I picked up this handout at a retreat on how to keep the inspiration going after returning to day-to-day life. They should be largely applicable/adaptable to most paths. Hope these are of use.


Points on Integration


* Keep up the momentum of study and practice. Find and keep the thread.

* Deeply immerse yourself in the teachings through study, until you develop 'wisdom -gossip' instead of 'samsaric gossip'.

* Build a daily practice, however modest.

* Don't loose your freshness - continually spark yourself with the Dharma.

* Work towards making even the kitchen sink level into a homeymoon.

* Listen to the teachings again and again …
GET THE TAPES

* Don't let your moods, doubts habits and fears eat away your confidence.

* Become a warrior, not a worrier!

* Don't wait for the teacher to spoon feed you - have a master plan for your own enlightenment!
- the view
- a method to enact it
- review that you are on the right path
- see whether you achieve your objective

* BUT don't undermine yourself by building unrealistic expectations.

* Fill up your 'thermos' of mindfulness every morning through formal practice; then during the day, from time to time pour yourself a hot, fresh cup!

* Make practice a natural thing, a habit!

* Integrate mindfulness with daily activities until there's no separation between 'practice' and 'break'.

* Keep your life simple.

* Don't be vulnerable to unhelpful influences.

* Learn how to refresh your inspiration when you loose it.

* REMEMBER TO REMEMBER - especially those special moments of inspiration.

* Maintaining the enthusiasm keeps you coming back to the path and the teachings and will purify your karma and difficulties.

* Don't worry about what you don't understand or have not connected with; you will have opportunities to learn more about that later.

* Stay in touch - with yourself, with Dharma friends, with Rigpa and with Rinpoche.

* Face the truth with enlightened courage, see what to adopt and what to adandon and write a Book of Insights. It's like talking with your teacher.

* Be careful and make haste slowly. But don't be too careful or rigid.

* If you don't practice there is nothing to integrate. If you don't cook, there is nothing to eat.

* Take a break when you practise, practise when you take a break.

* Do a retreat on a weekend, a day or a morning.

Hello

Nice advises.

It seems a bit odd to know there is need for so much advices to do someting good to yourself. It is interesting to notice that this advises are needed beacase there seems always to be a split in people staring this kind of practises. One side of them realy wants to do it, but other sides want to do other things instead of the practises.

This issue fascinates me. In myself and in other people.


F D

Hi FD, The advice was from a beginners retreat and designed to protect young seedlings as they sprout - its so easy to lose the thread after the event. After all, we're all ready well trained in samsara and everything in daily life seems designed to distract us from spiritual practice.

Hello rex

Yes I see the problem in myself and in some of the members in my yoga group. I guess it´s by regularly do some exercises you succesively achive an ability to not stop exercising just beacase all the distractions from the outher world. You just learn your body and spirit to recognize that you actually feel well if you give yourself time for spiritual practises.

I actually liked the advises and have a litle thought of taking them up with my yoga group. I realised this advises is moust of value for the beginners, but also for more experienced I guess. Have to re read them later and perhaps pic up the ones I like and speak them to my yoga group, it might be needed for some in the group.

The phenomenon of going to a course and be wery exsited by the people and the learning and then to come home and loose all is well known to me and an obstacle for many people I guess. At least in my country wery many people go to spiritual courses of many different kind, but are not so eager to have any home training afterwards.

I want to say I realised the situation. It was just a curious and perhaps somehove excistential statement, when I wrote "It seems a bit odd to know there is need for so much advices to do someting good to yourself. " And also a regognition from my own life.

With regards

F D

Hi FD,

Glad you liked the handout . I still need to refer to it.
There's a teaching on the Wheel of Happiness which uses Discipline, Meditation and Wisdom to mutually strengthen and reinforce each other in a synergistic, iterative turning of a wheel: through Discipline we act appropriately and one manifestation of this is Meditation to train and transform the mind. The fruit of Discipline and Meditation is Wisdom (and Compassion) which naturally leads to Discipline. And so on, round and round to ever-increasing circles of happiness.

Best,
Rex