It’s another Saturday uposatha and even though I managed to be out of bed by 4:30am to get in a good amount of formal sitting and despite having recited the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta and the karaniya metta sutta later in the morning I still feel as if something is lacking in my observance. The fact that I had to practice the guitar and therefore broke the seventh precept may have something to do with it or it could be the fact that I have spent the day stuck in a tiny East Village apartment with my son, daughter, wife and, now, my mother-in-law as well.
I guess what amazes me is that even 40 minutes of seated meditation and fifteen minutes of chanting didn’t do enough to cement the feeling of the observance in my mind. I know some people prefer a weekend observance day but I always find that it is harder to hold onto the thread when my day is spent looking after the kids and doing family stuff. Nonetheless, I am grateful to have the opportunity to practice and take the atthasilā, regardless of how imperfectly I do so.
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I too have found that my Uposatha observance is much more consistent on working days than it is on weekends, and for the same reason. I can’t order my family to not watch TV, play music, eat, or sing, nor can I take myself out of the home for the entire day and hide without offending my wife.
I just observe the best that I can for the circumstances, and it is not a waste — even though my wife and I would be having a serious problem today if I had tried to allocate 40 minutes to formal meditation in addition to the 15 or so minutes I spend chanting in the morning!
May your observance help to calm your mind, friend. Be well!
By: Hickersonia on 01/27/2013
at 12:02 am
As always, thank you for the fellowship and your thoughts! Be well and anumodana!
By: Upāsaka on 01/27/2013
at 12:08 am
To me it reads as if there is not very much relaxation but a lot “I want” in mind. That’s no accusation, only identification, I that is possible from the distance.
See, what again came to my mind this morning was, that most of the time my mental attention is with my thoughts, ideas and concepts. I ‘overestimate’ the ‘thinking realm’ way to much. For any reason – I guess it’s because of Habitual Tendencies (-; – I tend to wanting to get a solution for suffering from the realm of thinking.
But for me, and I only can speak of myself, relief from suffering starts with and takes place when letting go of the thoughts, ideas and concepts ‘I’ use to spin around in mind. Not till then I can begin to relax, forgive and radiate feelings of benevolence. These are no qoutes or something from a teacher we both know very well. This is my personal expierience from this morning. It took place while being amidst Berlin’s intra-urban commuting. No retreat, no formal sitting necessary for that. I am really greatful that this happend again, that I was able to remember to let go thoughts, relax. Relax and return to feeling.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Be well 🙂
By: mirco on 01/28/2013
at 9:23 am
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By: Happy Uposatha – A Little Saddha to Start Your Day « Cattāri Brahmavihārā on 02/10/2013
at 11:38 am
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By: Happy Uposatha – The Value of Khanti « Cattāri Brahmavihārā on 02/19/2013
at 12:33 am