RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STARTING A MEDITATION PRACTICE
―You yourself must strive; the enlightened ones only point the way. Those who follow the path and meditate will be freed from the bonds of Mara.‖ -Dhp 276 If you have decided to take up meditation and start a practice you will want to optimize conditions to give yourself the best chance for success. Given the busyness our modern lives, with all the distractions that we encounter daily, embarking on a meditation practice can be challenging. The following are some suggestions that many meditators have found helpful. These suggestions are successive and incremental and need not be pursued all at once. 1. Commit to a time period to try a regular meditation practice (i.e., 1 or 6 months). Set the intention to apply effort to succeed. 2. Discuss it with your partner, friends, or family to get their support. 3. Consider taking the 3 refuges and following the 5 training precepts during this period. 4. Dedicate a daily period of time for sitting meditation. Some people have to give up some other activity to do this (i.e., waking up earlier, less time on the computer or watching TV).
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