Organizing Your Practice ~ SHINZEN YOUNG

I had to do the theme last yesterday right everybody was scheduled to be the modality blast.

Is that right?

But we were ****** Amanda schedule, so that we all get a chance for the modality blast.

Underpaid.

You're my fee schedule.

TS Eliot.

Uh.

Costing nothing less than everything and all shall be well OK so.

Today I wanted to talk about organizing your practice so it's a little bit of a lecture thing to start with particularly there. A number of you that are first timers that will be leaving today. So I wanted to get this. This conceptual piece clear so the way I think about organizing ones practice.

Symbolically.

I think of two cycles, Delta cycle and maybe an upsilon cycle of life cycle.

So this is day today.

And this is year to year, you can imagine that these are actually cycles or going around.

Uh.

If you can establish these cycles, you have a very high probability of success with your practice.

So the day-to-day cycle is each day, try to do some formal practice and the bottom of this.

Pyramid.

Stands for formal projects.

Um.

Here's how I can I'm going to be very precise in my definitions. So here's how I define formal practice formal practice means that you have a a set technique or a set sequence of techniques and you implement that and that's where you're a majority of your resources are going to maintain that technique for sequencing.

Techniques for a period of time that's formal practice.

By way of contrast this.

Top Top of the pyramid here that stands for what I call practice in life.

Often People will do a period of formal practice in the morning. Some People do morning and evening.

It's good if you could do formal practice. Most days and it's good if you can do it at the same time, same place if that's possible but if that's not possible if it has to be a different time a different place OK if it's not most days. That's OK, but I deal that the standard that most People do is.

I in the morning because that sets up the whole day to be optimally to be optimal for practicing Life, which will describe in a moment.

So, in order to be able to speak with precision about the elements of one's practice.

So we'll use this defined terminology formal practice for example, if you were doing, noting technique that involve mental labeling during a period of formal practice there would be unbroken labeling and you be implementing that.

Now there's two ways to do formal practice practice in stillness where the body is essentially not moving or not moving much seated stabbing lying down that kind of thing and practice in motion where the body is moved.

And so I distinguish when I say practice in motion it needs formal practice.

As opposed to practice in life.

OK, which we'll talk about in a moment so this is how I use the terms. I encourage People to definitely do formal practice each day if possible, or most days if possible include both some practice and stillness at some practice in motion or at least occasionally have formal practice in motion.

Why? Because we want to have that will make it easier to have carryover into practice in life So what is practice in life? What we're doing right now? Is practically an example of practice in life?

Some of you are listening to the content of what I'm saying at allocating resources that way. But probably some of you every once in awhile aren't going back into a technique, maybe for a few seconds here or a minute there and then you sort of like coming back. Or maybe some of you are mostly just doing a technique now because they've heard it a million times. I know exactly what he's going to say, but don't be sure, I might surprise you.

So you're going in and out of formal technique or a technique that's practice in life so.

Will talk about what techniques in a moment but first we're going to talk about this dicyclic rhythms.

So.

I would encourage you at least if pot if you're committed to this practice, which pretty sure if we put in this room is pretty committed to this practice try to do at least at least a half dozen times a day. Have a little micro head where you go into a technique 30 seconds. Here, 3 minutes area, waiting in line your walk walking to the washroom. You're having a vacuous conversation with a coworker had a meeting.

Be engaged, but you wanna look like you're engaged will see out here.

God is really.

So you're implementing a technique, but then it's like they call your name at the meeting OK now. I'm back to business, so back and forth, but at least a half dozen times each day. You really do. The practice and I call those surgical strikes, peppering the data may not be for very long and when do you do it, you do it? When you don't need all your CPU resources to deal with life?

But what do you do with life you just deal with life that's OK, you allocate your resources to what you need to do, but during the day there's a rhythm of you know, maybe to allocate resources to take care of business versus leading that less and when you need that less go back to a well defined mindfulness technique 30 seconds here 3 minutes there what happened.

The combination of the peppering of the day with the surgical strikes.

Plus attitude.

Attitude is important for practice in life.

