Staying motivated

[Jgood]

Hello- I have been practicing Theravada meditation and Sila for about three years, and meditation for about five years. I have established a firm daily morning meditation/puja practice. However, particularly during the lockdown and with my condition working online, all the time alone at home with nothing to do has really exacerbated my mental feeding on entertainment and endless stimulation from the internet during the day and into the evening.

Recently, I have attempted to combat my bad habits through implementing ground rules to follow. The five precepts are easy for me and I want to work towards a greater degree of renunciation, though not fully following the eight precepts (except on Uposotha days). Since writing music is a meaningful passion of mine, I don't have the motivation to follow the 8 precepts fully. For now, my goal is to cut back on meaningless entertainment, time wasting, and to become a better lay practitioner of the Dhamma.

My question is, for people who are disciplined in their personal lives, how do you stay motivated to uphold that discipline? As we all know, the results of the practice are quite subtle and slow to ripen and the practice oftentimes arduous. To me, it oftentimes feels comparable to walking through a desert. On top of that, the world around, and people we interact with, are often antagonistic to practice of the Dhamma.

And I've have heard much about simply being mindful, watching the breath, staying centered yadayada throughout the day. But how do you motivate yourself to keep your mind well-thatched, to endure the pain connected to renunciation, when the results of that pain and effort are subtle, slow to ripen, and seem negligible compared to the effort involved ? And when there is no guarantee that the results will even ripen in this life?

[confusedlayman]

[coconut]

And I've have heard much about simply being mindful, watching the breath, staying centered yadayada throughout the day. But how do you motivate yourself to keep your mind well-thatched, to endure the pain connected to renunciation, when the results of that pain and effort are subtle, slow to ripen, and seem negligible compared to the effort involved ? And when there is no guarantee that the results will even ripen in this life?

As per the panner sutta, forceful suppression is required at first until effort turns into habit, there's no way around that. "Forceful suppression" of keeping bad thoughts away, not focusing on breath, fyi.

However, you need to know what is the bare minimum that one requires to be mindful, and that is second factor of the noble eightfold path: Right Thought.

You don't have to sit in meditation for 2 hours every day, you don't have to chase your breath every day, you don't have to be celibate, you don't have to follow the 8 precepts (just the 5 will do).

The bare minimum you need to do and master 24/7 is:

1) Be aware of your thoughts arising and ceasing
2) If they are cruel, harmful or sensual thoughts, dispel them, as per MN 20
3) If they are not cruel, harmful or sensual thoughts, then let them pass on their own, as per MN 19

This assumes you have Right View, and you know what is wholesome/unwholesome. If you are not sure, then you should study samma ditthi sutta.

But after you have Right View, then you need to master right thought, which MN 20 explains how to do. You need to have 24/7 awareness of your thoughts.

That's the basics and the foundation, most important thing you can do with your time more than anything else. Before you even sit down to meditate.

Also, you're not supposed to "Endure pain of renunciation", you're supposed to have good thoughts, and be secluded from sensuality, attain real jhana enough times that you are no longer attracted to sensual desires. Thinking you need to be masochistic and endure mental pain is wrong view. Your goal is to attain real first jhana, and the requirement for that is 1) secluded from unwholesome mental qualities (which is handled by the path factors 1-7) and 2) secluded from sensuality.

[Alino]

Dear Jgood,

It's ok to fall while you climbing, it's ok that some parts of the stream pulls you away when you swim it for the first time. You dont know the topology of your mind and your kamma, you can only learn it by going through it and confronting yourself to your mind.

You can encounter an obstacle, some strong stream of kamma, something you delighted almost in the past, will pull you away and make you suffer, eventually you will fall from your practice and lead a headless life for a while. But as you will experiance desenchantement from sensual stimulation you will go back and try to cross the stream and knowing that at certain point there will be a strong stream that made you sweem back last time, you will be more prepared for it...

It's ok if you fall, important is to percevere and try again making some ajustments. Take it as an experiment : how will behave my mind if I suppress these stimulations? And when Mara will attack you, say : its realy unpleasant feeling of pressure, but iam not dying, all is good, so what if I dont follow this pressure, what will happen if I stay still? Then keep going your routine. And eventually this pressure could persist for hours or days, but at some point it will ceasse. And when you know by direct knowledge that the pressure of sensuality and flames of anger have an end - they will not be so threatening for you because you know that they are impermanent, so it will be easy to going through it next time...

It took about 8 years for me to be comfortable on light 8 precepts (sometimes I can sleep more, eat after noon, or watch a movie), with falls, mistakes, errors, losses and victories...

The best motivation is understanding the nature of dukkha. Because even if you fall, very soon you will find sensual stimulations unsatisfactory and find that purity, joy, lightness and happiness of 8 precepts surpasses it complitely. It's not so easy to find happiness in renunciation, but once you tasted freedom, you couldn't come back and burden your mind with all these sensory stimulations...

Reading Suttas is realy inspiring, reading biography of great Masters is inspiring, but finding inspiration within your own practice is the best ! Noble friendship (Ajahn, or spiritual friend, or Dhamma forums) is also crutial.

Anyway try it...it costs nothing... just do it, and be patient as long as you can, if you fall, it's ok, learn from it and then try again...

[Jgood]

Also, you're not supposed to "Endure pain of renunciation", you're supposed to have good thoughts, and be secluded from sensuality, attain real jhana enough times that you are no longer attracted to sensual desires. Thinking you need to be masochistic and endure mental pain is wrong view. Your goal is to attain real first jhana, and the requirement for that is 1) secluded from unwholesome mental qualities (which is handled by the path factors 1-7) and 2) secluded from sensuality.

