The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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Ajisai
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:25 am

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Ajisai »

Because of my changing working and living conditions I have not been able to practice meditation everyday this week :cry: , but I keep practicing everytime I have the occasion too. I did a very good session two days ago, I never had so much concentration, things are improving.

I found a theravada association in Tokyo and there is going to be a Dhamma teaching+meditation time in september. Beginners can get personal advice from a monk and this might help me getting the right posture and stuff. I have already registered for the meeting and I am really happy :smile:
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Weakfocus
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:07 pm

Month 2

Post by Weakfocus »

After a mostly succesful first month -just skipped three sittings- I begin second month of daily meditation. Internet issues continue to plague me, so some entries might be logged at later dates.

This month I resolve to sit for at least 25 minutes (thanks Ajisai) every morning and evening. An increase of 5 minutes from first month, taking small steps since mind is always way too hyperactive and agitated to make a longer sitting possible.

20130915
<Failure, skipped morning sitting>
Did my evening sitting.

20130916
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130917
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130918
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130919
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130920
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130921
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130922
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130923
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130924
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130925
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130926
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130927
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130928
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20130929
<Failure>
Did my evening sitting.

20130930
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131001
<Failure>
Did my evening sitting.

20131002
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131003
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

From today till 14th Oct, I will do 30 minutes sittings.

20131004
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131005
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131006
Did my "morning" sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131007
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131008
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131009
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131010
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131011
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131012
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131013
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.

20131014
Did my morning sitting.
Did my evening sitting.
Last edited by Weakfocus on Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:20 pm, edited 54 times in total.
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Ajisai
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:25 am

Re: Month 2

Post by Ajisai »

Weakfocus wrote:I resolve to sit for at least 25 months every morning and evening.
Wow, that's a lot ! :mrgreen:

I skipped many sittings too but I'm back on regular practice. I'm trying to sit for 25 minutes too, like you, weakfocus.
I'm also looking forward next saturday, when I will attend a Dhamma talk and Vipassana meditation lesson. :buddha2:
User avatar
Weakfocus
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:07 pm

Month 3

Post by Weakfocus »

Second month of daily meditation is over. Mostly successful, I skipped some days because mind was too wild and frantic. Also, the quality of meditation was very poor on most days, I need to make bigger effort to focus on breath / one point.

Still, I have more self-confidence now that I can do daily meditation than 60 days ago. Never thought I would come so far, although I have so much farther still to go and gradually take my practice upto 60 minute sittings.

This third month I resolve to practice at least 35 minutes every morning and evening.

20131015
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131016
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131017
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131018
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131019
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131020
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131021
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131022
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131023
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131024
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131025
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131026
<Failure>
Evening sitting.

20131027
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131028
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131029
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131030
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131031
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

From today till 14 Nov, 2013, I resolve to sit and do anapanasati for 40 minutes every morning and evening.

20131101
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131102
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131103
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131104
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131105
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131106
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131107
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131108
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131109
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131110
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131111
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131112
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131113
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131114
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.
Last edited by Weakfocus on Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:01 pm, edited 22 times in total.
Lillypond
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:01 am

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Lillypond »

Sit down every night before bed for 30 mins to focus on breathing meditation. I may even get some decent sleep out of it. :zzz:
steeltarrow
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:15 pm

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by steeltarrow »

I set out to do sitting meditation for 20 minutes each night before bed. At some point I hope to add a second session earlier in the day.
Reductor
Posts: 1382
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:52 am
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Reductor »

Jhana4 wrote:As of July 20th 2013, I just passed my eighth year keeping a meditation log (no apps, just several small notebooks and a ball point pen ) and having sat at least once a day, every day of those 8 years.

One of the best decisions of my life.
This is awesome, and I've begun to do the same by logging each day in a notebook. Granted, I don't manage everyday, but I also don't go consecutive days without meditation. Even my misses are logged.

All in all, it's very helpful to me to have a physical object on my shelf.

Also, I don't usually time my mediations (setting a timer ensures I spend the first ten minutes letting go of the thought "how long has it been now?"). If I sit down with the intent to meditate, then that goes in the log as success. I only note the date, whether it was morning, daytime or at night, and what postures I used.
User avatar
Weakfocus
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:07 pm

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Weakfocus »

Reductor wrote:Also, I don't usually time my mediations (setting a timer ensures I spend the first ten minutes letting go of the thought "how long has it been now?").
Heh, I am the very opposite!

