In order to improve my meditation practice,
Are there particular daily activities that I should engage in or refrain from engaging in?
I am thinking in particular about reading news or listening to music or watching television.
Do you think that these activities might harm my meditation practice?
I am thinking in particular about reading news or listening to music or watching television.
Do you think that these activities might harm my meditation practice?
While you are in the midst of a focused meditation session,
You should avoid inputs from any external sources,
Whether that's a book,
TV,
Or news.
And eat small amount of food.
And move very slowly if you have to.
And you have to practice silence.
So while you are engaged in perhaps multi-day meditation sessions,
These are the things that you have to follow.
However,
If you are engaged in everyday life,
And you are just doing meditation session 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there,
Then you can do everything that you need to do in your everyday life.
It's still good to eat smaller amounts of food.
And also refrain from those behaviors,
Activities that might actually trigger some pangs of conscience.
For example,
Exercise some violence.
Or steal stuff.
Or engage in sexual abuse.
Or lie or insult and curse others.
Because any such behavior is going to be persistent as a distracting thought while you do meditation.
Also news,
If they are overly graphic or stimulating,
They will tend to persist in your head as a distracting thought.
That's why it's good to avoid overly graphic or stimulating pieces of information.
However,
Anything that you need to do in your everyday life,
You may do so,
And you have to do so.
