I echo the above replies and share the experience you have. I feel Iām even doing it right now with this new course and looking into all the other areas of my life. Thank you for helping to cultivate more awareness because sometimes I donāt even realise Iām doing it.
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I do this also. In my journal pages, I often see over and again this: āwhy do I not give myself what I want and need?ā For the first time in my journey, but it is still an everyday effort, I am trying to ignore my mind and just do. Even if itās a short time, it still brings my day and my life value. Trying to remember that when itās hard. 
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Perfectionism can be such a limitation! I can relate. One of my new mantras āToday, iām doing the best I can with what I haveā¦ā everyday is different. One way I hold myself accountable is sort of living in a constant witness state, allowing the witness to subsume the ego, itās like youāre watching your āselfā but not in a state of judgement more from a center of loving awareness.
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This first lesson really opened my eyes to the fact that just being routine about a spiritual practice allows a foundation to start forming a new spiritual vantage point. This new frame of mind can be used to āflipā real world āproblemsā into joyous spiritual work, making even sitting in traffic a delight.
I love the example of kids taking away from your practice, Ram Dass said if thatās the case, then try to wake up earlier. I have come to this conclusion on my own and found that waking up a half hour earlier for meditation has positively affected my ability to think more mindfully throughout the day.
I also took to heart when he said something like āthere are emergency services out there, I can go away for a short time everyday.ā
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I appreciated when he said that we play in a spiritual playing field all the timeā¦ eventually - because I am more and more of the mind that everything is spiritual practice - not to belittle that I also do meditation practice or chanting regularly and like others here I do it pretty regularly but sometimes have to rely on different guided sources to keep me focused. It does seem like some of the initial magic has worn off like he says in the bullet points. But every thing I do is about me becoming more conscious in my life. I am always dealing with the voice in my head - always trying to do better - to love myself more and come from my heart. I am actually disappointed the class doesnāt come with the prerecorded guided meditation and chants like others have I really find those help me. Am I codependent in why practice? maybe because I tend to feel isolated - and I drift off on technology. Also in silence all that buzzing of the mind!! I love his guided meditations that take me deeper into me heart.
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I am agreeing that I need to connect with others - and balance the time alone in practice with the need to feel the sangha or community which is why I love these sort of classes which deepen my commitment and I feel less alone - and being neurotic about when I do it is less important to me however I learned through experience if I dont do any practice first thing I veer off into negativity and conditioned life really fast.
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I have been doing practices for about 32 years. My recent ups and downs are that I found I was getting bored with chanting (which I do by myself with the harmonium, every day). I sometimes intersperse it with silent meditation, either following the breath, or Loving Awareness, or Loving Kindness meditation. However last night I followed along with Krishna Dasā live chanting and found a renewed energy for it. I wish I could chant with other people in person. I used to chant in person with a friend before Covid, but we still havenāt returned to that. However, my commitment to some kind of practice every day doesnāt waver, thankfully.
I think part of the lagging energy for it is not doing it in person with other people.
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Yes, I think this is so common. It reminds me of a John Mellencamp Lyric I have used with myself āI know there is a balanceā¦I see it when I swing past.ā I often make my spiritual practice into some sort of self-improvement project instead of letting it become a sweet simple place of refuge. And what can I do to make it a refuge rather than another item on my āto-do listā to feel okay about myself. Gentleness, allowing, and coming back 1001 times has been my answer to that question.
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Thats a good reminder of the little tiny decisions that can support or sabbatog. But for me, if going to my meditation room means I donāt do it, then the living room will do. Part of my practice is to not let perfect be the enemy of good. ANDā¦to also give the little extra effort when needed because I know how much benefit comes from doing the practice, even if imperfectly.
This reminds me of how Ram Dass would do Buddhist practices and eventually āfeel dryā and then go to his Bhakti practices. How the two supported him in tandem. The Buddhist practices made him more one pointed in his Bhakt practices. I know a lot of traditions say ādig one well deeplyā but I personally think sometimes it can be helpful to ābe the hummingbird that drinks the nectar of many flowers.ā Whatever keeps us inspired to practice.
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Love that!!!
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Such a good mantra!
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Iāve consistently maintained a daily practice of Vedic meditation for the last 5 years and 2 years of mindfulness meditation prior to that.
Yet I experience ups and downs from really two main threads - finding a consistent open satsang for mutual encouragement/discussion and experientially āknowingā what is true and worth investing my attention. My past religious experience was formerly with EV groups that were fixated on ātrueā dogma, so I get a bit allergic to any hint of that now. So finding a community where there is true openness and acceptance has been a challenge.
Second, I know the intellect is not the master yet I fear being blown about by self-directed whims that I mistake as the voice of the Divine but are actually my own ego projections.
So I almost hang on too tightly to my Daily practice as an anchor.
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So glad you are here in Satsang - sacred community - a place where we help each other remember!
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this sounds so sweet! Just sharing about it brings such warmth to my heart. Thank you for that.
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Yes! I love this!!
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I think this is common. It reminds me of the nervous system/dorsal vegal nerve freeze response. In tthose times, we need to do the sweetest simplest things. We canāt take a run, but we can walk to tthe end of the block. We count our acts of power - like drinking enough water or taking our vitamins, or doing one chant with Krishna Das, or listening to a two minute meditation. In that way, we can bring ourselves back online. No shame, just biology!
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Yes! I get this. Sometimes I try/want to do them all at once. I think committing to doing something for a month or two or three at a time can be helpful. Seeing the effects. And doing what you feel dawan to rather than what your mind tells you that you āshouldā do.
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[quote=āCorey_Westbury, post:34, topic:634ā]
My perfectionism has me constantly thinking that I am doing my sadhana āwrongā - and yes I see the paradox in this statement
[/quote]. I think it is so common for westerners to use spiritual practice as another self-flagellation tool. I know I have been guilty of that. There was a period of time, that I had to let myself off the spiritual hook. My practice became sitting outside and listening to the birds for 15 minutes. It was so helpful.
And yes, not having morning time can be tough. AND, remember, if you canāt do it first thing, the next best time is ANY TIME in the day.
Thanks for being here and know you are doing great!
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Love this. In Buddihsm, they talk about how we will run into both āhotā and ācoldā boredom. And itās just another mindstate to let go as we come back to the practice. Itās not an easy one, but it is just part of it. I think our social media culture has made this a bigger part to wade through as well.
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