Techniques and Practices.

There are lots of them!

 If you go to a Dharma centre you will acquire a whole plethora of chants, mantras, pujas, prayers…things to do. All of them are ways to remembering Pure Awareness.

 I have lots of things to do every morning – a routine of practices to go through – which keeps me disciplined and connected. It is good to have a small shrine area, and gradually we find we acquire text and prayers. It’s our part of the day, although we might find we have to get up a little earlier to fit everything in!

 Sometimes we need a simple routine to keep us focused: I can put a few simple practices up on this site, but all they are are reminders of…Pure Awareness! It is so easy nowadays to not bother, or to wander off to do something more interesting.

 Doing practices precisely and mindfully is important. Most important is genuine intention and an altruistic attitude – to do the practices for the benefit for all sentient beings. To be a better person in order to be able to help all sentient beings is compassion at work. Thinking this way gives the practice real importance, and helps take oneself out of the picture.

 It is all about our conduct, which is the continuity of meditation, and is therefore reveals compassion in action. It’s all very well being scholarly and knowing lots of elitist jargon, but the intention in the heart is what counts.

 The one thing we must not lose is critical thinking: to know why we are doing a practice. It is so easy for practice to become a life-style. Mingling practice with daily life is merely mindful awareness in our conduct, so that the meditation is not lost. This does not mean we are stiff, but very soft and pliable…so make sure you laugh a lot!

 Techniques and Practices are all about being happy in all circumstances. Remember, we are not monks and nuns! We are householders, so everything we encounter is part of our practice…all those rich emotions.

My wife and I might have a disagreement about something, and we talk it out. It seems to get worse. We talk some more. We get exhausted. We give up. We listen. Awareness is just there…the atmosphere lightens…Conflict is something that occurs between our relative reality and our absolute reality.

 Practice and Techniques are toys: the intention is remain in pure awareness, which is naturally present.

Tony