Taking a 10-second Break

Negative emotions and their affect on us as well as those around us is an often discussed issue within Vajrayana Buddhism. There are many ways to deal with these. Everything from practices to completely eliminate them to various methods to stop and remove them once they arise.

One of my favorite is also a very simple method of meditation. We will can call it the 10-second awareness meditation (even though it could last 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or even longer). The method is very simple. It is not very difficult to do either.

So let's go back for some background. Meditation and meditative practices are a critical part of Buddhism. It is through meditation that we ultimately gain experience and realization of the teachings. The hard part, especially for us westerners, is to calm our thinking, to learn to focus for periods of time.

The 10-second meditation is meditation method to quickly calm the mind if even for a few seconds. Sometime this is all that is needed. Change focus and change the thinking's direction and pattern. I is meant to do throughout the day as often as possible.

One does the following. Stop everything that you are doing. Whether you are sitting at the kitchen table, waiting in a line, our lying down. Just stop all activity. Take a break. No talking. No movements. No worries. No pain. Do nothing. Even stop breathing in or out at first.

It is like putting yourself into a moment of "freeze." Then relax into that state.

Then slowly begin to breathe again. Listen to the sounds around you. Look at everything that is around you. Smell the fragrances in the air. Slowly go back to whatever it is that needs to be attended to. As much as possible remain in the calm mind that began in the meditative break.
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It is good to practice this and do this often BEFORE you get caught in the start of nervous or anxious thinking. Its like everything else in life: You must practice first. It is necessary to have some stability and comfort with the method. Like learning a martial art, one must practice a strike many many times before one has to use it. Same here. Practice the 10-second meditation.

Over time, more and more time is spent within this calm state of mind. Less time is spent outside of this state. As Khenpo Choge Rinpoche once said, "When you find that all time is spent in the calm mind state....well, that is Enlightenment!"

What I fond most helpful is that it is very simple. You can do this almost anywhere (Not recommended to start it while doing things such as driving a car). With some practice, it can immediately Break a pattern that is beginning to arise.

(For those that want the term for what is being done here, it is going into the state of "Rigpa." I just was avoiding the technical terms.)

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff