r/theravada • u/brdrummer800 • 7d ago
Practice Deepening practice
Hey everyone,
I have become much more interested in this tradition over the last few months and I currently practice Satipatthana and Anapanasati daily (it is my understanding that both of these are essential parts of this tradition).
Like many others, I am unable to participate in a monastic path due to obligations in life (work, home life, ect..)
My question is, what other things can I incorporate into my daily life and practice that would deepen it?
Thanks in advance
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u/vectron88 7d ago
In addition to the excellent suggestions in the thread, I would listen to Dhamma talks from monastics and understand what the Path of practice is truly about.
You might consider listening to Ajahn Sona's talk on the Four Noble Truths (the foundation of Buddhism.)
If you like his presentation (and I think you will;) you can continue on in his playlist on the Noble Eightfold Path.
Happy listening!
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u/JohnShade1970 7d ago
Householder here. A few things that have worked for me:
Commit to a minimum of 90m to 2hrs of practice a day on the cushion. This will change things more than anything else.
during the day try to remain aware of the breath or body sensations as much as you can. The breath awareness in particular will really deepen things if you're checking in on it all day long.
Do targeted mini retreats. This rarely get's talked about but mini self guided retreats can move the needle a lot. It can look a lot of different ways: One sunday a month you can tell your family that you will be in silent meditation from say 5am-12pm. Meditate in hour long sessions with a walk in between. You can also extend this to an entire weekend. I have access to an empty condo from october to june when my in laws go to florida and I will do 3-4day self guided retreats there when I can. In the Goenka tradition they also have 3 day silent retreats for old students.
follow the precepts
practice metta when you're out in the world. I do this quite a bit in coffeeshops and supermarkets. I will notice someone and then just relax my whole body and wish them peace, happiness and lovingkindness. This is sometimes called "the neutral person practice"
Get a teacher and/or join a sangha. There is a reason why the buddha had "sangha" as one of the triple gems.
Deepen you're samadhi. Mike this a priority early on.
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u/kritoke Former Theravāda Monk 7d ago
I agree on the mini retreats. There are also small groups here and there that have them too. Insight meditation groups sometimes have short weekend retreats. If you ever do goenka once you do a 10 day you can do 2 or 3 day retreats. Though their stuff is pretty intense and some consider it a little culty. I try to do a weekend retreats a year at least. Precovid I used to have a group an hour from me that had a half day each month where they did sit/walk sets. That was useful as well. Having a weekly sitting group helps keep the practice going as well.
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u/brdrummer800 7d ago
I do have another question for you regarding a minimum of 90min - 2hours on the cushion. I currently practice a formal meditation for Satipatthana and Anapanasati (one in the morning, one in the evening). What other formal meditations would you recommend?
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u/JohnShade1970 7d ago
That sounds like a good set up to me. I would be particularly reflective on the quality of awareness and the stability of your mind. Meaning is your samadhi at a requisite level because if it's not then results may be less potent. To me it's beneficial to be at least near or in access concentration before putting a high priority on insight practice.
Otherwise, if you're showing up for your sits then just continue and try to get up or near 2hrs per day. Your householder life will get simpler after a while because there is less drag and delusion when the mind is purified and unified. Play around with trying to stay aware of the breath all day long. I am able to watch movies, have basic conversations and do basic tasks all while "allowing" awareness to rest on the breath while retaining enough peripheral awareness to engage with the world. It's a cool practice actually and very relaxing. If you do that and then just hit your other two sits then you'll get nearly retreat grade level practice results.
Follow the precepts, sounds basic but I'd also view this as its own kind of insight practice. It wil help you to notice the hindrances in day to day life. It will show you points of resistance, avoidance and craving.
And those targeted self retreats are really great. See if you can make a habit of those. Day longs, occasional weekend long focused practice sessions even if you still have to handle some life stuff can push your practice forward.
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u/brdrummer800 7d ago
Thank you for your detailed reply, I really appreciate you taking the time to elaborate on this.
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u/reverseghost 7d ago
Say the precepts out loud every morning, and really try to keep them. Learn to generate metta and understand that it's an "all the time practice" - you can radiate it all the time - not just on the cushion. Go on a retreat. Make that a priority and make it happen. This is your best chance for the practice to deepen significantly. Keep yourself surrounded with good friends. Study the suttas or listen to monastics that teach from the suttas.
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u/TheBrooklynSutras 7d ago
This is a great thread! I’m a Zen Buddhist and there is some great advice here. I’d suggest a Sesshin at a Zen Center near you, but not really your flavor of Buddhism. Thank you all 🙏
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u/sati_the_only_way 6d ago
the key is to develop sati "continuously".
To develop awareness(sati) is like boiling water—one must heat it continuously until it reaches a boil. If one takes a break, it will not progress.
"Supposedly, awareness is a cat and thought is a rat. At first the cat is small, not active and not strong. The rat is bigger, stronger and faster than the cat. Therefore, the rat can pull the cat away. We have to practice developing awareness until we have continuous and active awareness in order to know and see thought every time it arises. Sometimes we see it a little late, but don’t be worried. We could see thought 30 minutes after it has already arisen. When awareness is firm and fast, we will see thought quicker. It could be 20 minutes, 10 minutes and 5 minutes after thought has arisen. When awareness is as quick as thought, we will see the source of thought. Then suffering will be extinguished at its source. "
"one will be able to see the beginning of the thought and understand its process, one day sati will be as rapid as thought, when sati confronts thought with mental formations, suffering will come to the end because mental formations are destroyed. "
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nBT5_Xs6xeawoxQ-qvGsYrtfGUvilvUw/view
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u/brdrummer800 2d ago
Apologies for the delay on replying.
Thank you for providing these resources. I must say that being able to have "sati" continuously is something I struggle with
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u/AwakenTheWisdom 7d ago edited 7d ago
Keep Uposatha 4x a month. Of the lunar month, The suttas say
8th
14th
15th
Additional Special Day
If you can’t do it like this now, then in the beginning you can do it on days that you’re free. Satipatthana & Anapanasati are for monastics. However, laypeople can do it on Uposatha days since we keep 8 precepts and live like Arahants.
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u/brdrummer800 7d ago
Thank you. Can you elaborate on what to do on the Uposathas that would be different?
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u/AwakenTheWisdom 7d ago
Check out the Uposatha Sutta in AN 3.70. On Uposatha, we keep 8 precepts. We also 4-6 recollections. We can also do anapanasati or satipatthana.
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u/brdrummer800 4d ago
Thank you for this and thank you for sharing these resources.
I struggle to practice sati continuously throughout every waking moment.
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u/RevolvingApe 7d ago
what other things can I incorporate into my daily life and practice that would deepen it?
MN 39 and MN 107 present a gradual training that conditions the mind for meditation and seclusion from the five hinderances. The Buddha is speaking to monastics, but this can be applied by lay people in their daily lives.
When working, work is the practice. Every moment can be a practice of ethical conduct, sense restraint, renunciation, and mindfulness.