Sunday, July 01, 2012

solo practice day

Not my weekend for my kids, and my partner was out of town, so I had some rare solitude.  To make the most of it, I decided to have a practice day.  Here was what I did:

Dedication puja from TBC puja book
Body scan from FBA
Mindfulness of Breathing (40 min)
Breakfast, walk, break time, read Dharma
Confession puja from the Sutra of Golden Light
Just Sitting (30 min)
Lunch, break time, read Dharma
Metta Meditation (40 minutes)

I read Thubten Chodron's book on the Chenrezig sadhana.  In my order, you don't do the sadhana until you're been witnessed to be effectively going for refuge, but it doesn't hurt to read about it.  I've wanted to read something from her.  She's not a bad writer.  I have a tanka of Chenrizig, that my wonderful partner gave me, and I look at it from time to time.  Thubten Chodron's teacher also added in the eight point mind training to their lineage of practice, and I like that too, so I enjoyed reading about that.  I've studied that on a GFR retreat, and even before that, so it's a text I treasure.  I am so grateful for all the retreats I've been on.  I don't have the money to go on the GFR retreat in California this year, but my heart goes out to those who will be on it this year, I'm sending you my best wishes.

It was a hot day yesterday, but I didn't turn on the AC until after the Metta meditation.  For some reason when I meditate, the heat doesn't bother me as much.  I think I get some sensory integration from meditation.  I also get what my friend called, "coming out of warp speed," feeling in my head from meditating that much.  It was only 3 meditation, but it was bolstered with a body scan and 2 pujas, and Dharma reading.

On my walk, aside from enjoying my body in motion, I look at the beautiful flowers people so kindly plant in front of their homes.

I felt a little lonely in the evening, but it was too late to connect with anyone.  I could have made a phone call, but I just went to bed.  My dreams intensify when I ramp up my practice, and that's always interesting.

I'm going to take it a little bit more easy today, but I'm going to try and do the 4 Brahma Viharas. But I'm going to be more worldly today, listen to music, and maybe get a Sunday Times, do some errands and tasks.  I'm going to read about Vairocana, because his head is above Chenrizig and below Amitabha in the visualization, in Vessantara's excellent book, Meeting the Buddhas: A Guide to Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Tantric Deities.

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