When your Practice "stops working"

[Happy Buddha]

NOTE: PLEASE READ THIS WITH YOUR HEART/INTUITION AND NOT WITH YOUR HEAD

Hi all, one of the main obstacles to maintaining a practice is that at some point most will hit what is the called THE WALL. Our practice seems to have stagnated. We are bored with it. Mindfulness doesn't work, at least for me.

There are two forces at work with us and this is what I call the Holy War. A part of me wants to grow and develop and another part of me wants nothing at all to do with it.

Our work is to know both of these sides. Practice is easy when we are in touch with only the bright side. But if our practice is going to transform us we need to get to know the dark side.

The dark side will fill your head full of reasons why not to sit today. So real practice is acknowledging these thoughts and turning to the bodily sensations which come along with them. We don't listen to the thoughts but to the bodily sensations. Think about this!!!


Practice is not about feeling good. We cannot always feel good, at least in the first years of practice.

Practice is more like looking in a mirror. A mirror reflects back what is happening on the outside. Mindfulness is also like a mirror, it reflects back what is happening on the inside. But if we only want to see the nice and pleasant stuff then our practice will be limited. Mindfulness shows us where we get hung, up, reveals to us our shortcomings and most of all how we relate to difficulty and experiences we don't want.

At some point our whole past is going to come and meet us on the cushion so you had better be ready for it. You get ready by finding support and guidance such as Everyday Mindfulness and perhaps a teacher to visit regularly, but most of all you are going to need courage and as much awareness as you can muster.

When things get difficult you reside in the body. The body is where it is all held in place and has been for decades. The thinking mind (unconscious thinking mind) is where we avoid it. A lot of our thinking is pure avoidance of what is really going on. We go into our head because we can think about ourselves and just about everything else and not have to experience ourselves.

Our believed thoughts keep the whole show going. It is the string which keeps the whole parcel of self tight and restricted.

Our work is to turn away from the thought made world and come into the real world of the body and its senses.

good wishes to all...Suryacitta

[Peter]

Great stuff.. Nice to see you back, Happy Buddha

Peter

[monkey]

Yes, thank you. 'the whole parcel of self tight and restricted' - absolutely.