A question for seasoned sitters

Choose a practice based on either an appreciation of the whole of the path of the tradition you have an affinity for, or a knowledge of where the practice is intended to lead.

Always analyse and reanalyse your motivations for practicing.

Once you trust your meditation technique and are confident you know your reasons for practicing it, you should try to bring as much of its method with you, off the cushion and into your life. Every experience you have is part of your contemplative practice. Practice is a way of developing a skilful attitude towards experience, and a method for coming into direct confrontation with it.

And, whatever it's worth, here are some pointers on common pitfalls on the path:

  • Regularly look back at the specifics of right view, right intention and right speech, and through the lens of pratityasamutpada. Sila surrounds every step of the path.
  • There is no limit to how far the brahmavihara can be developed, and no situation where one or more of them is not the most peaceful, pleasurable, productive response.
  • Samadhi isn't a place to retreat to, it is something you practice all the time. The breath is always present and the choice to direct yourself toward being calm and carefree is always available. Don't practice stopping thoughts or blocking them out; practice directing them.
  • Vipassana isn't a way of learning more about yourself, it is a way of seeing through the illusion of self. Don't be alarmed if it begins to work. Don't practice stopping your thoughts or thinking about their content, practice seeing them as just sounds and images in the mind, and watching them as and when they arise and pass away, arise and pass away, arise and pass away.
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