Because of my anxious nature and wild mind, I simply cannot sit without an alarm. Otherwise I always wonder how long have I sit? Has it been 20 minutes or 30? Did I 'oversit'?
Setting an alarm takes away that part of anxiousness, so I do not have to wonder about time or open my eyes to check how long it has been. When the alarm sounds only then is it time to move.
User avatar
Weakfocus
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:07 pm

Month 4

Post by Weakfocus »

Third month of daily sitting is over. A very mixed month. The biggest negative is that in many sittings there was barely any mindfulness, I daydreamt through the entire sitting. This daydreaming and fictional-world-building has been getting worse. I have also had to 'fight' myself to sit, the temptation to skip meditation has been so strong on some days.

On the positive side I finally find these daily sittings doable. The pain in legs and lower has reduced -or I have just developed resistance to it- and thus I am better able to devote attention to breath. Also positive is that while I was extremely sleepy and tired on some days, I managed to find some hidden reserve of determination to sit and meditate. And on some days this past month I experienced my best mindfulness, yet.

A month of polar opposites co-existing together, really. I'll focus on the positives and take them as sign of gradual progress.

And now on to the fourth month. This month I resolve to practice Anapanasati meditation every morning and evening for at least 45 minutes. My primary goal this month is to make stronger effort to improve the mindfulness and make the most of daily sittings, rather than use them to daydream as has unfortunately been happening past few days.


20131115
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131116
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131117
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131118
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting. *

20131119
Morning sitting. *
Evening sitting.

20131120
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131121
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131122
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131123
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131124
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131125
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131126
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131127
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131128
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131129
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131130
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

From today till 14th Dec, I will do 50 minutes sittings.

20131201
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131202
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131203
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131204
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131205
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131206
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131207
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131208
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131209
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131210
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131211
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131212
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131213
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131214
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

* late entries due to lack of internet connection.
Last edited by Weakfocus on Sat Dec 14, 2013 3:42 pm, edited 25 times in total.
redmaverick
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:25 am

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by redmaverick »

I am not able to keep up my resolution to sit everyday.
Last edited by redmaverick on Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:11 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Weakfocus
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:07 pm

Month 5

Post by Weakfocus »

Fourth month of daily sitting is over. A month of great growth, as illustrated by the facts that:
  • I did not miss a single sitting. Sure most morning sittings were done in late afternoon and most evening sittings late at night, but I did not skip a single sitting.
  • I do not have to fight myself to do the daily sitting anymore. For sure there is still some intial hesitation and tendency to procastinate, but it is readily overcome compared to how hard it was in the first two months.
  • The desire to abandon a sitting has decreased dramatically. It only arises in the first five minutes (initial anxiety) or the last ten minutes (physical discomfort, anxiety). The rest of the sitting goes very smooth.
  • I do not wonder about the time as much as I used to earlier. In the first couple months I used to think frequenty "another 5 minutes gone" and so on every 3-5 minutes. This month I only think "How long has it been" three or four times in the entire sitting.
  • Physical discomfort -specifically pain in the legs and lower back- has reduced significantly. A distinct improvement from the situation 4 weeks ago, and a huge improvement from the pain I faced in the second month. Towards the end of this month I found sitting for 50 minutes more comfortable than sitting for 30 minutes during the second month. Amazing.
  • Legs falling asleep has always been a big issue for me, and this nearly ruined my fifth ten-day course back in 2005. While my legs still fall asleep during sittings, now they wake up quicker. During first couple months it would take almost 120-150 seconds for them to come back to life, now it takes just 60-90 seconds.
  • In the first three months I could not keep my back straight for more than 3-5 seconds at a time. It was very pathetic situation as moving the body even a little ruins concenteration. I would have to constantly make small adjustments to posture to straighten the back. Towards the end of this month I found I can sit very still for 15-20 seconds at a time. A huge improvement.
  • I have finally started to feel some faint vibration type sensation around the upper lip/ moustache area. This is the area where I try to find the touch of breath. While the sensation is not strong or persistent enough to abandon the breath as primary object of meditation (that might take years at the rate I am progressing), this is progress compared to the first three month when I felt nothing.
The combined effect of all these changes is that the daily sittings have gone in four months from "Ye-gods-time-for-another-torture-session" to "I-think-I-can-do-this" to "Hey-this-is-not-difficult-after-all".

