[Tim ClarkMember]

Hi Ward,

When you have a distraction go ahead and label it, but keep your labels general. An example is a bird sound. You label it as sound. Not bird sound, nor Robin sound. Anything past labeling is one step down the rabbit hole.

[Tim ClarkMember]

Yes, there is a classification. It is called Distractions. Generally speaking, they are all the same. Unfortunately, they are also all different. Think about a box of animal crackers.

The trick is too quickly recognize that your mind has gone to visit the fairies and to gently and compassionately come back to your object of meditation (breath?) and to do this without judging what the fairies had to say or that you went to visit them at all.

Remember, distractions are not the enemy, they are opportunities to develop mindfulness.

The next time a distraction comes to visit say, “Hi distraction, I am sorry but I am sitting right now and can not visit” and go back to your breath.

Tim

[Tim ClarkMember]

Hi Bernadette,

When I searched for what Enlightenment is I found many definitions. Most of them described what the enlightened state felt like, not what it is.
Then I found this one, “Enlightenment is the Art of living compassionately with mindful, habits, beliefs, experiences and expectations”. You might also say this is living in the present moment.

“Why is this important”? Because it is life changing. The more time you can spend living in the present moment, the more of your life is real. You are no longer making decisions and reacting based on past habits, beliefs, expectation, and expectations.

Imagine that!

There is more to it than that but you get the idea?

Tim

[Tim ClarkMember]

One of the great things about Buddhism is it’s openness to science. Some time ago I read and heard at a lecture by Hayward Fox that three 15 minute sits is far better than one forty five.

I have searched and searched for the reference and cannot find it. Could someone else have a go?

Tim

[Tim ClarkMember]

Basically, the ribbon is a distraction.

[Tim ClarkMember]

John,

Something else to consider:

Noticing is just noticing. The idea is to note where your mind has gone and return to your OOM (Object Of Meditation). It doesn’t matter all that much where your mind has gone so much as to note that it has gone and then, with awareness, return to your OOM. It will try to go to all kind of places: Noises, emotions (joy as well sadness), unusual breathing and other body situations, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

All these things can be distractions to developing mindfulness and following them can consume a lot of time and energy. So when you notice that you are no longer in the present moment make a choice. You might say something like, “knowing that I am no longer with my OOM do I want to pursue my distraction or just drop it and return to my OOM”. Sometimes the answer is yes, just make sure the choice is a conscious one.

This not to say that issues that come up in your sitting practice are not important; It is just when you sit you sit, when you sleep you sleep and when you eat you eat.

I hope this is helpful.

Tim

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