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R E S O U R C E S

Intro-duction

Although some of the material in this section may well overlap or repeat that in other sections I thought it useful to present the theme as a separate topic considering that it is a question commonly asked by lay people at the end of monastic meditation retreats - "What do we do when we get home? How do we practice?" Indeed, in the structured and peaceful environment of a monastery it is hard to imagine how the silence, space, kindness, compassion and patience of a retreat can be integrated or made use of in what can often be a hectic, hurried and seemingly careless society.

So, how to bake the cake? Cook the noodles?
An initial key factor is developing a good understanding of the Four Noble Truths. This may be either theoretical or experiential. As regards the latter it is unfortunate but sometimes we need to bang our head against the wall a few (many, many) times to understand that it is not a healthy way to live. This is suffering - often the spur which provides the energy for practice. But it is when things are going well that the effort is best made - if you are to run a race then it is no good starting a fitness programme the day before. The same is true internally, emotionally. Either way - getting started is the starting point, making some determination in one's life. And then letting it lapse? And then redetermining . . . and then . . .

It takes practice.

"Mindfulness is the path to the Deathless.
Headlessness is the same as death."   BUDDHA

In the Four Noble Truths the Buddha laid out three aspects of each Truth:
1) Knowledge of the truth itself
2) Knowledge of what has to be accomplished regarding this knowledge of the truth
3) Knowledge that what has to be accomplished has been accomplished.
This is looked at in more detail elsewhere (see: TEACHINGS) but the key factor is knowledge - actually knowing where one is. What's happening? Where am I? What am I doing now? Simple questions perhaps but often the mind is so caught up in its own dialogue that the context is lost. Day dreaming again! Wake up!
The fact is though, that when you realise that you have been day dreaming that is the point at which you have woken up - to the fact that you were asleep. It is this point at which mindfulness can either be strengthened or lost again.

How to strengthen mindfulness?
There are several exercises (techniques) available but the foundation of all of these is concentration. [See TEACHINGS-8FOLD PATH-SAMADHI and LIFESTLYE-MEDITATION].
It takes practice.

No time!
This is probably the most common cry of the lay practitioner. In a monastery so much is structured to provide both reminders (signs) and direct encouragement to practice as well as the time to do so. It is set up as the ideal environment. The skill of the lay practitioner is finding ways to emmulate aspects of monastic structure that have been found useful. This is obviously difficult if you have never visited or stayed in one so hopefully the item HOME above holds a few ideas you might find useful. Any approaches you have personally found helpful which could be added to this item would be well considered - send me an e-Mail.

Other items above:
Dana (generosity) - Sila (morality) - Bhavana (cultivation): this is often referred to as the 3-fold lay practice and can be seen as a formularisation of the Buddha's exhortation - "Do good, refrain from wrong and purify the mind." Download the song / chant and remember it often. [see RESOURCES]

Another grouping the Buddha taught was:
• Being endowed with Energy,       • Being endowed with vigilance,
• Leading a balanced life,                • Association with spiritual friends.
This last item - spiritual friends is important and warrants a side discussion on its own.