Balancing practice

[Rich]

There was a time that I thought that Zen was an obsessive compulsive disorder. But it was actually me that was so. I think the turning point was when I started finding peace and ease in just sitting, at least sometimes. For me, sitting morning and evening has maintained my momentum in this practice . If I have time reading is nice. Visiting Treeleaf has become a daily habit.

Sat today

[Jishin]

Hi Ade,

I feel better when I read less and sit more.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Joyo]

Rich, Jishin (and many others here!) good points indeed!! I like to read dharma books, and listen to dharma youtube videos, but those things have become just whatever they may be, with no pressure or goal as to how much I will do or not do. I like to sit, and as others have said it has just become part of my daily routine. Oftentimes, my feet do not even touch the floor, the in the mornings, before I sit.

I felt very much like you Ade, until I wrote down a little routine for myself in my journal(I loooove to journal ). I have daily practices (sitting morning and evening, metta in the morning, atonement at night) and weekly (zazenkai) just to give you an example. This has worked well for me, and I have found that by sticking to this, I no longer get obsessed about unnecessary expectations I may put on myself to do more. And sometimes life gets really busy and demanding and I do not do all of the things on my list, but that's ok, I just pick up where I left off and start again.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Joyo]

And like playing an instrument, keep it interesting and enjoyable (nobody said Buddhism had to be a painful grind ... even if there are grindy days sometimes) and keep practicing at a nice, steady pace. Play the music that makes your heart sing.

Some good advice from folks above.

Gassho, J

SatToday

This makes me recall something I heard TNH say on youtube that was quite funny. He was giving a serious talk on some sort of Buddhist teaching, and he said something like there is enough pain in the world, practicing Buddhism shouldn't be added to that. Anyway, the way he said it was quite funny and it got the whole crowd laughing.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[adrianbkelly]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! It's good to know that I'm not alone in this!

I tend to have a few obsessive tendencies; when I find a film director or musician I like, I have to see & hear everything they've made. When I first started practising, in the Theravada tradition, I wanted to become a monk ASAP! Thankfully, when I went to speak to a Bhikkhu about this, he ignored my request & taught me metta bhavana instead!

I'm going to do my best to stick to the basics for now, sitting daily, practicing the precepts & joining the Zazenkais when I can, whilst making sure I allow time for other things (in fact, my wife & i are undergoing IVF treatment at the moment, so I'm hoping I'll have no option but to re-prioritise my time soon! ) I'll try limiting my Zen-related reading to once or twice a week.

Thanks again everyone & I hope to stick around for ther long term!

_/\_
Ade
Started sitting again today

[Kyotai]

Hi Ade,

All these responses shows you are definitely not alone on this topic. And by the way, good luck to you and your wife with your IVF treatments

Gassho, Kyotai
sat today

[Cumminjd]

Though i have never felt this way about Zen, and my practice, I have felt this in other areas of my life. I think this is because I separated my practice from my ever changing excitement for things, if that makes sense. I get really excited for things, then ill get excited for something else, and forget about the first thing. But my practices (both Zen and Qigong) have stuck with me because I was never excited for them per se. It is as if this is just something I do, like sleeping. Its part of my schedule. Im not sure if this is helpful in any way, maybe not. Maybe I'm just talking for no real reason haha. Anyway even when your not practicing, your still practicing.

Gassho,
James
Sat Today

[Meishin]

Hi,

I like the idea that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Gassho
Meishin
Sat today

[Troy]

Hi,

I like the idea that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Gassho
Meishin
Sat today

Thank you. That was something I needed to hear today.


..sat2day•

[Jakugan]

Hi Ade.

Like others I also have similar issues. Pm me if you ever want to have a short sit together.

Gassho,

simon.

sat today

[rego]

Hey Ade, thank you for making this thread. And thank you to everyone for their helpful comments. I am trying to find that balance as well and it is good to know that we're not alone.

Thank you!

Andrew

Sat today

[Meredith]

Looks like I'm not the only one with obsessive tendencies. Lots of good advice here--thanks to all!

Gassho,

Meredith

SatToday

[Meredith]

I have daily practices (sitting morning and evening, metta in the morning, atonement at night) and weekly (zazenkai) just to give you an example.

Joyo, I'm not familiar with atonement practice (forgive me if it's been discussed here and I've missed it). I've looked around online a little bit, and found a couple of atonement rituals but they don't appear to be a daily practice kind of ritual:

http://buddhism.about.com/od/chanandzenbuddhism/a/fusatsu.htm

http://www.cloudwater.org/uploads/text%20files/Atonement.pdf

Would you elaborate a bit about atonement? Thanks so much!

Gassho,

Meredith

SatToday

[Mp]

I'm not familiar with atonement practice

Hello Meredith,

In our Weekly/Monthly chant book we have the verse of atonement. =)

http://www.treeleaf.org/treeleaf_zazenkai_chant_book.pdf

But I notice that is the old one, the new one has just a small change in the first and second line ...

All harmful words, thoughts, and acts
Ever committed by me since of Old
On account of beginning-less greed, anger and ignorance
Born of my body, mouth and mind
Now I atone for them all.

For me Meredith Atonement is awareness of my actions and to try my best to learn from the ones that may cause harm or upset. We are human and we make mistakes, but the positive note of making mistakes is it gives us a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow ... it's not about blame or judgement, but about opening our hearts and minds to those possibilities. =)

Hope that helps. =)

Gassho
Shingen

[Ishin]

This has been a very timely post for me to read. I have been lax at least in my participation here lately because there has been and endless cascade of circumstances overtaking a good deal of my free time. I tend to get fixated on taking care of one thing at a time and other things fall aside. I really like Yugen's suggestion of a dharma partner, yet I do feel like you are all my partners, and I am not just saying that. Treeleaf is a very supportive place!

One thing I might suggest is for us all to look at the the patterns we develop. For example, do you only sit when things are good in your life? Do you only sit when things are bad? Do you sit as escapism or as regular practice? Is there a common thread to your own patterns that is discernible. For me I am not sure. This is the first period I have been "away" from practice since I started. I can honestly say I am not really sure what happened, other than a "feeling" that my life was overwhelming.

Gassho
Ishin

Sat Today!