareness,
awareness of a ve done a job, we're amazed at how time has flown.� It seems to have
gone like a shot.� We end up cutting the whole lawn or writing the whole letter perfectly
and without once being actually aware of a doing them. They were just done.� This is
a highly developed state of concentrated awareness and it is in such moments as these
that the Factors of Enlightenment can become� developed and balanced enough to give
insight.� No-one can manufacture this moment, because the means that self, that ego
which is lost in such moments.� So don't try, just do!
At the End of the Day
So now we are at the end of the day.� A good practice is to spend sometime before falling
asleep in bringing the whole day to mind.� Here, the diary is useful.� Note all the times
when mindfulness was lost - when, where and with whom.� See if anything can be done

to put right any unfortunate consequences of mindlessness if there are any. If nothing can
be done, then accept the consequences totally.� What's the point of worry and sorrow?
Acceptance is all that is needed and of course, the resolution not let such a thing happen
again.
Recall moments of mindfulness, of joy, of friendliness, of handling a tricky situation well.�
Congratulate yourself.� Then bring tomorrow to mind and determine to continue your
efforts.�
Finally, in bed, go to sleep with the mind rested, contented on having done your best.�
What more can be asked. And gently follow the breathing.
The Joy of Practice
So there we have it.� The meditative life!� Our objective, full-time awareness, supported
by the techniques of creating space, self recollection, positive action and, of course, our
sitting meditation which now comes into its true role of training the mind to develop effort,
concentration and mindfulness.�
It is recommended to practise vipassana early morning in order to establish our centre for
the day and in the evening to allow any unwholesome emotions to be defused. Forty-five
minutes will do. An hour is better.� But even ten minutes is better than none. These silent
times will nurture the whole day with their quiet awareness.
When we live the meditative life, our view of living changes.� To live is to experience. Life
is no longer a sequence of successes and failures. Life is no longer loaded with the heavy
judgements of good and bad, right and wrong.� Since now we see life as experience, we
are looking at what is healthy, wholesome, skilful and getting away from the unhealthy,
the unwholesome, the unskilful.� We need to be athletes, training for the real marathon
- life itself.� For most of us over 70 years and over difficult terrain!� What is more, each
moment is not just the training, but the testing ground too.�
The Buddha asked us to be an island unto ourselves, a refuge unto ourselves. He wanted
us to take the Dhamma, the Teaching, the Truth as our refuge. We have within each of
us the potential to achieve the highest peace and joy.� Not simply the joy and peace of a
meditative life, but that peace beyond peace - Nibbana.�
His final advice was:
Everything is transient, work diligently for your liberation.
Life is passing!� We'd better get on with it! No time to faff about!
Our goals must be set.� Our aims distinct.� All that's left is work.
This is the real work of our lives.
The work of our own true liberation.
Daily Life Care
Objectives
Establish Satipanya in Sitting Meditation.
Establish Satipanya in Ordinary Daily Life.
Develop the Perfections.
Aims
Full-time Awareness
Be mindful of all activities, especially the habitual
- eating, toiletry, routine tasks
Do things a little slower and more deliberately
Be attentive to all communication, especially the usual
- partner, children, fellow workers

: no need to respond immediately
: when really listening, a pause will occur naturally
Sitting Meditation Morning
Put real effort into the Vipassana
- especially the opening attempt to be concentrated
Be sure to spend at least five minutes developing Metta
Before you get up:
acknowledge any negative attitudes
resolve not to allow them to highjack you
develop positive attitudes especially to the disliked
choose a negative mental attitude or state�you are going to 'let go of throughout the day
choose a Perfection or virtue you are going to work at�throughout the day e.g. practice
patience towards some one
Creating Space
Do one job at a time
e.g. reading the mail in the morning, do it attentively�and make deliberate decisions about
it rather than eating your meusli and talking to the family while you turn blue over the gas
bill
leads to concentration
Pause between every task or event
do a task or what you can do of it completely
����������������� ����������������� stop!��
mentally put the finished task aside create, if only for a moment, silence
allow the mind to settle
look within and know the mental state
then bring the mind to the new task
Make a conscious intention
Then do it.
leads to efficiency
After an event, allow the reaction to subside
e.g. if you miss the alarm and get up late watch your reaction of anxiety and haste if the
reaction continues throughout the day, just know it is there and carry on attentively
leads to - calmness
Self - Recollection������������
use the inward glance to know what state of mind you are in and then respond or act
a continual self-monitoring
stops moods and emotions from snowballing
find regular times in the day to practice this
opening and closing of doors
walking along corridors, up stairs
tea-break and natural breaks
leads to - equanimity and clarity of mind
The Tough Nut
everyone has a particular habit or personality trait
they would like to change or eradicate
study it as it occurs - when, where, with whom
find strategies to cope
so you are not highjacked
Positive Attitude
Metta meditation, not just at sitting time
: wait for negative moods to pass then direct Metta to the object, person or self
: constantly set your intention at 'goodwill'

Khanika Samadhi
This is a moment to moment state of concentrated intuitive awareness - Satipanya - which
is able to perceive ultimate realities. It can come at any time as it did to one of the disciples
of the Buddha who, while attending to the bread in the oven, intuited the characteristic of
transience - Anicca - in the crackling. We can't make this happen. It happens naturally. It is
the happy outcome of our effort to remain simply mindful. When we are fully concentrated
on our work and have lost all 'self ' awareness, this also has great potential for spiritual
insight.
END OF THE DAY
Sitting Meditation - evening
make a special effort especially after a hard day
�important in order to let go of the day's accumulations and ensure restful sleep
Use a diary or self-reflection
write anything that comes to mind for 15 min. every evening
don't think about what you are going to write
just 'splurge' and then put it away
don't read it after you have finished
at the end of a week, read all the writings and
�... draw� your own conclusions
recall to mind times of mindlessness
: note when, where, and with whom
: note if anything can be done to put right
: any unfortunate consequences and determine to do so
If not, accept the consequences totally
recall moments of mindfulness
: successes in dealing with tricky situations and with negative states
���� ������������������ Congratulate yourself!�����������
At bedtime
determine to fulfill your goals tomorrow
determine to wake with the alarm
and maintain mindfulness from that moment onwards
put your mind upon the breath or body sensations or practice Metta