For the 2018 Buddhist holy period (Vassa), which lasts 3 months, a number of folks from my community were making commitments to engage in their practice — or other personal development behaviors — on a consistent daily basis. I had already begun doing the daily impermanent exercises Mae Neecha had recommended to me (see the last blog for further details on this), so as part of my Vassa commitment,  I decided to take it a little further:  I committed to continued impermanence exercises, plus some self-assigned home work that I though might address issues I was seeing coming up in my practice at that time –namely on the inter-related topics of being a special Alana and being in control.

Ultimately, I found these exercises so helpful that I continued them long after the 3 month Vassa period ended. In fact, this commitment laid the foundation for a habit I continue to this day — setting a single topic or 2 and making sure I contemplate 3-5 examples, from my daily life that help me understand/shed light on that topic each day. It is a trick that keeps me engaged, moving forward, and staying on topic.

Obviously, with months worth of logs, I can’t possibly share each and every entry in the limited real estate of this blog. But because this set of exercises was deeply important –both in dealing with the critical topics of impermanence, control and special, and setting a habit that has propelled my practice forward — I do want to share a good chunk of the entries. I am creating a new ‘Chapter’ for the next few blogs in which I will share some of the highlights of these daily exercises.

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Alana’s 2018 Vassa Commitment 

I, Alana Denison, will promise to myself in front of the KPYUSA Group and its teachers that I will strive to: Practice the Dhamma every day and train my mind to use wisdom and truth to overcome the lies I tell myself.

1 Each morning I will set my focus on being mindful of my thoughts and heedful with my words and actions for the day.

2 Everyday I will observe and record 3 examples of impermanence in the outside world.

3 Everyday I will observe and record 3 examples of how I do not control my body and/or belongings.

4 Everyday I will observe, record and contemplate on 1 instance where I believe myself to be special or better than others.

5 Before sleep I will set my goals and intentions for my practice.