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The Last Day of the Summer Retreat - Fourfold Sangha (...) Style
The practice of mindfulness needs to be continuous, not just during meditation hours
Sitting meditation alone is not enough to transform habit energies. Even if we meditate for many hours, negative habit energies can still dominate us during the remaining hours. For deep transformation, it is necessary to practice 24 hours a day, in every posture: sitting, lying down, standing, walking, and working. The most reliable students are those who practice following their breath and contemplating feelings in all daily activities. When living with a sangha or family that practices together, the process of transformation will happen more quickly.
Methods to apply mindfulness in daily life
Thay shares many specific methods to bring mindfulness into life:
- When driving: A red light is an opportunity to breathe and smile, you can place a reminder note on the steering wheel
- When washing dishes: Practice as if bathing the baby Buddha, find happiness in each movement
- Telephone meditation: Use the phone ring as a mindfulness bell, pause to breathe
- Agreement with the stairs: Walk on the stairs or a path with mindfulness, if you forget, go back and start again
- When irritated: Use a reminder note, breathe in and out like a fresh flower
Thay also tells the story of Tu Uyen and Giang Kieu to illustrate: a person who does not know how to listen, speaks harshly, and has lost a loved one. When he awakens, he realizes he has caused suffering to others. Each of us has our own “Giang Kieu” in life - someone who came and shared life with us, but may have left because we did not take good care. To bring them back, we need to practice “lighting the incense of precepts, concentration, and insight.”