It is stated that a true mantra must be a 24 hour a day endeavor. How does this sync with also being 'here and now'? Isn't this a sort of 'multitasking'? Or is a mantra 'in the background' different in some way? Sort of like a wave in the pond....?
In the same vein, since I'm a 'householder', I listen to lectures mainly while I drive. I feel that I can sufficiently listen, absorb the meaning of the lecture and also be present with my driving at the same time. I understand that this is not a black and white issue (as very few things are), but this relates somewhat to the previous question. In other words, functioning in daily life and not being a master, we must multitask to some degree. I see that being distracted is a danger. But walking, seeing, digesting, talking with a person, matralizing etc. is multitasking as well.
What is the proper way to view this issue? My question came related to the lecture 'awake to life' in which the lecturer encouraged the listener to not do anything else while listening. He stated that if you are doing anything else, you're not fully present. I understand to a degree, but again I refer to my previously stated question.
Based upon this reading below, are we honestly not supposed to do more than one thing? Doesn't life consist of multiple things going on at the same time? Or if I am, let's say eating and reading at the same time, does that mean an 'ego' is operating through my three brains enabling me to do more than one thing?
I just read this in the revolution of the dialectic:
In the same vein, since I'm a 'householder', I listen to lectures mainly while I drive. I feel that I can sufficiently listen, absorb the meaning of the lecture and also be present with my driving at the same time. I understand that this is not a black and white issue (as very few things are), but this relates somewhat to the previous question. In other words, functioning in daily life and not being a master, we must multitask to some degree. I see that being distracted is a danger. But walking, seeing, digesting, talking with a person, matralizing etc. is multitasking as well.
What is the proper way to view this issue? My question came related to the lecture 'awake to life' in which the lecturer encouraged the listener to not do anything else while listening. He stated that if you are doing anything else, you're not fully present. I understand to a degree, but again I refer to my previously stated question.
Based upon this reading below, are we honestly not supposed to do more than one thing? Doesn't life consist of multiple things going on at the same time? Or if I am, let's say eating and reading at the same time, does that mean an 'ego' is operating through my three brains enabling me to do more than one thing?
I just read this in the revolution of the dialectic:
They asked the master Bokujo, “Do we have to dress and eat daily? How can we escape from this?”
The master replied, “We eat, we get dressed.”
“I do not comprehend,” said the disciple.
“Then get dressed and eat,” said the master.
This is precisely action free of the opposites: Do we eat, do we get dressed? Why make a problem of that? Why think about other things while we are eating and getting dressed?
If you are eating, eat; if you are getting dressed, get dressed, and if you are walking on the street, walk, walk, walk, but do not think about anything else. Do only what you are doing. Do not run away from the facts; do not fill them with so many meanings, symbols, sermons and warnings. Live them without allegories. Live them with a receptive mind from moment to moment.
Comprehend that I am talking to you about the path of action, free of the painful battle of the opposites.
I am talking to you about action without distractions, without evasions, without fantasies, without abstractions of any kind.
Change thy character, beloved, change it through intelligent action, free of the battle of the opposites.
When the doors of fantasy are closed, the organ of intuition awakens.
Action, free of the battle of the opposites, is intuitive action, full action; for where there is plenitude, the “I” is absent.
Intuitive action leads us by the hand towards the awakening of the consciousness.
Let us work and rest happily, abandoning ourselves to the course of life. Let us exhaust the turbid and rotten waters of habitual thinking. Thus, into the emptiness Gnosis will flow, and with it, the happiness of living.
This intelligent action, free of the battle of the opposites, elevates us to a breaking point.
When everything is proceeding well, the rigid roof of thinking is broken. Then the light and power of the Inner Self floods the mind that has stopped dreaming.
Then in the physical world and beyond, while the material body sleeps, we live totally conscious and enlightened, enjoying the joys of life within the Superior Worlds.
This continuous tension of the mind, this discipline, takes us towards the awakening of the consciousness.
If we are eating and thinking about business, it is clear that we are dreaming. If we are driving an automobile and we are thinking about our fiancée, it is logical that we are not awake, we are dreaming; if we are working and we are remembering our child’s godfather or godmother, or our friend, or brother, etc., it is clear that we are dreaming.
People who live dreaming in the physical world also live dreaming within the internal worlds (during those hours in which the physical body is asleep).
Accepted Answer
Generally our habits formed through our personality, which express our different psychological elements, condition us into a sleepy, somnambulist state, consciously-speaking. This is why it is good, when possibly, to try to do things separately, when practical. This is not always the case in our busy lives, particularly in modern Western society.
However, what is most important is this: when we perform an activity, we give to it as much direction and attention with our consciousness as possible. This means that if we can reduce certain habits where we like to do many things at once, albeit superficially, into singular actions with much more dedication and focus, we will typically find the product to be much more profound and rewarding. Knowing when to single out activities is a personal thing, depending on your obligations and needs. But typically, if we are listening to a lecture, we should sit down, relax, even close our eyes and meditate on what we are receiving, because this is a superior type of knowledge being transmitted, so we must therefore show respect by making our minds receptive and integral.
