CU-SeeMe

[ornoth]

Buddhist teachers stress the importance of two kinds of meditation: daily sitting, and sitting in a group with other practitioners. In my observation, it seems much more difficult for people to find time for daily practice, as opposed to sitting with a whole sangha.

Part of that is that group sittings have a formal schedule, whereas one can always time-shift an activity one does alone. And there’s undoubtedly the positive influence of peer pressure to get you out of the house and down to the meditation center, which you don’t have on your own.

But, as usual, there’s more to it than that.

I think a lot of people meditate in order to feel like they’re doing something good. Or, more circuituously, to look like they’re doing something good.

I think that’s the nub of the problem. No matter who you are, I think there’s a subconscious motivator to sit as a way of influencing either one’s own self-perception, or the way one is perceived by others. When your main reason for sitting is for external appearances, you’re no longer doing it for the inner benefit to yourself.

Buddhism is all about your internal mind states. If you practice in order to alter someone else’s perception of you, you’re not really doing the internal work that needs to be done. You need to engage in the practice for its own merit, not for how others look at you as a result.

I think that’s one of the reasons why people often find it hard to sit alone: because no one is watching!

I have to admit that I, too, have had difficulty maintaining a daily solo meditation practice. For whatever reason, sitting at home just doesn’t work for me.

However, I have been able to find one way to sit pretty routinely: by going ouside for half an hour during my lunch break at work. I’ve been able to sit in numerous parks, squares, and other public spaces.

Having grown up in Maine, I’m a nature-lover, and I love sitting outdoors, whether it’s by Boston Harbor, the Charles River, or in the urban canyons. If there’s a little breeze or a little sun, that’s enough to encourage me to plunk myself down and spend a little quality time observing. So far it has worked pretty well for me, and noon seems to be a better time for me than early morning or evening.

But finding it easier to meditate in public spaces has got me questioning to what degree I’m motivated by a desire for others—even strangers—to see me a particular way, versus doing it solely for the value inherent in meditation. It’s kind of hard to judge, since being outdoors at all and being publicly visible are pretty much synonymous when you live and work in the middle of a city of five million.

I think those motivational questions are something every meditator must watch. But personally, I’m just glad that I’ve found a time and method for daily practice that works pretty well for me.

Comments

[cozit.livejournal.com]

There's a good chance that it has more to do with a combination of not liking to be still and "getting bored" when nothing else is happening around you.

I find it *far* easier to go somewhere that I can hear and feel things around me, even when I'm not *really* paying attention to them, than to sit inside and "do nothing", hearing only machine noises.. and the creaking of the house from time to time (and if not machine noises, the sound of traffic from the highway that's a distance but not far enough not to hear).

[rhillai.livejournal.com]

Commenting more on this point:

"Buddhism is all about your internal mind states. If you practice in order to alter someone else’s perception of you, you’re not really doing the internal work that needs to be done. You need to engage in the practice for its own merit, not for how others look at you as a result.

I think that’s one of the reasons why people often find it hard to sit alone: because no one is watching!"

This drives home to more than just meditation. It is a core philosophy that people should address, but rarely do. I tend to use an example of gift giving or doing a good deed. People tend to expect, in some odd way, a thank you in some manner. And in that expectation is the same principle as meditating for how others look at you as a result. There is a need for some feedback in some form. Something to bolster one's Self.

A "thank you" creates that feedback to reinforce oneself that one is doing good. Although sometimes it also can be a bit more negative in that the "thank you" is used as a self acknowledgment in the eyes of the recipient. In other words, it's a "I did something good for you and I want you to acknowledge it."

But, both are going down the wrong path. The deed, whether meditating or gift giving or doing good should be done for the prime purpose of one's Self. It should be something that you do from something that you are. If the act is pure, no thanks are ever wanted or needed. In meditation, it matters not whether it is done standing in a room of people where they notice or done in the same room where they do not notice. The people are not part of that equation in the purification of the Self.

So, meditation is one way to work on one's Self. But, there are a myriad of other ways. The next time you do something good or give a gift -- watch yourself on how you receive the thanks. Did getting a thank you make you feel better? Put a smile on your face? Brighten your day? Or should the value of who you are in the act of giving be enough?

Babbling enough,
Mark

[ornoth.livejournal.com]

Still, it's pretty good babble. I've actually worked on generosity, and observed the changes in how I react to my own gift-giving. It's difficult to take ego out of the equation, although I think I'm getting better at it than I used to be.

Be on the lookout for more on the topic of the self and ego in an upcoming posting. I think you might be interested, if you aren't already familiar with the planned topic.