Tv, Rest And Free Time

[Feeble Dave]

I've slowly come to the conclusion that I am addicted to TV and Youtube. Every day I average around two to three 45m episodes and a lot of youtube videos.

I do this when I feel too tired to do useful things like studying, exercising, self inquiry or meditating. Leo has suggestions in his videos like reading, meditating or doing nothing. I'd be interested to hear how you manage your rest and free time, and if you have had this issue before.

Thanks.

[Taavi]

Have you considered, that your categorization of "useful things" and "non useful things" might be a part of you belief system and that most of it is rather arbitrary?

Once you categorize your time in a specific way you will feel compelled to act in a way according to that classification. If you have made an association between free/rest time and mindnumming entertainment (Tv and Youtube) you will be compelled to do so because it will be the "right" way to act for "you".

It is always just now, all the categorizations of time you have are concepts that have been instilled into you. They do not actually exist.

I am speaking from my own experience. Once I became aware that I was rubricizing time, the need to act in a certain way stopped to a large degree.

[Feeble Dave]

Thanks @Taavi, that is an amazing insight. I will act on this.

[Aliwash]

It may be helpful to tune into your emotions/body when you are driven to 'kill time' so to speak - is there something uncomfortable going on there that is looking for your attention?

[Jared Gregory]

Hello guys, 

I can admit i was one bad for TV. But now i do my positive routine, which includes getting up around 8.30 am do 15-20 minutes of meditation. Then after washed and dressed I go for a 20 minute walk around the woods which is a nice way to start my day. 

@Feeble Dave replace your addiction of TV with something that makes you happy like go for a few walks, it is vital that we send positive messages to the mind. Remember also that you are enough!

Hope this helps.

[Frogfucius]

TV and YouTube videos are perfectly fine, as long as you remain conscious while participating in those activities. Only when you lose consciousness, do you lose your will to stop.

Consciousness seems like a "get out of jail free" card, but you'll soon realize that remaining conscious during any activity, especially the more mind-indulging ones, becomes exceedingly difficult without practice.

[Taavi]

@Frogfucius If you would be conscious you would not be watching tv or youtube. The time you spend and the information your mind receives while doing those activities would be too pointless for you to participate in them. It also depends on the content. There is a big difference between watching something that is helping you to grow and something that is just a way to distract yourself. I am guessing that the latter is the case for most of tv and youtube, tv especially. 

It is also a really good excuse to watch out for, "I am conscious while doing it, so it`s okey". I have used it so many times and still keep falling for it from time to time. You are not very conscious while doing low consciousness activities. You may do them to observe yourself while partacipating in them, so you would understand better how you feel while doing them and why you do them. That raises your awarness. Watching tv for an hour while thinking that "I am conscious " is just watching tv for an hour for the sake of watching tv. 

[Frogfucius]

@Taavi Be careful on condemning certain actions, just because on the surface level they are low-conscious. There are enlightened masters that enjoy an abundance of sex, and other masters that enjoy smoking cigarettes habitually. When you can reach the level of embracing the formless and the form, any activity can be done consciously and still be enjoyed. You don't need to go live in the mountains and cut off from civilization, just because forms can be distracting. That's perfectly acceptable, but there are an infinite amount of ways to spend your limited time in the changing world of form.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Frogfucius

[Taavi]

@Frogfucius My reply was aimed for the people who are still pretty much completely in the dark about the nature of reality, like myself and are thriving for understandment/experience or whatever one might call it. In such situation watching tv, Game Of Thrones for example would be hard to do while being conscious, because you know how it affects the psyche. When you are striving for better functioning psyche you do not put an hours worth of Games of thrones in your "subconscious", at least not when you are conscious of the consequences.

I do not know what experience enlightened masters have while doing "low consciousness" activities but I have the opinion that it differs a lot from people who have not reached a high enough development and that they are not doing it to distract themselves. I might be wrong, I obviously do not know what enlightenment is.

I am not trying to condemn anything, just trying to be pragmatic so I would stay on track and not bullshit myself about low consciousness activities.

[Taavi]

@Feeble Dave How has it gone?

[Feeble Dave]

@Taavi I am taking small steps to reduce the amount of time I spend watching trashy videos and TV. I have started to meditate or nap when I get the urge to 'switch off' and watch TV. I found that history documentaries can be really interesting and seem to be a something a bit more useful than just netflix.

I also found that when I have the urge to be lazy and watch crap on TV, there is not really any cure. TV or naps don't remove the feeling and it just passes when it passes no matter what I do. Watch out for this! I aim to spend these periods eating healthy food, getting hydrated, then meditating, until it passes.

Thank you all for your input.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Feeble Dave