Wasting precious time...

[treebeard]

When all else fails, I concentrate on gratitude for each breath and how good it feels just to breath. After all, in the sum total of everything, a place for a sentient being to breath is actually extremely rare. Breathing is also an interface to the universe in a lot of ways, we bring it into us and let it flow out, it is interesting to think we all breathe each others air.

Ultimately I am of the opinion lately we can't actually waste time, not being able to save it, dish it out, speed it up, or slow it down and all, time is one of those things that just is. Of course some uses of time result in more suffering than others but whether it is ultimately wasted is unknowable in the grand scheme of things. After all, even in the dullest moment our heart is still beating and we are breathing, which is still technically doing something with that chunk of time.

Anyway, my 2 cents.

Gassho,
Paul
Sat today.

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[Kaishin]

How do I get around this feeling of wasting precious time?

_/|\_

Quit and see what happens.

[Eishuu]

I wonder if it may help to just sit with this feeling of lack, these thoughts of waste. Really get to know them. What a great opportunity to become intimate with them. I have these feelings too sometimes...I had them most of the time last year, and then I noticed that there was a subtle pushing away of them. It was like I thought they were outside of Zazen, something separate that told me the Zazen was the problem. When I included them, something shifted and a deeper stillness and contentment arose. Maybe it's a good sign when we are confronted by such feelings and thoughts. If they are present in Zazen then they are probably a part of the rest of our lives. I know that for me, such thoughts can cause me to be very driven generally.

Gassho
Lucy
Sat today

[Enjaku]

You might try to stop looking for any benefit or consequence... and benefits will come as a consequence

Enjaku,
Sat

[Amelia]

I like what Kaishin said!

Gassho, sat today

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[Rich]

Hi All,

Imagine being in a concert hall. The conductor taps his batton on the stand everyone goes quiet and...........and............

........................

Well thats sort of where I am in my practice and its troubling me! It was going so well too

It feels lazy and counter productive. It feels like I am quite literally just sitting there, on my arse, staring at the floor. Nothing virtuous, nothing of any benefit or consequence. Nothing at all to do with The Dharma!

Maybe a few doors down there is another Buddhist busying away with Highest Yoga Tantra practices, still another using Anapanasati and yet another Vipassana.

But here am I gawping at the floor like a dopey dog.

How do I get around this feeling of wasting precious time?

_/|\_

Just relax and enjoy your precious no time

SAT today

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[Myogan]

I find throwing in some Samu practice helps.

Gassho
Sat

[Joyo]

Hi Tony, are you wasting precious time, or is your mind just telling you this? Our minds tell us all kinds of things, that doesn't mean they are true, or that we should believe them.

If you have a fascinating life with work, family etc. than why not just do this one thing for the sake of doing it, and just let those thoughts and ideas go.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Beakon]

I love troubleshooting and Zen Buddhism, so let's get started? This whole enlightment thing doesn't happen over night. There are obvious road blocks to getting busy with the highest tantric practices. We should all identify our 'friction points' as a sangha to identify where we're struggling. In the morning I chant the gatha, 'waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty four brand new hours are ahead of me. I vow to live in each moment fully and view all living beings with eyes of compassion'. If you read my threads before you'd know I have anger issues that make it difficult to view all living beings with compassion. I want to practice Metta to be this radiant being of joy and serenity. I found that using some basic mindfulness training, with regular meditation practice, can help cultivate day to day mindfulness. How do we live our day to day lives? I got up, fell back asleep, got up, fell back asleep, got ready for work, said the heart sutra, checked faceook, worked for eight hours, did chanting, talked to mom, practiced meditation, and now I'm on treeleaf. I have enough clarity to relize what is important to me, like setting goals such as, 'I want to gain financial freedom to align myself with my values and interigty (right livelihood). Using the day to day mindfulness I mentioned I relized that there is a long history of me getting by on survival jobs making pizza, flipping burgers and washing dishes. I think of samu practice as dress rehearsal for the future. I can walk through -50 weather, deal with sixty of the toughest customers, get by eating one meal, work an extra hour and set up a stage for a performance. If people can't respect my boundaries then I can't promise there will be a happy Sean C.T. all the time. I need to have a balance and a middle way. It would be wise to reflect on the paramita of patience.


Sat Today

Sean C.T.

[Jundo]

Humans being always need to do do do, worried about waste waste waste. Simply, no idea how to sit still and just be, just allow, just be whole in the moment without worry of time (Even for a few minutes a day!)

We always want more more more, and thereby feel lack lack lack. Why not just savor this this this?

Gassho, J

SatToday

[dharmasponge]

Thanks Jundo, I'll follow the links and read on. Thanks to everyone else to for your help. Such a supportive group.

_/|\_

Not Sat Yet But Will 😉

[Kotei]

Thank you for bringing this up, Tony.

I think, one should ask oneself from time to time "why am I doing this".
This thread left me with an answer for myself, that may be different the next time, I ask.

Your concert metaphor reminded me on the 4'33" piece of silence, I mentioned earlier.
The composer explicitly stated, that it was 'composed' in reflecting on Zen (and the music industry with its timed containers).

"The piece purports to consist of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed..."
Sitting is not about me. It is about silencing my-self and letting the environment in.
The performer becomes the listener.
Recognising the unplanned, the uncertain, the unintended.

Maybe a little bit seeing the world with the eyes of the universe. Not with my little profane ones.
For now, sitting Shikantaza is the closest, I got to that. Reminding me on that helps.

Gassho,
Kotei sattoday.

[Jinyo]

Hello there,

I haven't posted in a while. There's been a lull in my enthusiasm for all things Zen - I think that happens for all us from time to time - but I have maintained my practice.
I think Kotei is correct in suggesting that we should ask ourselves from time to time why we practice.

One conclusion I've come to is that (for me) it really helps to have clearly defined reasons to practice - if these are 'goals' - so be it.

First off - I practice to renew a vow of gratitude each day for simply being alive and to align myself with trying to live mindfully in my daily life (frequently fail). I find it helps to begin with reciting 'A peace be to all beings' meditation otherwise my wandering mind would just descend into self centred rumination. The joy of Zazen is that I get the opportunity to move beyond rumination - I see that as a gift.

I also incorporate some meditations from Thich Nhat Hahn. The importance of having a daily liturgy is something I learnt early on through Treeleaf and I find it really helps.

I think there will always be fallow periods - perhaps our practice needs nurturing - like many other aspects of our lives.

I don't know Tony - this thorny question of what is the point (and are we 'allowed' to have a point) seems to come up for you from time to time. I think it's a valid question and maybe 'trust' in the practice will come if you can answer that question in your own terms.

Gassho

Willow/Jinyo

ST

[Jishin]

How do I get around this feeling of wasting precious time?

_/|\_

Easy. Do it 100%. Waste time right, the full hearted way. Then it's not a problem. It's just this. No time to wonder about it.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Mp]

Hey Tony,

I feel when we loose interest in something, it has more to do with our minds then anything else. We usually are trying to find a reason to not do what we are doing - instead why not look at "why" you are not sitting, "why" you are not engaged with your practice. What else are you doing in the meantime?

If moments come where you don't want to sit, in my personal opinion those are some of the best times to sit ... they help us move past those obstacles that are in front of us. So the next time you sit and you find you are feeling stuck and flat in your practice, ask yourself why. Then, let go of the why and just sit ... really sit. =)

Gassho
Shingen

s@today