"In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness". Daily meditation - All Welcome

[mangosTrickyrice]

Quote is from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, whoever he may be. I found it in Pema Chodron's Places that Scare You and it made me laugh.

This thread is for anyone at all who's interested in mindfulness and meditation. We had posters on the last thread from various Buddhist traditions, Christians lapsed and practising, plus your wishy-washy agnostics . Some of us aim for 10 minutes of meditation practice each day, others focus on mindfulness in daily living, and still others focus on naps horizontal meditation. So really anything goes. The original thread is here if you have a month or 2 spare to read, otherwise just jump in below.

HI CockneyDad,
Many thanks for all the book recommendations and weblinks and for your v helpful comment on the difficulty of understanding the sutras.

I've had a quick look at the accesstoinsight website and it looks really interesting / accessible. I love the idea that you can even download their application onto your iphone... how cool is that?

Another v basic question --- how do you know whether to read the sutras of the theravada tradition or the mahayana tradition or the other traditions? HOw much variation is there? Of should one just concentrate on the five precepts and work you way from there?

Hi Fluffy,

I used to spend ages looking at the different traditions. As I understand it, the basic core philosophical teachings are much the same in all of them, but the emphasis varies. Theravada seems to be very much into personal development and morality - 5 precepts, the 8 fold path, 4 noble truths, samatha / vipassana meditation. Mahayana seems (I'm no expert!) to add in the boddhisattva vow (i.e. all your actions are for the benefit of others) and japanese/chinese (zen/chan) emphasizes meditation (no surprise!) - but there is also Pure Land buddhism (where you aim to be reborn into the 'pure land'). Mahayana seems to be a little more mystical to me as well and a lot of books cite the Lotus sutra.

Tibetan buddhism (which supposedly includes theravadan and mahayana teachings) also has vajrayana - i.e. tantra - there is emphasis on gurus, controlling rebirth, visualisation meditations, initiations etc etc.

I used read books (mainly commentaries) from all of the traditions, but have decided recently to find some good translations of the theravadin Pali texts and take it from there. After that (if I ever make it that far!) I think I might have a go at mahayana sutras. Not sure.

I might have a look at:
www.wisdom-books.com/ProductDetail.asp?PID=14125

I do think that 'What the Buddha Taught' and 'Lotus in the Stream' are good books for some basics!

Its not easy to know whats best though !!!

when I say 'whats best' I mean what suits the reader at the time !

gone a bit quiet in here - is everyone sat on their cushions and breath-counting / visualizing / chanting / vipassana-ing ? ?

hello all, including cockney dad, it's lovely to read all your wise contributions, i've been mentally madly scribbling notes while not actually writing much myself (uncharacteristically)! it's half-term, of course, so not much time to myself. been trying to sit daily, if not always very conventionally...today it was sitting on the smooth wet stones of minehead beach, while the kids were pottering around scraping etchings onto boulders with sharpened pebbles...such bliss to shut my eyes and listen to the waves. i love the sea so much. and tonight i will try to sit here at my in-laws' in bristol, cramped on the bed beside DD, for a few moments in the dark before collapsing into sleep myself. i've been reading pema chodron, alternating her with 'a thousand splendid suns' which i am sure many of you have read and which is compelling and wonderful and tragic and so many other things too.
thinking of you all - back next week! hugs to all x x x

Hello everyone
How are you all.....hope you're all well. I've missed hearing everyone's news. Justa / Mango how are the babies?

I took a MN break for Lent and in that time I've fallen off the meditation band wagon but have discovered teh joys of my local Quaker group.
Is anyone up for a group meditation sometime?

PFS xxx

ooh - hello fluffy xxx i had thought i had definitely killed this thread! i name changed a while back btw - no prizes for guessing who this is though
i am NOT doing very well on the old meditation front at all, so yes, i am up for a group one, indeed i am - shall we resurrect the sunday nights at 10-ish? metta to all

Hello everyone
I hope you are all well?
I haven't been around for a while, busy with work and so on. But... now I am back I have a favour to ask. Can anyone recommend a good yoga retreat, for a beginner, 2 / 3 days (weekend is best)? I have no idea where to start.

Thank you!

Dear vezzie and others glad to see a post popping up on this thread! Managing the odd meditation here and there and twenty minutes of yoga when kids in bed which I am loving after several years of neglecting a yoga practice.
Vezzie- I would really recommend you find a teacher first locally and then go on a retreat either with them or recommended by them-it's so important to have a good teacher if you're going to give up a whole weekend, leave the kids etc etc to do a retreat.
I used to do yoga with Nigel at www.awayoga.com/index.html and then with Vicky at www.whyoga.com/ they are both fantastic and do run retreats but are very different in their approaches.

Hi All
Vezzie have a look at Taraloka's website - they do yoga and meditation and are organised by FWBO.
HOpe all well.
If anyone fancies resurrecting a group meditation let me know.
BTW I've name changed as the wisteria on our house is almost in bloom and fluffy slippers just seems so - wintery!
Hope all well.

Any one still meditating out there ?

Hi I am new to mumsnet but try and set aside 10 minutes a day to meditate. My family think I am a bit odd disappearing to go and do nothing, but I find it helps me deal with the tidal waves of stress and chaos that seem to engulf me! I would love to join others struggling to do this too!

Hi Austin7, I sit everyday for about half an hour - thankfully my other half is very supportive, as she has seen how it keeps me sane! Good luck with your practice !

Hi cockneydad - I wish I was more disciplined - I can't imagine being able to sit for half an hour. Have you been practicing for a long time? Does it get easier to do, like say brushing your teeth?

Hi Austin7 - it does get easier, but it takes a little while, a key thing it trying to initially relax as much as possible to start with before focusing on your meditation object (breathe / visualization, etc) and put aside the time so you don't feel rushed. I have been sitting every day (apart from rare evenings out/business trips) for over a year - before that at least a couple of times a week for a year or so and one and off for a few years prior to that. Even now I have the occasional session where 30 minutes seems like an eternity and peek at the clock! I also find that sitting with a group once a week really helps.

Thanks for your encouragement cockneydad. I have downloaded a day by day programme called Headspace which is a really friendly day by day course of mindfulness. Have just finished the take 10 i.e. 10 mins a day and am starting Take 15 later today. What I've been unable to do is carve out a regular slot, I know I am making excuses but I've got 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats etc etc. So the day tends to slp by and it's 10pm and I haven't meditated and I don't want it to become another stick to beat myself with!!!!

Hi Austin7 - glad to hear you're giving it a go - it is hard to put time aside, I have to be quite strict with myself and even then I occasionally miss a session. Only one kid here (another on the way) and a naughty adolescent dog, so I know where you are coming from ! It can be a bit counterproductive to get stressed over the meditation practice, probably better to do 10-15 minute when you can with as little stress as possible, rather than worry about doing longer sessions. It took me some time to be able to sit for 30 minutes (and work out a way of putting that time aside!). Good luck with the course !