Guest guest Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 I read this time management technique on the web and wanted to share with the group. It is called "I can do anything for 15 minutes" . I tried this out and its working very well with my efforts to focus on chanting and formal worship. When faced with any task - be it sadhana, or sadhana at workplace or at home or anywhere , all we have to do is to give ourselves 15 minutes to get as much done as possible of the task. Just 15 minutes Think of all the possibilities Spiritual sadhana a) A mala of japa b) A chapter of Chandi c) Cleaning the altar Sadhana at work c) Responding to pending emails d) Giving the touches to an ongoing project Sadhana at home e) Washing dishes f) Paying bills Just 15 minutes and get as much as we can done .... Its working for me ! Please let me know if you try this out and if it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Latha, This has been a "secret" of mine for a long time. I don't know what it is about sadhana (IT'S THE ASURAS!), but at times it feels like it must be the worst experience in the world, the way the mind seems to want to do ANYTHING else. This, despite the fact that sadhana is generally an enjoyable, or at least satisfying, experience (depending on your situation at any given time). Most people, when they choose a practice, want to do something they perceive to be meaningful (insert difficult), so they choose a level of practice at the leading edge of their capacity. Because this level of difficulty generally involves some struggle, it becomes easy for the mind, already loath to do sadhana in the first place, to convince itself that "it's too hard,I'm not feeling quite up to it today," "It takes too much time, and I have to..." [insert your excuse here]. The end result is that one just stops practicing. The guilt rises, and it becomes even easier to forgo practice, because no one wants to feel guilty, much easier to just not think about it. The fifteen minute rule works wonders (my magic number was ten). It is true, one can do, can endure (look at the words we use for something that is essentially enjoyable), anything for fifteen minutes. Does anyone not have a spare fifteen minutes somewhere in their twenty-four hour day? When you finally decide to commit yourself to ten or fifteen minutes of practice every day, it really becomes hard for the mind to find reasons not to do it. I mean, ten or fifteen minutes...what's that! But to commit, one needs faith that such a small amount of sadhana will be worthwhile. All I can say to this, is that I have read from more that one master that ANY AMOUNT of sadhana has a positive effect, and THE EFFECTS OF SADHANA ARE NEVER LOST. From my own experience I can say without qualification that one can derive significant benefits from just ten or fifteen minutes of practice. Not the least of these benefits, is that the karma burning and habit building, not to mention the growing pure enjoyment, of a daily fifteen minute practice eventually leads to a daily thirty minute practice, then to an hour, and on, and on. So, if anyone out there is having trouble being steady with their practices, give the ten or fifteen minute sadhana a try. Choose a minimum practice you can complete in about ten or fifteen minutes, and then choose an "ideal" practice (like the one you chose before you started skipping your practices), and kind of hold it in reserve (just in case you might need it sometime). You may find, as I did, that most of the time when I retired to my space for ten minutes of practice, I enjoyed it so much I stayed for longer. , "Latha Nanda" <lathananda> wrote: > > I read this time management technique on the web and > wanted to share with the group. > > It is called "I can do anything for 15 minutes" . I tried this out > and its working very well with my efforts to focus on chanting and > formal worship. > > When faced with any task - be it sadhana, or sadhana at workplace or > at home or anywhere , all we have to do is to give ourselves 15 > minutes to get as much done as possible of the task. > > Just 15 minutes > > Think of all the possibilities > > Spiritual sadhana > a) A mala of japa > b) A chapter of Chandi > c) Cleaning the altar > > > Sadhana at work > c) Responding to pending emails > d) Giving the touches to an ongoing project > > Sadhana at home > > e) Washing dishes > f) Paying bills > > > Just 15 minutes and get as much as we can done .... Its working for > me ! Please let me know if you try this out and if it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 i agree 100%. any time is worthwhile. some master somewhere ... i think he was tibetan buddhist ... said even the desire or thought to go on a retreat is a benefit ... another, from india, said just the thought of someone like thakur makes one better ... so, anything we do, or even think is better than nothing. one OM. one thought of the Guru. one restraint [will not have this drink, this TV program, this argument, this swear word, for God or Spirit.] it all adds up. , "Chris Kirner" <chriskirner1956> wrote: > > > Latha, > > This has been a "secret" of mine for a long time. > > I don't know what it is about sadhana (IT'S THE ASURAS!), but at times > it feels like it must be the worst experience in the world, the way > the mind seems to want to do ANYTHING else. This, despite the fact > that sadhana is generally an enjoyable, or at least satisfying, > experience (depending on your situation at any given time). > > Most people, when they choose a practice, want to do something they > perceive to be meaningful (insert difficult), so they choose a level > of practice at the leading edge of their capacity. Because this level > of difficulty generally involves some struggle, it becomes easy for > the mind, already loath to do sadhana in the first place, to convince > itself that "it's too hard,I'm not feeling quite up to it today," > "It takes too much time, and I have to..." [insert your excuse here]. > The end result is that one just stops practicing. The guilt rises, and > it becomes even easier to forgo practice, because no one wants to feel > guilty, much easier to just not think about it. > > The fifteen minute rule works wonders (my magic number was ten). It is > true, one can do, can endure (look at the words we use for something > that is essentially enjoyable), anything for fifteen minutes. Does > anyone not have a spare fifteen minutes somewhere in their twenty- four > hour day? > > When you finally decide to commit yourself to ten or fifteen minutes > of practice every day, it really becomes hard for the mind to find > reasons not to do it. I mean, ten or fifteen minutes...what's that! > > But to commit, one needs faith that such a small amount of sadhana > will be worthwhile. All I can say to this, is that I have read from > more that one master that ANY AMOUNT of sadhana has a positive effect, > and THE EFFECTS OF SADHANA ARE NEVER LOST. From my own experience I > can say without qualification that one can derive significant benefits > from just ten or fifteen minutes of practice. Not the least of these > benefits, is that the karma burning and habit building, not to mention > the growing pure enjoyment, of a daily fifteen minute practice > eventually leads to a daily thirty minute practice, then to an hour, > and on, and on. > > So, if anyone out there is having trouble being steady with their > practices, give the ten or fifteen minute sadhana a try. Choose a > minimum practice you can complete in about ten or fifteen minutes, and > then choose an "ideal" practice (like the one you chose before you > started skipping your practices), and kind of hold it in reserve (just > in case you might need it sometime). You may find, as I did, that most > of the time when I retired to my space for ten minutes of practice, I > enjoyed it so much I stayed for longer. > > > > > > , "Latha Nanda" <lathananda> wrote: > > > > I read this time management technique on the web and > > wanted to share with the group. > > > > It is called "I can do anything for 15 minutes" . I tried this out > > and its working very well with my efforts to focus on chanting and > > formal worship. > > > > When faced with any task - be it sadhana, or sadhana at workplace or > > at home or anywhere , all we have to do is to give ourselves 15 > > minutes to get as much done as possible of the task. > > > > Just 15 minutes > > > > Think of all the possibilities > > > > Spiritual sadhana > > a) A mala of japa > > b) A chapter of Chandi > > c) Cleaning the altar > > > > > > Sadhana at work > > c) Responding to pending emails > > d) Giving the touches to an ongoing project > > > > Sadhana at home > > > > e) Washing dishes > > f) Paying bills > > > > > > Just 15 minutes and get as much as we can done .... Its working for > > me ! Please let me know if you try this out and if it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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