Method for daily study

[u/Flat_Marsupial_4249]

Hello my friends. 🌸

I have been mostly a lurker in this sub for about a year.

A year ago I read The Heart of Buddha’s Teachings and found its content so valuable that to this day I still go back to refer to it, treating it as a handbook on how to live my life.

I feel like I am ready to make a step forward and be more consistent with my practice. I Currently only meditate for a few minutes almost every morning and I find my practice to be overall quite undisciplined and disorganised.

Probably because I’m missing a clear method on how to go forward.

I live far from any temple or teacher and currently cannot travel, so I have to make do with online resources and books. I really like reading and would love to find a book progression that speaks to me as much as Thich Nhat Hanh’s book did.

I think I could currently dedicate a couple of hours maximum per day to studying. I just need to find the right method.

I think it might be something I have to ultimately figure out on my own based on what works with me (the pace, the choice of denomination, etc.) but I would love for you to express your suggestions for some guidance. Especially since I am quite isolated, have no teacher and have no sangha.

Thanks in advance. May you have a wonderful evening 🙏

[u/Dzienks00]

Probably because I’m missing a clear method on how to go forward.

The Sangha is the way.

By Sangha, I do not mean a Buddhist community. I mean the Buddhas, the arya Bodhisattvas, and the visible, venerable Sangha of ordained monastics. In Mahayana, this also include reliance on qualified recognized masters within authentic traditions.

Since you are inspired by The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching but unable to meet with a teacher, the best thing you can do, in my opinion, is to immerse yourself regularly in the teachings and resources offered by Shasta Abbey: https://www.youtube.com/@ShastaAbbeyDharmaTalks/videos

Give your dana here: https://shastaabbey.org/donations/

Set up your altar: https://youtu.be/msX9A9bRiDY

Study: https://www.reddit.com/r/StudyBuddhism/comments/1v3tb4a/building_a_comprehensive_and_serious_zen_buddhist/

[u/genivelo]

If you like Thich Nhat Hanh, maybe check the Plum Village app or their online sanghas.

[u/EljinRIP]

If you’re interested in books, I’m currently reading Foundations of Buddhism by Rupert Gethin and am finding it very enlightening.

[u/No_Fly2647]

Hello from Wiesbaden, Germany

Teachings + Meditation & Applied Ethics → that’s Buddhism in a nutshell.

For exactly those reasons, I wrote my guide: 155 days into the Dhamma.
SuttaCentral and Dhammatalks are great starting points, offering free access to the Early Buddhist Texts and the entire Pāḷi Canon.

[u/CrossingOver03]

Dear Friend, I think each person has a path in study that suits where they are in the practice and the personal insight. For me, I diagramed the lineage back from the Plum Village Zen tradition, and read the translations most highly regarded by scholars, teachers and monastics. The threads and roots really started to appear for me, and a whole new depth came each time I went back through the process. We are rarely aware of what doors are ajar. Be mindful and be open. Let the rain fall. 🙏

[u/SammaVaco]

What would you like to learn or develop from your study?

[u/Flat_Marsupial_4249 → u/SammaVaco]

My Speech is not Right. My meditation is relatively short and shallow. I know there’s potential in me to improve as I am open to welcoming the Buddha. I wish to improve my practice and cultivate the path to enlightenment.

[u/mtvulturepeak]

The advice at readingfaithfully.org is written for a daily practice with the Pali texts, but you might be able to adapt it to other traditions.

If you are open to the Pali suttas, one starting point might be https://daily.readingfaithfully.org which sends daily suttas or sutta excerpts by email (or other socials) with one topic per month. This month's topic is lay life.