At what is the attitude?

The attitude to take.

When you complete the basis here, though your morning practice. Assuming you do it. That way you want to walk into the day with an attitude.

And if possible, and what that attitude is.

Is that this whole day?

Is a monastery?

A place where I'm going to apply an hold my skills that you just think of your human asta size your day conceptual.

So we don't live where householders. We don't live in actual monasteries, but you could think of your day as a monastery.

And thinking of your day that way.

First of all.

Makes everyday meaningful.

Everyday is meaningful either. It's meaningful because great stuff happened or maybe not great stuff happen.

But it was a vague of productive training.

Uh so.

This is a Chinese phrase Urschel hour every day is a good day OK. It says then expression.

And that's what it means there's another one, which I won't write in Chinese. One said Master said. The average person is used, 24 hours a day. The person of Zen uses 24 hours a day so.

OK so with armed with that attitude.

And peppering the day.

This woman *** to size the bulk of your day and then you have your formal practice feeling.

Um.

There is an option.

And something you could do as a kind of Adam to practice in stillness.

A structure.

That will vastly vastly increase your ability to maintain mindfulness in daily life.

And there's an add-on that you can do to practice in motion.

Which will have the same effect?

Home.

One of the most common.

Laments.

That I hear.

Is well I come to retreats and I can get into all this great stuff but then I when I go back to daily life, I can't maintain it.

Well, first of all.

We have to accept it to a certain extent that is true.

Are you come to retreats to get to a new level. You may not be able to maintain exactly the peaks that you reach other retreats, but you don't want it to just go back to square one OK, you want it to be some sort of plateau and then your next retreat leads you to some sort of plateau. Keep this up for. However, many years you live there's going to be probably an exponential envelope to that.

Sort of stepwise growth curve in general retreats tend to take us to a new level. But we don't want that to be a peak experience. We want to maintain that.

And we we wanted maintain that not only in terms of our experience, informal practice. But we actually want to elevate the base level of mindfulness in daily life. Remember, the long term effect of this practice is to elevate the base level of mindfulness in daily life there. Recall I define your base level of mindfulness to be problem. Clear concentrated in Economus, You Are? What you're not trying to be that way.

Intentional. That's the base level. We want to reset that base level over and over and over again. So there's a special version of practicing stillness that you could do that will tend to elevate the base level of mindfulness when you're not trying to be mindful just what should happen daily like that there's something you can do here. So I've already actually describe them. I do it every retreat. Now I'm going to do it again.

Often it might help currency it visually so if you come to me and you say, I am not satisfied with my base level of mindfulness in daily life. Just how I am? When I'm not trying to be if you come to me, I will ask you did, you try this?

And have you tried this?

If you say no I'm just going to say.

Try it and then come back to me.

So what is this here I wrote EP OK and I wrote MC this is slightly new full cabul airy. I've used other words, other phrases previously so for today. What we're going to call the add on to practice and stillness actually well, yeah, where the add on to practice it stillness.

I'm gonna call it trigger practice OK, we those of you that.

I've been to previous retreats or donate our own practice. I've talked about media practice while trigger practice is a generalization of media practice and motion challenge challenge sequence in motion. You've heard me talk about before let me explain So what is?

And I talked about this at this retreat, but let's just say it again for the sake of systematic completeness.

So.

Often, when we do practice in stillness were just sitting there on.

Not a whole lot comes up OK, sometimes things come up depending on the rhythm of life and our own subconscious unwinding, but lot of times, not a lot comes up.

But as soon as you're popping up in the world as soon as you turn on the 6:00 o'clock news as soon as you negotiate the freeway or the workplace or the family or whatever stuff coming up.

So.

I.

I encourage People to work smart.

I remember years ago hearing an interview by Japanese baseball player who was playing in the US and they asked him to.

Contrast the difference between baseball in Japan versus baseball. the United States and he said. the Americans are stronger, but I think we Japanese play smarter.

Well, I would like to reverse.

I'd like to turn the tables on that OK, the way People get enlightenment in Japan in a Zen Temple.

