American Buddhist Perspectives
We all know Buddhism talks about conditionality:
Imasmim sati idam hoti
Imassuppada idam uppajjati
Imasmim asati idam na hoti
Imassa nirodha idam nirujjhati |
When this is, that is
This arising, that arises
When this is not, that is not
This ceasing, that ceases.
To put it in the common sense language of one of my father’s life lessons: “when you’re swimming in shit, things don’t smell too good.”
The idea is that the conditions around us pervade or make up our lived experience. If we work with jerks, our own propensity to complain or be unkind arises. When we are surrounded by wonderful people and feel supported, the very best in us quickly shows through.
This idea has come up in my own life in countless ways, and I’m sure in yours too. For running, it helps me to tell people, “I’m running 7 miles today” in order to really push myself to do it. It also helps to have good shoes, a pedometer, and a beautiful community in which to run (thank you, Missoula). All of these are conditions. Other conditions include mental states of dedication, having a goal, having confidence in myself, even the worry of letting others down – a loose and partial translation of hiri-ottappa -helps to get the desired results.
So too in so much of our lives.
At certain times in my life I have inadvertently set the absolute wrong conditions for running, academic progress, etc. You name it, I’ve probably set poor conditions for it in one way or another.
Responding to my troubles in London 18 months ago, one friend said to me, “I thought a Buddhist could find peace in any situation.” Yea, right. Unless we’re enlightened, or relatively close, we need the right conditions. For meditation we need calm around us, we need personal safety, we need support from others. It was after my time in London, and more so the few months I spent in DC, that my father offered the above advice.
So we know we need the right conditions.
The next fact is that we often invite destructive conditions into our lives without knowing it. Sometimes we walk into insanity with the best of intentions… More on that another time.
For now, here are some recommendations I found via Dr. Mercola’s newsletter on killing distractions. Some I use already, some don’t really apply (I don’t IM or use Growl) and others are great suggestions for me getting more done with this wonderful, precious time I have…
Are you spending more time dealing with emails, IMs, phone calls, and random stray files than actually working? Here are ten actions you can do right now to kill distractions and get back to work:
Put headphones on
Wearing headphones is the universal sign for “do not disturb.” To make it obvious, choose big clunky ones instead of those tiny invisible earbuds. Even if you’re not listening to music, blocking out ambient noise will help you focus and stay on task.
Check email twice a day
If your email program checks for new email automatically and periodically, make it stop. Instead, manually check your email twice a day.
Tell everyone
To cut down the deluge of office emails, tell everyone in the office via email that you’re only checking email twice a day. This will train your coworkers to reconsider before sending you trivial messages.
Turn spam filtering on
Even with legislation, spam is never going away. You can eliminate this major distraction by turning on spam filtering.
Banish Growl
System-wide notification systems such as Growl are tiny distractions forcing you to log and consider each alert in your mind. You don’t need random reminders to plague your mind while you’re trying to concentrate.
Create IM office hours
Instant messenger programs are a distraction, but it has useful benefits for collaboration and keeping in touch with faraway loved ones. Create IM office hours — short blocks of time where you’re available for chats.
Silence your phone
Your phone is an electronic dog leash. Release yourself from phone slavery and turn off the sound AND vibrate when you’re working. Your phone is only convenient if you’re in control of it.
Eat lunch out of the office
Eating lunch in the office makes you wide open to interruptions. Let yourself enjoy lunch away from work.
Become an early bird
No one likes to come in to work extra early in the morning. Use this trend to your advantage, and arrive at work before everyone else. Since no one is around, you’ll have fewer disruptions like phone calls and morning chatter.
Clear your desktop
Having tons of icons and files littering your desktop is like having a million squawking baby birds begging for your attention all the time. Clear your desktop now. While you’re at it, tidy up your real desk too.
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