THE FOUNDATION of BUDDHIST THOUGHT

What is Daily Practice?

Why we need a daily practice

In order to have an effective daily practice first of all we need to know why we should have one. What is the purpose of a daily practice?

In my own experience I do many things, I participate in many events and in the majority of cases I have not thought through very thoroughly why I am doing these things: "What am I looking for in participating in this event?" Because of this lack of thorough understanding - that failure to really ask myself the question "why am I doing this?" - the benefits of participating in such events are limited. Although the teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama or other great masters are really amazing - very profound, very precise - from my side the intention is not clear. Why am I there with the other monks? In part it is a social occasion and I may think I will go along with the other monks to these teachings. What I am saying is that I am not really digging deep down in my heart searching, looking inside to understand what am I looking for.

Because of a lack of that kind of thorough analysis within myself the benefits of receiving the teachings are limited. That is something that we need to consider in relation to a daily practice. You might well believe it is good to do a daily practice but you might not know why it is.

So, why do we need a daily practice? What can a daily practice do for us? If we do not have a daily practice what are the things that we will miss from our daily lives; if we do have a daily practice what are the things that we will gain? These are important questions that need to be addressed. If we have a clear idea of why we need to set up a routine of meditation and practice, then we will not be wasting our time and we will get the most from the experience.

I do not see daily practice as some ritual of meditation, recitation and prostrations. These are things to facilitate our daily practice but they are not daily practice in their own right. Real daily practice is engaging in activities such as helping other people, having a good heart in the community. I would like to differentiate between the practice and the tools that aid that practice. I am not saying recitations, meditation and making prayers are not spiritual practice, they are. But I would count these as supporters of our real daily practice which are the actual actions we do in the home, in the community, in public or individually - activities done with a good heart and love and caring; actions which are committed out of that mind. If we manage to do that then that is what I would count as real practice.

The main practice is how we act and how we behave and what state of mind we have during our daily lives - working in an office or looking after children. Our Buddhist "practice" helps us with the real practice of have a good state of mind and good behaviour.

We are all looking for ways to increase our happiness and reduce our suffering. Of course external things - money, fame, friends, environment - can help increase happiness and reduce our difficulties but they are very limited. The wise way is to search for an internal solution. External solutions are not that trustworthy as they can change at any time. If we only rely on external things to reduce our suffering then there is no guarantee we will be much happier, but if we do it by training our minds through reducing attachment and those emotions then that is a very good way to pursue things.

There is nothing wrong for a Buddhist practitioner to be searching for happiness. Some people think that as a Buddhist you should always be thinking about suffering! If you look at the Buddha's teachings the main point is to reduce suffering and find happiness. The right way to go about things is to acknowledge this and build up confidence in trying to achieve this by developing internally through loving, caring altruistic attitudes. This will definitely bring happiness. We won't necessarily become richer or more famous but in our minds we will definitely feel more contented and relaxed and experience joy inside which is real happiness. Training the mind is reducing disturbing thoughts on the one hand and giving support to positive states of mind on the other.

This is the main practice, but here I will be discussing these tools - the meditation, recitations etc. - but I would like you to always remember these are the supports of our daily practice, not the practice itself. It is very possible that someone can do daily recitations but somehow their meditations remain separate from their daily activities and states of mind. In that case the daily practice just becomes another Samsaric "thing". It becomes just another possession such as a new computer.

For me it is very important that when we discuss doing such practices these are seen as 'supports' of our real daily practice which is what we do in our everyday life. Not that they are seen merely as an extra possession: "As well as my computer and a new car I have such-and-such a practice." If our everyday mind remains completely separate from these practices then these are not a spiritual practice.

What is daily practice?

So what is daily practice? Mainly I consider daily practice to be a good heart and a good mind - to have a caring mind and heart and therefore commit actions because of them. To help us have this heart and mind we need supportive activities such as meditation and recitation.

It is vital to have a daily practice (and here I am referring to those 'supports') as they will help us turn our mind and actions in that direction, to lead them towards the spiritual path. Therefore, even if it is a short one it is good to have a daily practice. We need to learn good habits and that will only happen by repeating things again and again and again. Only then will our good actions become something natural.

For example, even reciting the four lines of the refuge prayer contains a very rich meaning. Reciting those lines on a daily basis will lead to learning a good habit, therefore it is good to have a daily practice. If you have been given a daily commitment by a lama then that is up to you, but for people who do not have commitments when I say a "daily practice" do not take that as a commitment. Actually the word 'commitment' doesn't really have a very positive connotation. I would say take it as a daily hobby. Do it as your hobby! Make the things that you enjoy doing your daily practice. If you make your daily practice enjoyable you will want to do it on every day. It is important, therefore, to do something that you want to do. If you have to push yourself then it will be hard to get benefits from it.

It's natural, isn't it? It is very much up to us how we see things. If we see a daily practice as something that we want to do then we will look forward to it. If we see it as something that has been forced upon us - for example, because of fear of the future - then we will not look forward to doing it. I often half-jokingly talk about those people who play golf. On a cold winter early morning they go willingly from their beds in the dark, carrying their heavy bags because definitely they enjoy it! During the week they look forward to it no matter how cold and wet it is, because they enjoy it. And that is the point, our minds are important.

So lets begin with The Environment and The Posture