Hey this is Samurai Boot Camp This is brute force.

This is brute force training.

Uh it's it's anti intellectual. It's it's no mind. It's just a body beaten into submission through exhaustion and etc, etc, etc until you just.

Give up and go into the no self so it.

It's strong it's a lot stronger than what?

You are I are willing to do OK.

Let's work smarter.

So how do you work smart you train yourself systematically?

What comes up in the day?

Joy interest comes up that range terror grief in the extreme case are irritation nervousness. You know pour me what have you stuff comes up?

But it's stillness.

You see what we're doing practicing stillness is the ideal place to Trey. It's analogous to the empty empty parking lot, where you gotta learn how to drive but there's no pressure something but then once daily life. Hey that's LA Freeway at rush hour in the smog with People shooting at chillers.

So, but the Packers is the empty parking lot.

Doesn't have typically the full range of stuff you need to deal with and I don't just mean negative stuff, I mean, the full range of Liberty.

So you can.

Upon occasion do practicing stillness where you are exposing yourself to sound sites or physical sensation or some combination thereof that is likely to trigger the full range of things you want to deal with.

So you can sit there, you can close your eyes, you got the remote control and can listen to whatever you want to listen to all the sons of the world are there and in deep when you're in a deep sitting I mean just try it OK, you say you never get images OK. I never get mental images? Well, listen to a real dramatic movie with your eyes closed OK, you'll see image space.

Goes nuts trying to forgive you an impression of what's going on in that action movie OK, you never get emotional sensations during during a formal practice OK close your eyes go really, really deep totally go into restful states, then click on the 6:00 o'clock news and see what happens to your mind.

Or turn on the politician that you most lower than fear.

OK let's see what happens to your body I promise you it will be Olympics is that the big.

Your big princier emotional right they've even you might have read on the Internet. They've done studies.

Of and it doesn't matter what your political persuasion is whether you're lying liberal conservative conservative.

When you are exposed to the to the opposite point of view, it is absolutely expansion and contraction.

This area here, which is your higher executive function contracts that OK and your migdale and your hypothalamus. I mean, you're.

Hippocampus all it because this whole emotional brain thing totally expands it activity. It doesn't matter what your political perspective is OK your listening with your emotional body.

Uh.

And what's interesting I find it, I'm not going to pursue this. This can of worms any further, but both sides try to use this data to prove that the other side is.

You know irrational.

OK, so OK so.

You can do this kind of trigger practice of provocation and you could work with one or a combination of whatever kind of stimuli. You want to present yourself to an over a course of time you simply systematically train.

Your yourself to have an automatic mindful response to every possible trigger that could come up in daily life. And when you do it. This way, informal practice you control the type the intensity. The duration and the timing. The frequency of the stimuli and this light weight lifting. You don't want to overburden yourself. You just work against an edge. You lifted appropriate amount of weight you get stronger and stronger and stronger and that strength.

Ah is does not dissipate it's with you in daily life. That's media practice or trigger practice. Wolf rather than motion challenges you.

I'd say that there's a technique that you'd like to do.

And you can do it pretty good with your eyes closed seated well. Can you do it with your eyes open CD?

Can you do it with your eyes open standing could you do it walking around in your room? Can you do it walking around outside can you do it walking around in the city? Can you do it while you wash the dishes? Can you do it while you prepare a meal? Can you do it while you prepare a meal you've never prepared before?

OK can you do it while you're having a vacuous conversation with the neighbor over the back fence? Can you do it? When you're having a substantive conversation with someone?

Maybe a significant other, you give yourself a challenge sequence like that, for any technique that you would like to learn.

To master and that will tend to train smartly systematically to maintain or to have a high level of baseline mindfulness in daily life.

So this is the day to day cycle.

This is the Delta steps from day to day cycle where you establish you certainly some practicing stillness.

But don't forget practice in motion and then you can do.

Do not documented life concept.

Then also longer by steps for the year they were recommended.

No find what works for you.

