Organizing Your Practice

Imagine a Triangle in a Circle. This is an image of Daily Practice I learned from Shinzen. 

The bottom left corner of the triangle is Formal Practice in Stillness. The bottom right is Practice in Motion. The apex of the triangle is Attitude.

If you can establish this cycle, in all probability, you will succeed with our meditation challenge and beyond.

Each day (that means most days of the 7 day week) implement some formal practice, set technique, or set sequence of techniques for a given period.  Put the majority of your resources (I’m talking about time and attention) HERE.

Practice in Motion is a bridge to practicing in life.  If you can implement formal practice sitting on a chair or cushion, can you do the same thing standing? Walking? Cooking? Watching the news?  More about this in coming weeks, but you get the idea. 

Attitude is the apex of the triangle.   The optimal time for contemplative practice is in the morning. Clearly, you may not all be able to do this, but here is the reasoning:  If you start your day with formal practice, the rest of your day is an opportunity to move meditation into life.  The day becomes a laboratory for applying your practice.  Cultivating this attitude is working smart. This progression allows us to move mindful attention from practicing driving in the empty parking lot to Life’s Freeway!