Meditation After Each Daily Activity - Reducing Craving & Self-Clinging Practically

[ardacigin]

I've been implementing this new habitual practice with 5 of my students. After seeing the results for myself, I wanted to share it with all of you.

Basically, all 5 of my students' spiritual development has turbocharged in a very observable and predictable way. However, there are some requirements and caveats for reaping such radical benefits.

1- The more you are skilled at meditation and know what we mean by 'reducing craving, dissatisfaction and self-clinging', the more benefit you'll get from this practice.

If you are somebody who sits down in meditation and dont know exactly what you are doing and trying to have particular experiences, the less you'll be motivated to start this practice, let alone maintain it. 

As a proof of this, 1 out of 5 of my students reaped the greatest benefit (by actually attaining stream entry) compared to the other 4. He was the most skilled in meditation compared to the rest because we've been working longer with him than my other students.

Your understanding of what meditation entails and your tangible skills of actualizing that understanding will help you reap the benefits of this practice. It is not luck based or random chance.

2- You need to maintain this regime of practice until you feel this organic and natural inclination to meditate multiple times a day.

Yes, there is no particular time frame for when you'll conclude this practice. In fact, that is sort of the idea. You want to completely rework your mind to perceive 'meditation' as a natural, organic and indispensable part of your life.

You'll continue this practice until there is no reason for me to tell you to meditate after each daily activity. You'll have this organic inclination to do it. You'll prioritize it until you arrive at the moment where the 'intentional activity' turns an actual 'habit'.

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Awakening in Daily Life: Practice Instructions

What to actually do?

- This practice asks you to meditate each time after you conclude an activity throughout the day. The meditation practice has to tangibly and directly reduce self clinging, dissatisfaction, delusion and craving. Otherwise, you can't succeed in this practice. (I'll explain the details below)

Understanding the Schedule:

- Here is an example of how to execute these instructions:

1- Waking up in the morning

2- Starting your 45 mins- 2 hour long formal meditation practice. Regardless of how busy you are, you'll start the day with a lengthy and deep meditation practice that chips a large chunk of your neurosis, self-perception and craving away. This is also the time to cultivate jhanic factors like joy, satisfaction and happiness.

3- Having your breakfast. Intend for your meditative practice to reduce craving as you are bringing the spoon towards your mouth. Dont focus on the actual movements of eating. Be aware of how your reacts with craving and generates self-clinging in the background as you are eating. Once you become aware of it, release it as you did so in the morning meditation. You'll maintain this lightness of meditation continue and lack of egoic tension-striving will get apparent.

4- Meditate for 5-15 mins. This is the first meditation after an activity (eating food). In this time frame, you'll do 3 things back to back quickly:

---- Briefly reflect on how well you've maintained reduction of craving and self-clinging in the prior activity.

---- Reduce craving, increase satisfaction and enhance your state of mindfulness further

---- Plan how you'll bring this state of mind to the next activity.

5- School work or business

6- Meditate for 5-15 mins.

7-Playing video games

8-Meditate for 5-15 mins.

9- Playing the guitar

10-Meditate for 5-15 mins.

11- Hang out with family and friends

12- Meditate for 5-15 mins.

.......

This is the gist of how you'll schedule your day. 

How to reduce craving, dissatisfaction and self-clinging in Meditation?

This is the crux of the practice. Unfortunately, you cant reliably do these things if you are a complete beginner in meditation. And such unpredictability will make this entire practice too challenging to do, let alone maintain.

I'd highly recommend you to read my prior forum posts on meditation and start your spiritual development right away. Keep a consistent practice and get a feel for where I'm trying to lead you towards.

After you do get some skill and have a sense of what we mean by reducing craving, now it is time to do it in short bursts and observe their effects.

Whenever you reduce craving (wanting things to be different than what they are), you are reducing this sense of being a separate self in a world of separate objects. 

However, this illusory perception rears its head back into your life when you start to do an activity. As you are eating food, the sense of self coagulates back and you are completely lost in the delusion once again.

Due to strong intentional mindfulness cultivation after each activity, you slowly realize there is no need to coagulate a self. The self only gets in the way and generates suffering. You observe that and stop this unconscious cycle a little bit.

Then the activity ends and you formally meditate for a few minutes to reinforce this understanding and move on to the next activity of your day. In a state of relaxation, intentionality, alertness and consciousness.

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Thats how you do the practice. It is a commitment for sure. It has a steep learning curve. It can be too much of a 'shock' to the system.

Regardless of how you may feel initially, start slowly integrating this practice. Over a periods of mere weeks and months, your life is going to change in magnificent ways.

Much love,

Arda

 

 

[Carl-Richard]

Makes sense as usual. I would emphasize the necessity of strictly commiting to the structure of the schedule so that the meditation is not driven by compulsion or uncertainty (or is distracting you during your daily activities), but is instead outsourced to a structure outside the craving and clinging self. You want to avoid making meditation a part of that which meditation is supposed to address.

[ardacigin]

7 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Makes sense as usual. I would emphasize the necessity of strictly commiting to the structure of the schedule so that the meditation is not driven by compulsion or uncertainty (or is distracting you during your daily activities), but is instead outsourced to a structure outside the craving and clinging self. You want to avoid making meditation a part of that which meditation is supposed to address.

Yes. The initial sense of 'commiting to a schedule' or 'I'm disciplining myself. I have to do this' sort of intentions will be completely gone as you observe how suffering is reduced, self-clinging is reduced, the truth is more clear and delusion of craving is going away. You'll be way more joyful, tranquil and happy which will positively reinforce this process and ultimately turn it into a habit.

Then it won't feel like 'work' but an indispendible fun and joyful process you choose to partake in :)) Spirituality will shave away its entire aversion component as a result of successful practice and completely merge with your entire life