But at least try it, you know at least occasionally or if you don't need it. Then you don't need it. But like I say if if you come to me and say, I don't have enough carry over into daily life. I'm going to say exercise due diligence. I gave you some ideas. Let's work, smart, but no no particular recommended whatever you think.

Practice in your example was like an outside to a remote control. How are you change him bring us something OK very good I called I called that evoking I have a different term for that and I think I gave a spiel about evoking right in the group process where you were you here OK. So yeah, I consider that to be yet another thing I don't make that as major as this because.

Doing the evoking is at, I don't think it depends on the individual. I mean do what works for you right, but evoking still somewhat requires 2 hats. You gotta sort of bring this stuff up. And they just got him observant and even though you separate those tasks there still are 2 tests trailer practice is completely passive and really controllable and you would so it's yeah, much more control here.

You can be much more passive. It just do technique and you have the part of the control is that you can choose exactly the type and intensity of stimulus. You want to work with so it gives you the possibility of essentially in a systematic way training yourself for everything. I remember I had this huge sudden sort of classic breakthrough very, very long time ago.

And what I did the next day, I turn on the radio and I found the most disgusting program that I could it's called Anglo Israel.

And what it is I still remember it's like some of you out there may be under the impression that Jesus was a Jew would God be bored as a Jew, Jesus was like you and I and then you try to prove.

The up the inhabitants of England from the 6th century were in fact, the chosen People and that's super viable stalking. you and I the white People that live here. The Wasps in America, so and then I just this.

Just totally bliss.

Whereas before it windows, so you can find whatever.

How to work with?

OK, so.

We could on Delta force what's the P.

The P up Top.

OK, so now I'm still walk cycle twice a year near the base of the year year year year is just keep this up for the use of your life keep the Delta up for the years of your life.

Then.

OK.

Throughout the year at least once if possible, more.

Do retreat retreat practice now you can.

You can slice and dice your retreat practice anyway. You want, but you wanna get some retreat practice in.

So you know, my hobby is math, etc, so in math. We often try to imagine something called the trivial case now when I say the trivial case that that's not a pejorative OK. It has a specific meaning. It's what is the simplest thing we can imagine that still has the characteristic of?

Some structure OK, the group or a ring or a field or a vector space or you know, there are these structures? What's the simplest case?

That's not so simple that it lacks that structure that's called the trivial case.

So I asked myself what is the trivial case of retreat.

What is the shortest simplest most convenient thing we could possibly do that's not just along set but actually sorta comes under the rubric of retreat.

And I came up with the four hour.

Micro retreats that are that make up the whole practice program and so it's like OK. It's a 4 hour period. It's structured in a certain way. There's preparation. But all the elements are there. There's kewene there's a little bit of talk is even a chance to talk 1 on one with the teacher wide window it. You could if you needed to there's guided practice of self work its unbroken continuity of practice for 4 hours.

An and the delivery system is telephone as opposed to People have to travel expenses in the family.

Well, you know it's it works, OK, we've we've never advertised it. But it's growing exponentially underwear. We started we had there about twice as large now without any advertising at all.

And when we finally get it all together that will roll it out. When I get everything manualized and then we could probably.

Thousands of People doing this, but in any of that, so no one can say that they can't do retreat practice if they speak English and have a telephone and access to a computer at least occasionally and we can tell the world probably if you cannot afford the token $20, then don't pay anything ever forever.

Just get cheap long distance or you Skype, it will cost you anything and you can.

Do retreats forever for nothing, and their liberation oriented retreats and not light OK so.

To me that's the trivial case of retreat, so if you do 1 four hour retreat every single month.

That sort of equivalent of 1/2 day retrievals for months of roughly.

OK, well that's sorta adds up to a week retreat that would be a residential situation. This is bare minimum by the way bare minimum for formal practice day. Today's 10 minutes.

There is Mike repeat and difference.

Infinite if the ratio of of 10 to 0 is Infinity OK. There's an infinite difference. We doing doing 10 minutes each day at doing no minutes each day.

And there's no one that said that could say, Oh my day is so busy. I don't have 10 minutes. If you're not doing the 10 minutes. It is not a time thing? What is it? It's a resistance thing and when you finally scour down into what the resistance is you will probably discover it's not that big a deal.

