Category: Meditation

How to Turn Your Practice into Progress Toward Buddhist Enlightenment (Q&A)

5/5/2021

Until you learn how to turn your meditation and dharma practice into progress, you will never experience Buddhist awakening, streamentry, or the benefits of your practice.

Meditation and Dharma Practice to Make Progress Toward Enlightenment Picture

In this reply to a student question, I cover the basics of making real progress with your dharma and meditation practice; how to cultivate it; and, why doing so is so important to attaining Awakening and Enlightenment. Because this is an email to a student, it assumes a certain understanding of Buddhism on the part of the reader.

Thank you for your question; it can be easy to learn about Buddhism without actually knowing anything about how to actually turn all this Buddhism stuff into actual practice. And without practice, it follows that we can't actually get good at it, and if we can't get good at it, then peace of mind, happiness, and enlightenment will forever be out of reach. In order to get good at Buddhism, you must learn how to turn every moment into actual practice of the Buddha's teachings. It's shocking how many teachers don't even mention this critical part.

"Practising in every moment" is probably the most important thing I do as a Buddhist. Everything, absolutely everything, must be regarded through the lens of the dhamma; and, every moment must be regarded and leveraged as another opportunity to practice peace, harmony, and compassion. :)

Without understanding how to do this, progress along the Buddhist path is simply not possible, which explains why it is that so many people can be "Buddhists" and yet how so many don't seem to think, speak, or act anything like how Buddhists are expected to behave. It also explains why so many people, despite so much time and effort on- and off-the-cushion, can't seem to calm their minds beyond the confines of those cushions nor develop the virtuous qualities that they spend so much time reading about, and so, they still struggle to apply the teachings and truly practice (to get better) when faced with even trivial challenges in life.

This is a field of practice that I call 'Practical Buddhism.' And practice means pulling Buddhism out of the pages and off of the cushion and thrusting it front-and-center into the real world, such as at work, at home, and in life.

So, how does one practice in "every moment" of life?

Great question, let's dig in!

7 Comments

Mindfulness Meditation Not Working For You? Here's Why.

10/17/2020

3 Comments

There's a big problem with the Western Meditation movement that no one wants to talk about. Until now.

Hasbro GI Joe's Spirit and Cobra's Storm Shadow Meditating Incorrectly

In this article, we will cover what's wrong with western meditation, how to fix your practice, and why it's so important to attaining Awakening and Enlightenment.

"I’ve been meditating for years, but if I'm being honest, I don’t really enjoy doing it. I meditate because I think I’m supposed to, but I mostly find it boring and it is not something that I like to do.

Will I ever enjoy doing it, or is that not the point?"
- Anonymous

If you can relate with the question above, then I have good news, I can tell you why: it's because you've been taught how to meditate incorrectly. Boredom (or even having a restless mind) is a guaranteed sign that you aren't actually meditating, it's a sure sign that you're just sitting still...and yes, that's boring. I understand that some practitioners aren't going to like reading the rest of this, because they have developed their own views and notions, but allow me to explain as this goes against the rote teaching in the West and there is a lot to gain from keeping an open mind on this subject; so let's dive right in!

(Warning: the text that follows may be considered seditious and incendiary. That is not the intent; the intent is to highlight and correct in no uncertain terms.)

COMMENT: Huh, so, I was taught to meditate wrong?

3 Comments

Meditating on Emptiness: Stop - You're Wasting Your Time - Buddhism Explained

6/23/2020

3 Comments

A unique approach to finally understanding sunyata that actually works for practice, growth, and Enlightenment.

Picture of Woman's Legs, Feet, Hands in Buddhist Analytical Meditation at Being Peacefully Advanced Meditation Training and Dharma Coaching

I have problems trying to understand Emptiness. I even struggle at finding a better way of putting the idea of Emptiness or No-self as it is explained in dharma books and dharma talks into my own words. I suspect the causes will be in no small part because I am not fully understanding the subject in enough depth and therefore struggle in putting it into my own words, like the bowl with the holes in it, I discover it has all seeped away and just isn’t happening yet! I also don’t want to just parrot back words, I want to understand it enough to understand it with confidence and some insight.

- G.R.

Hi G.R.,

Emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā) is an challenging topic for the uninitiated and it presents an almost impossible learning curve to beginners who are just starting to explore the Buddhist path...