When it comes to mantras, it is best to practice when isolated and in solitude, without distractions or activities of any kind. However, it is also beneficial to use mantra in daily life, pronouncing the sacred words mentally. This takes much more skill and tenacity, because it is challenging, especially in the beginning, to learn how to negotiate the internal with the external world in a spiritually-cognizant way. With enough discipline, we will know how to mantralize when interacting with people, when eating (such as with the mantra "KRIM"), when driving the car, when giving a lecture. It is challenging, but can be accomplished in the Yogi who shows indefatigable will and endurance.
Yet since most practitioners are not at this stage, we typically advise students to not multitask, but try to divide more time in the day towards singular activities, thereby completing them with much more focus and awareness. Yet as one develops spiritually, such obligations become easier to fulfill, and with maturity in one's consciousness, one can move on to greater and more challenging things.
However, what is most important is this: when we perform an activity, we give to it as much direction and attention with our consciousness as possible. This means that if we can reduce certain habits where we like to do many things at once, albeit superficially, into singular actions with much more dedication and focus, we will typically find the product to be much more profound and rewarding. Knowing when to single out activities is a personal thing, depending on your obligations and needs. But typically, if we are listening to a lecture, we should sit down, relax, even close our eyes and meditate on what we are receiving, because this is a superior type of knowledge being transmitted, so we must therefore show respect by making our minds receptive and integral.
When it comes to mantras, it is best to practice when isolated and in solitude, without distractions or activities of any kind. However, it is also beneficial to use mantra in daily life, pronouncing the sacred words mentally. This takes much more skill and tenacity, because it is challenging, especially in the beginning, to learn how to negotiate the internal with the external world in a spiritually-cognizant way. With enough discipline, we will know how to mantralize when interacting with people, when eating (such as with the mantra "KRIM"), when driving the car, when giving a lecture. It is challenging, but can be accomplished in the Yogi who shows indefatigable will and endurance.
Yet since most practitioners are not at this stage, we typically advise students to not multitask, but try to divide more time in the day towards singular activities, thereby completing them with much more focus and awareness. Yet as one develops spiritually, such obligations become easier to fulfill, and with maturity in one's consciousness, one can move on to greater and more challenging things.
Joyful in hope, suffering in tribulation, be thou constant in thy prayer.
Benedictis, qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
Accepted Answer
Generally our habits formed through our personality, which express our different psychological elements, condition us into a sleepy, somnambulist state, consciously-speaking. This is why it is good, when possibly, to try to do things separately, when practical. This is not always the case in our busy lives, particularly in modern Western society.
However, what is most important is this: when we perform an activity, we give to it as much direction and attention with our consciousness as possible. This means that if we can reduce certain habits where we like to do many things at once, albeit superficially, into singular actions with much more dedication and focus, we will typically find the product to be much more profound and rewarding. Knowing when to single out activities is a personal thing, depending on your obligations and needs. But typically, if we are listening to a lecture, we should sit down, relax, even close our eyes and meditate on what we are receiving, because this is a superior type of knowledge being transmitted, so we must therefore show respect by making our minds receptive and integral.
When it comes to mantras, it is best to practice when isolated and in solitude, without distractions or activities of any kind. However, it is also beneficial to use mantra in daily life, pronouncing the sacred words mentally. This takes much more skill and tenacity, because it is challenging, especially in the beginning, to learn how to negotiate the internal with the external world in a spiritually-cognizant way. With enough discipline, we will know how to mantralize when interacting with people, when eating (such as with the mantra "KRIM"), when driving the car, when giving a lecture. It is challenging, but can be accomplished in the Yogi who shows indefatigable will and endurance.
Yet since most practitioners are not at this stage, we typically advise students to not multitask, but try to divide more time in the day towards singular activities, thereby completing them with much more focus and awareness. Yet as one develops spiritually, such obligations become easier to fulfill, and with maturity in one's consciousness, one can move on to greater and more challenging things.
However, what is most important is this: when we perform an activity, we give to it as much direction and attention with our consciousness as possible. This means that if we can reduce certain habits where we like to do many things at once, albeit superficially, into singular actions with much more dedication and focus, we will typically find the product to be much more profound and rewarding. Knowing when to single out activities is a personal thing, depending on your obligations and needs. But typically, if we are listening to a lecture, we should sit down, relax, even close our eyes and meditate on what we are receiving, because this is a superior type of knowledge being transmitted, so we must therefore show respect by making our minds receptive and integral.
When it comes to mantras, it is best to practice when isolated and in solitude, without distractions or activities of any kind. However, it is also beneficial to use mantra in daily life, pronouncing the sacred words mentally. This takes much more skill and tenacity, because it is challenging, especially in the beginning, to learn how to negotiate the internal with the external world in a spiritually-cognizant way. With enough discipline, we will know how to mantralize when interacting with people, when eating (such as with the mantra "KRIM"), when driving the car, when giving a lecture. It is challenging, but can be accomplished in the Yogi who shows indefatigable will and endurance.
Yet since most practitioners are not at this stage, we typically advise students to not multitask, but try to divide more time in the day towards singular activities, thereby completing them with much more focus and awareness. Yet as one develops spiritually, such obligations become easier to fulfill, and with maturity in one's consciousness, one can move on to greater and more challenging things.
Joyful in hope, suffering in tribulation, be thou constant in thy prayer.
Benedictis, qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
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