50% of the time the resistance is in the subtle agitation flavors that come up in daily life.

That you're going to have to face, if you.

Stopping time so.

Hi.

Usually that's all it is.

The guy.

OK so you could do that, but of course, if you could do one or 2 residential retreats.

That's that's really good or maybe you do one day retreats.

Etc etc.

But try to get some.

Sustained practice where you're doing, you're doing, it for more than an hour and more than 2 hours.

So periodic retreat.

And then periodic contact with at least 1 teacher.

Who is competent to sort of give you big picture guidance on your practice touch base typically it's at the retreat that that contact comes 'cause you have an interview on line even as I say with the home practice program. People call me. They only get 10 minutes. But you know at least they can touch base on their practice and I can ask them a few quick questions and so forth.

So if you establish.

These 2 cycles.

You have a very high probability of being a very happy camper.

Now that's sort of the.

The big picture of structure.

Now we need to look at the more micro picture of stuff that's the macro structure. What's the micro structure and the micro structure was OK? What techniques are you practicing?

Else move all her would have to wash this board.

Stay.

Like a bad impression so.

Up.

Ann.

The way you could assuming you want to.

Use the basic plan for the system.

Then you sort of think of this graph.

So 3 by 4:00.

Red.

And then

I'm here you've got a another thing.

Has 6 boxes?

Actually, last point over here and it will follow the food last.

Here.

Inside.

Do nothing.

And here is the possible themes for nurture positive.

Positive affect positive behavior positive cognition, ideal, which is the archetype of entire thing situations laws of attraction manifestation and other unpaid house, ABC ISO.

So you can think of organizing what you do.

In terms of making choices.

From these from from this.

This array.

So.

There's 3 basic possibilities.

One is

For a certain period of time.

A week, a month your whole life, whatever you just do one or maybe 2.

Ah.

Techniques is sort of monolithic OK, it's just like.

OK, this is a catalog and I'm going to, I'm going to buy this.

For maybe I will buy this whole wrong. This whole column working solo. Or maybe I'm gonna buy this, or this OK, so it's sort of like.

One or 2 things and that's what you do and so there's no choice is at least for a certain period of time, like I say a week, a month could hear your whole life.

How are you wanna do?

That's the simplest and because this grid does contain not all but a significant percentage of every fundamentally distinct strategy for meditation worldwide.

Organize into a unified framework of sorts. It's basically allows you to pick from the whole world as to what you'd like to do so. There's nothing wrong with keeping it simple, maybe you want to just.

Explore.

Your body OK, so you're gonna you're going to play this role broad float inside this room OK.

And that's all you want to do you just want to penetrate the body in terms of the see it by field infield outfield as fuel flow and their vengeance.

And that's all you do so. One choice play this world and that's what you do. Or maybe 2 choices. I'm going to play this row and then I'm going to do the loving kindness afterwards, so nurture positive that thing so that that keeps things. Simple is nothing wrong if that appeals to you with keeping things simple.

The other possibility is for a period of time week amount the year of your whole life you create.

Are a set sequence?

Either it's one that you create yourself.

Or it's one of the standard ones that I tend to guide people in.

And that's what you do you go through that secret so it's like?

It's like.

A cycle exercise equipment or a yoga, then and you can actually repeat the sequence that could be very interesting, then cycle through it, you can go from more than once if you want.

The common sequences that I give People.

Uh.

Are the?

The modality sequence where we broad float dog flowed.

Pride flowed and really broad flowed then just not gone.

And then choose one.

Then there's the theme sequence and play that calls paying broad float this column this one this one.

So, in outlast flow, then you gotta do nothing. They do go here and of course, this chart. If you sort of look at it this way.

Is that cycle it actually is a picture of the theme cycle?

You can also do like a mini blast.

With regards to one of the columns and rows for example, let's say you really see, there's actually 4 techniques represented by this column. There's each of these individual and then there's play the whole comp so this is the focus in family of Tech.

So you could play the whole column broadleaf load then.

Scroll through 5 minutes here 5 minutes. Here, 5 minutes hearsay and then brought float again. So what have you done you get the big picture and he going for close up. Now I get back to the establishing shot but when he come back to the establishing shot because you've done. All this close-up work. Things are likely to be more mindful. Maybe more pleasant more fluid etc. So you can do like a mini blast for a column you can do the same thing for a row.

You can.

Focus on C in general and then touch base with in out CNC out see rusty flow and go back to the whole thing.

Maybe you want to create that time set sequence.

So you could do feed blast with ality blouse. You can do a mini blast for any other rows or columns or create your own personalized workout. Now let's say that you want to incorporate some things from this system.

But you also want to do other things that aren't in this system.

Well, actually if you came to me and we discussed at this probably a pretty good probability that the other thing you want to do. That's not in the system actually is in this system because you just haven't thought through all the subtleties of all the options.

Because half the time when People come to me and say, well. This isn't in the system. I like to do it, I said, Well, you remember that option and that option where you put those 2 together and actually it's in the system but let's say it's not.

Um.

Everything that's not in some way covered by this taxonomy.

I called special exercises and special exercises. I've got my own spin special exercises OK that aren't that I might give you from time to time, so absolutely do special exercises. You can mix and match and slice and dice. This paradigm with anything else. You want from practice because to be a longer. So I see the commonality anything you're going to do in some way or another.

He's going to develop some aspect of CC in an from that perspective totally compatible with the basic mindfulness system.

So you can if you might want to create some sort of sequence where you mix other stuff in great.

Ah so.

However, now the advantage to set sequences, where you.

You exercise a lot of Psycho spiritual muscle groups, the disadvantage is more complicated than just doing the same thing everyday keep it simple.

The greatest complexity comes when you boot loop and branch.

So these are terms from.

Computer programming and so forth.

Now this is what I do in my practice, but that doesn't mean it's what you need to do what?

Is you know works for one person doesn't necessarily at all work for another person?

So.

Although you might think of it as a decision tree that is actually not mathematically a tree. It's actually a cyclic graph.

OK, because you can loop as well as branch.

So.

You sit down and you determine a starting place where am I going to start.

Donuts.

So that's technique one.

Whatever that is.

Nose larger.

So.

At some point.

You sort of say OK well, what am I gonna do now.

And it might be.

Then, at that point.

You say, well, I'm going to just keep on doing this 'cause it's working.

Maybe that's all you do that.

But maybe at this point, you say, Well, you know Watt?

This window.

Or this wall came up.

And I would like to switch to this.

I'm gonna branch to this other.

Because that's going to take care.

Of.

This that's going to optimize my utilizing the window of opportunity.

Or it's going to be an efficient way to deal with the wall that's.

As at advantage over what I was doing.

And then maybe you just.

Keep on looping back to that.

Or maybe at some point you say OK undealt with the wall. Now let's go back to Earth. Or maybe you dealt with the wall and it turned into a window? Which.

Says.

Let's do technique 3.

Uh.

Then whatever happens, happens at some point, it's time to end up.

I'm so maybe you have up here or maybe.

There is a certain.

TE a certain technique that you like to end with maybe it's nurture positive.

And who knows maybe there's a certain.

Ah.

TB technique you always begin with that's optional.

And then in between you Groupon Brouch.

Based on interest opportunity necessity, but not driven by craving aversion unconsciousness and most importantly of all about making a big deal about these decisions, everybody follow that logic.

You've heard it before.

Many times.

So that's grouping attraction.

Um.

These are cycles, OK, these are branch points.

So that really complex.

But for some People that's interesting optimal so you could do that, if you wish.

So you decide whether you want to.

What do you wanna have one ball OK or whether you wanna have a sequence of balls?

That perhaps he was P.

Well, you do repeat if you do it, the next day, but maybe repeat during the same session.

So maybe 1 or 2 balls.

Our sequence of some sort or you're going to have an algorithm that moves and branches in in complicated ways.

In terms of the three ways that you can use.

Are the grid to organize your practice?