3 Comments

Why is thinking about Death is so important to Buddhists (and can it help you)? - Buddhism Explained

5/13/2020

6 Comments

Despite common misconceptions, buddhists are not obsessed with death, they are obsessed with happiness.

buddha meditating on death and will use analytical meditation to process it

Ask a Buddhist what's the number one cause of death, and the Buddhist will say: "birth."

While it's true that Buddhism has a deep interest in the subject of Death, it is just a true to say that Buddhism has a deep interest in a great number of the things that seem to plague the human experience. However, the comfort with which Buddhists can talk about Death seems to make a lot of people uncomfortable and, as a result, it gets over-played in our media and culture.

So why does Buddhism have such a focus on Death?

6 Comments

Analytical Meditation: What is it and how to do it - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part Two)

4/21/2020

4 Comments

A very powerful, yet simple-to-understand practice.

Buddhist Analytical Meditation Blue Skies How To

Hi Michael, it's nice to see you again too. Thank you so much for the help. Let me see if I understand it clearly: what I usually end up doing is re-wording the meaning of the text, mainly so I can work with it in my head using my native language. So should I also meditate on the words longer in order to burn the meaning into my core? Would that would be the right thing to do if I don't need to know the exact words?

- N.V.

Hi N.,

Thank you for your question to clarify your understanding.

We want to move away from recitations and start down the path of analytical meditation to help you get around your short-term memory issues; and rote memorisation does little for our understanding and insight, memory issues or not.

So how do you meditate analytically? While there is a reason entire books and courses are written on this single topic, here is a simple process that you can use to start doing it today.

First of all, what is "analytical meditation" and how is it used?

4 Comments

Short-term Memory Problems Affecting Meditation & Dharma Practice - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part One)

4/18/2020

0 Comments

Memory Issues Affecting Mindfulness and Meditation Practices

I have a problem with my ability to meditate, in 2015 something happened to me and my short-term memory has been affected ever since, so now I have a really hard time memorising the texts. So, I decided to just keep the texts with me (in-hand) and read them, but it feels so artificial. I had the exact same problem during a recent retreat and I don’t know how to handle it. Should I just make an extra effort until I memorize it all, allowing myself to just "be peaceful" and read, or should I skip the recitation part entirely?

- N. V.

Hi N.,

So nice to see you again.

I can understand how it can be frustrating or feel limiting to have your short-term memory affect your ability to meditate or memorise the buddhadharma. I have good news: it doesn't have to be! May I offer an alternative to "artificially reading" the texts or skipping the recitation part entirely?

The purpose of the Dharma is neither memorisation nor recitation; at least not in its true sense. However, we can use

0 Comments

The Sagacious Buddhist Blog.
practical dharma teachings. questions|answers. essays.

How to Turn Your Practice into Progress Toward Buddhist Enlightenment (Q&A)

Mindfulness Meditation Not Working For You? Here's Why.

Meditating on Emptiness: Stop - You're Wasting Your Time - Buddhism Explained

Why is thinking about Death is so important to Buddhists (and can it help you)? - Buddhism Explained

Analytical Meditation: What is it and how to do it - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part Two)

Short-term Memory Problems Affecting Meditation & Dharma Practice - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part One)

Subscribe.

Categories.
(Spring 2020 and newer only.)

Archives.
(Spring 2020 and newer only.)

Author.

The Sagacious Buddhist Blog.practical dharma teachings. questions|answers. essays.

How to Turn Your Practice into Progress Toward Buddhist Enlightenment (Q&A)

Mindfulness Meditation Not Working For You? Here's Why.

Meditating on Emptiness: Stop - You're Wasting Your Time - Buddhism Explained

Why is thinking about Death is so important to Buddhists (and can it help you)? - Buddhism Explained

Analytical Meditation: What is it and how to do it - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part Two)

Short-term Memory Problems Affecting Meditation & Dharma Practice - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part One)

Subscribe.

Categories.(Spring 2020 and newer only.)

Archives.(Spring 2020 and newer only.)

Author.

The Sagacious Buddhist Blog.
practical dharma teachings. questions|answers. essays.

Categories.
(Spring 2020 and newer only.)

Archives.
(Spring 2020 and newer only.)