Maintaining interest in evening practice

I watch too much TV.  

It's hard to maintain a practice when there is so much pleasant dullness that we can engage in. 

I'm going to start with just getting curious about the quality of this dullness I experience in the evening. I watch TV because I don't want to be with unpleasant dullness, boredom. But in doing that I deprive myself of the gift of boredom.  Non-conceptual clarity.  That place where inspiration can be born. 

Dullness is the pathway to pure perception. And that is the pathway to inspiration, surprise, adventure. 

Tantra: Completion Stage with Concept

This week I enter the final course of The Heart of Tantra Transmission

I'm going to try to maintain a commitment to journalling throughout the week. This has always been the way that I maintain inspiration in my practice.  This blog is how I record and remember my moments of inspiration.  And those moments have helped me to stay on the path. 

This week the challenge in the course is to bring the practice into different routines in the day.  The rituals we rarely miss, waking up and eating. 

I have set my waking alarm to Mingyr Rinpoche guding us through waking.  

I could do the same with the eating meditation. There's a beautiful chant that I could learn as well. 

I put it in my browser so that even if I eat at the computer, I can bring some mindfulness to the ritual. 

After the new ice storm

 A sort of enforced retreat through a three day power outage. 

I had already planned to do a Fast Mimicking Diet, and it had occurred to me that I could twin that with a mini retreat. But I'm so addicted to screens and streaming, I'm not sure I could have maintained the will. This outage was horrible for many, but it is something of a gift for me. 

Let's not forget that the post traumatic sprouts were the driving metaphor of the first part of this adventure. 

And let's not forget my visit to the Last of Us Cafe! 

I'm on day 4 now, and I'm wondering if I could extend this into a month long dopamine fast. Well yes obviously I could. The question is will I?

Gary believes that the brain prefers liberation, so it will dopamine reward the mind that stays grounded in awareness and weakens cravings and aversion.  From what I'm learning about the science of dopamine this makes sense. 

"There's so much bandwidth consumed by self-referential "blah-blah"--98% of most people's bandwidth.  The good stuff, the inspirations, problem solutions and the insights could hardly find their way through that maze to get recognized.  Now you've got all this open bandwidth, and you're much more stilll, so you're more likely to be able to see one of these inspirations when they arise."