Thank you for the advice. I have a chronic imbalance of the wind element in my colon (closest thing in Western medicine would be "irritable bowel syndrome"). I have tried treating it, and though I can manage it and reduce symptoms, I can never completely eliminate it. It is a constant feeling of discomfort and unease in my gut that persists throughout meditation, even in deeply calm states. Due to the gut-brain axis, my mental activity is quite influenced by the state of my gut. Anyway, seeing as a calmed body is a prerequisite of attaining Jhana, it seems unlikely that I'll get to that point. I can definitely comprehend the pain better in meditation and use it as an object of focus and contemplation, but it never goes away.

[Jgood]

Dear Jgood,

It's ok to fall while you climbing, it's ok that some parts of the stream pulls you away when you swim it for the first time. You dont know the topology of your mind and your kamma, you can only learn it by going through it and confronting yourself to your mind.

You can encounter an obstacle, some strong stream of kamma, something you delighted almost in the past, will pull you away and make you suffer, eventually you will fall from your practice and lead a headless life for a while. But as you will experiance desenchantement from sensual stimulation you will go back and try to cross the stream and knowing that at certain point there will be a strong stream that made you sweem back last time, you will be more prepared for it...

It's ok if you fall, important is to percevere and try again making some ajustments. Take it as an experiment : how will behave my mind if I suppress these stimulations? And when Mara will attack you, say : its realy unpleasant feeling of pressure, but iam not dying, all is good, so what if I dont follow this pressure, what will happen if I stay still? Then keep going your routine. And eventually this pressure could persist for hours or days, but at some point it will ceasse. And when you know by direct knowledge that the pressure of sensuality and flames of anger have an end - they will not be so threatening for you because you know that they are impermanent, so it will be easy to going through it next time...

It took about 8 years for me to be comfortable on light 8 precepts (sometimes I can sleep more, eat after noon, or watch a movie), with falls, mistakes, errors, losses and victories...

The best motivation is understanding the nature of dukkha. Because even if you fall, very soon you will find sensual stimulations unsatisfactory and find that purity, joy, lightness and happiness of 8 precepts surpasses it complitely. It's not so easy to find happiness in renunciation, but once you tasted freedom, you couldn't come back and burden your mind with all these sensory stimulations...

Reading Suttas is realy inspiring, reading biography of great Masters is inspiring, but finding inspiration within your own practice is the best ! Noble friendship (Ajahn, or spiritual friend, or Dhamma forums) is also crutial.

Anyway try it...it costs nothing... just do it, and be patient as long as you can, if you fall, it's ok, learn from it and then try again...

Thank you

[coconut]

Also, you're not supposed to "Endure pain of renunciation", you're supposed to have good thoughts, and be secluded from sensuality, attain real jhana enough times that you are no longer attracted to sensual desires. Thinking you need to be masochistic and endure mental pain is wrong view. Your goal is to attain real first jhana, and the requirement for that is 1) secluded from unwholesome mental qualities (which is handled by the path factors 1-7) and 2) secluded from sensuality.

Thank you for the advice. I have a chronic imbalance of the wind element in my colon (closest thing in Western medicine would be "irritable bowel syndrome"). I have tried treating it, and though I can manage it and reduce symptoms, I can never completely eliminate it. It is a constant feeling of discomfort and unease in my gut that persists throughout meditation, even in deeply calm states. Due to the gut-brain axis, my mental activity is quite influenced by the state of my gut. Anyway, seeing as a calmed body is a prerequisite of attaining Jhana, it seems unlikely that I'll get to that point. I can definitely comprehend the pain better in meditation and use it as an object of focus and contemplation, but it never goes away.

I have crohn's disease, something way more severe than IBS, and I've had it my whole life. I keep it in remission through diet, the biggest triggers are insoluble fiber, caffeine, dairy, wheat. I mostly eat meat, and I take vitamin D3, K2-MK4, and A (Retinol). I follow the paleo keto diet, https://www.paleomedicina.com/en

Never eat any vegetable raw, make sure it is well cooked and avoid wheat and foods with phytic acid.

See if that helps you.

[chownah]

I think the buddha teaches that motivation come from seeing the drawbacks of harmful actions and seeing the benefits of helpful actions.....so I guess maybe one should make a habit of thinking about the drawbacks of harmful actions and the benefits of helpful actions.....I think that we mostly only just try to avoid the bad reactions without thinking about how it is our actions which bring them....doing this would be avoidance when what we really need is clear discernment directed at how it is our actions that cause the drawback. If one discerns the actions which bring the drawback one may be motivated to alter the intentions we have which bring about the actions. (Similar words can be applied to helpful actions and the intentions which bring them about)
chownah

[Samana_Johann]

Good householder. It's hardly possible to enjoy entertainments via internet while seriously keeping precepts and of course to stick with aviding sensual pleasures and turn toward holly life, is supportive in actually beinging to stay with the basic conducts necessary toward path, good householder. Stealing signs, sound, smell, taste, touch, ideas goes deep yet it's merely hypocratical if not able to conteract on gross level. Sacca and great fear of the backwards of unskilful deeds are subjective to stay motivated, as well as non association with common thieves and their ways, good householder. Especially the finer material realm of Mara, the realm of the lower Devas and Yakkhas of the Internet has huge impacts yet in both directions, that of the fool and that of the wise. If staying by that of which is actually given without strings toward world, just by that precept, things will go very straight toward good.

Would goid householder be willing to look himself down from taking part in thievery communities, undertakings and livelihoods (ways to gain certain happiness)?