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Rob Moore posted an update in the group
Zen Practice: 1 year, 6 months ago · ViewOk, I’m reposting a question from my own wall – I recently moved into a sangha-light area, and the one sitting group I’ve found are lovely people, but they sit for maybe 20 minutes out of a 2 hour service. I have been practicing with groups that have longer sits and was hoping for a bit more – they only meet once a week.
Meditation at home has always been tough for me for the usual monkey mind reasons, but it seems I’m going to be my own sangha for a bit, so I was hoping some more experienced sitters could give me some advice for how to overcome some of that restlessness which is usually conquered by, well, ego, I suppose, at least in a group setting. Ideas?
Maybe it would help to talk about specific problems you’re running into? Because what has worked for me is pretty simple and obvious, which has me suspecting that it might be less than helpful. I set aside a time. I also set a timer (so if I get stuck late at the lab, I still sit for the same amount of time). My roommate and I generally sit together, but I keep to the same habits when he isn’t around. When I’m in Seattle, training, I usually sit mid day instead of in the evening, but I’m fairly stubborn about making sure I do sit, and if people are around who want to hang out with me, they are invited to sit, or they can go off and do something else. My life seems to be populated with people who can deal with this. Actually, most often people sit with me.
Though perhaps my first suggestion is the opposite of helpful. I’ve generally noticed that my life runs more effectively when I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about why something is easy or hard, and why I might enjoy it, or why I struggle with it and – this is the worst! – what I’m going to do. Dithering is an amazing time and energy sink. If I can just do it, and then do the next thing, it all seems rather doable.