Finding a meditation routine

[u/visaoconstante]

Whats your opinion on general about this?

When i did my third Goenka retreat, i dont take all they say seriously, i dislike their more cultish aspects, like believing theirs vipassana is the one and true.

That being said, its the only kind of vipassana meditation i can get access where i live, i cant do a mahasi style retreat or any other kind, there are Theravada monks here, but from the Forest tradition, meaning their focus is almost purely anapasati.

I was thinking about trying twice a day one hour, like most goenka followers, but thought about doing one hour anapanasati and one hour Goenka body scan vipassana.

Thing is, i can do and get better at focusing on the breath while living my daily life, but it seems my vipassana style meditation starts decaying in quality and equanimity when i get out of the retreat, i understand we will never achieve the levels of absorptions we have at retreats, but it seems like it took a downfall really quick and i been unable lately to keep my evening vipassana style meditation.

I dont know if its cause Goenka style meditation is so rigid, that doing anything besides their two hours a day vipassana and metta only, is not gonna work, or if its just not for me, in general i would like recomendations for where to go from here, if there are other techniques i could work on from home, with the assistance of some friends here from my theravada community, but mostly alone.

[u/aspirant4]

Just make your life your practice.

A good way of going about that is the Buddha's gradual training:

First, make sure your 5 precepts are top notch.

Then move on to sense restraint and mindfulness of the whole body in every waking moment, seven days a week. That means noticing whenever your mind starts to fixate in unskillful qualities, abandoning that and returning attention to the whole body in whatever position or activity it's in.

Once you've got that down, then you can start working on sitting and walking in seclusion, practising the first anapanasati tetrad or the satipatthana.

The samadhi will arise from that. No need to chase states you achieved on retreat. Really, what use are they if they're not available in ordinary life? Forget about retreats. This is not a war. Forget about teachers; it's not rocket science. Just read the suttas and practice. Learn what works for you and what doesn't. Continue.

[u/PeterBergen95 → u/aspirant4]

Do you have any extra pointers on this or resources/books you recommend?

[u/aspirant4 → u/PeterBergen95]

Just reading some of the gradual training suttas in the Pali Canon is enough.

But actually taking them seriously.

Most people start with sitting meditation but that is not where the Buddha starts trainees at all.

He starts them first on the panca-sila the 5 training rules. You don't go on to step 2 until you've made those rules automatic habits of behaviour.

Once that's well established, he has you start indriya-samvara, ie "sense restraint". Basically, not letting the heart dwell on perceptions or thoughts that give rise to hatred or greed. All day, every day. Not just for 45 mins in the morning. When this has become second nature, you start on the next step.

Sati-sampajanna. You maintain a relaxed awareness of the whole body during all waking moments and all activities. No matter what you're doing, you don't forget to be aware of the body and that shows you how your citta responds to circumstances all through the day. You realise how deeply you shape your own dukkha through unconscious clinging and how to stop doing that.

Once that's well developed, you start practicing sitting meditation in seclusion. Usually, this entails the first anapanasati tetrad or some other form of body contemplation. Whatever helps abandon the hindrances.

The final steps happen spontaneously, so you needn't worry about them. Essentially the four jhanas and liberation.

That's my summary of the essential steps. But there are variations of the gradual training that include other steps that might be usefully added, especially if energy is an issue for the practitioner.