About the only negative I can bring up is that the mindfulness and concenteration is not increasing as much as I expected. I seem to have reached a plateau and progress in that area is glacial. The mind still goes on absurdly long daydreaming / fictional world building trips. I still lose all awareness of breath and its touch in many sessions, and have to strive hard to just remain focused on incoming and outgoing breath. But since the sittings are becoming easier, there is no reason to despair or any excuse to be lazy. I just need to keep striving diligently and let Dhamma take care of the rest.

This month I resolve to practice Anapanasati meditation every morning and evening for at least 55 minutes. The goal this month is to strive harder than before and try develop persistent awareness of the incoming and outgoing breath.


20131215
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131216
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131217
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131218
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131219
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131220
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131221
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131222
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131223
<Failure, 40 minute Morning sitting>
Evening sitting.

20131224
Morning sitting.
<Failure, 50 minute Evening sitting>

20131225
Morning sitting.
<Failure, 40 minute Evening sitting>

20131226
<Failure, 45 minute Morning sitting>
<Failure, 45 minute Evening sitting>

20131227
Morning sitting.
<Failure, 50 minute Evening sitting>

20131228
<Failure, 50 minute Morning sitting>
<Failure, 50 minute Evening sitting>

Due to certain changes (details in monthly report card) sitting for 55 minutes is no longer possible. It will take some time to ripen to sit for that long, and this past week I have been spending far too much time waiting for alarm to sound rather than focusing on respiration. Therefore to improve the quality of meditation, from today (29 Dec 2013) till 14 Jan 2014, I will deload and meditate twice daily for 50 minutes.

20131229
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20131230
"Morning" sitting.
<Failure, 45 minute Evening sitting>

20131231
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140101
<Failure, 30 minute Morning sitting>
<Failure, 40 minute Evening sitting>

20140102
Morning sitting.
<Failure, 35 minute Evening sitting>

Sitting for 50 minutes is also not possible, and these constant failure to sit for resolved time have been weakening motivation to medtiate. Time to swallow the ego and begin at bottom: from today till 14 Jan 2014, I will meditate twice daily for 40 minutes each.

20140103
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140104
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140105
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140106
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140107
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140108
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140109
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140110
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140111
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140112
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140113
Morning sitting.
Evening sitting.

20140114
Morning sitting.
<Failure>
Last edited by Weakfocus on Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:47 am, edited 41 times in total.
ES06
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 12:31 pm

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by ES06 »

I have two plans:
1) to meditate every morning 30 minutes up to last day of January. Starting tomorrow morning. Evening meditations if I feel like doing so...

2) Go to a meditation group in nearby town once during next month. (once in every month, actually)
Buckwheat
Posts: 970
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:39 am
Location: California USA

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Buckwheat »

I have hardly meditated the last few months. A while ago I sat everyday for about 90 days, but as soon as I missed a single day and lost my streak I quickly declined into spotty practice. In a talk, Ven Thanissaro recommended setting weekly goals so that a goal is not thrown out the window for a single day of lapse. I like one hour sessions, so my target will build some wiggle room on good days and use it up on lazy days.

Goal = 300 minutes (5 hrs) per week now thru January. (~45 min/day ; ~22 hrs/month)
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
redmaverick
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:25 am

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by redmaverick »

In a talk, Ven Thanissaro recommended setting weekly goals so that a goal is not thrown out the window for a single day of lapse.
That's me. I try to meditate everyday for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening. The day I lapse into not meditating, I feel depressed and give up on daily practice for the next few weeks/months.
I think a weekly goal is a much better approach. So even if you fail you can still get another chance to make up for it. The trick is to make realistic goals that you will be sticking to despite bad days. I will try it.
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Bodhisurfer
Posts: 55
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:23 pm
Location: Cornwall, England

Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Bodhisurfer »

Right its nearly the start of the 'New Year' its also my birthday... all good times for reflection :smile:
having seen this thread and knowing what i know about myself I'm going for (initially) 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes of Metta in the evening :heart:

and I'm going to turn this computer off and start now :anjali:
Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya
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