Basics of 9 sec Practice

Pema Pera: the truly amazing thing is that a few deep breaths can change a day
Pema Pera: no assumptions
Pema Pera: just do it :)
Pema Pera: doesn't have to be appointed, just a few times an hour is fine, or even once an hour
Pema Pera: the point is more that we all experiment with the question of what happens when we take a brief break period a few times a day
Pema Pera: and then compare notes
Pema Pera: nothing more than that!

• Open up to reality

from: the log "Space", April 9      

Pema Pera: to let reality speak for itself
Pema Pera: the Universe, Being
Pema Pera: whatever term you like to use as a pointer.

...

Caledonia Heron: acceptance and observance of that allows for an open space to operate from
Caledonia Heron: perhaps where space is alive :)
Pema Pera: yes indeed!
Pema Pera: to let go of our own intentions and goals and plans is so important  

           from: 2008.10.06 13:00 - Insight Doesn't Depend on Time 

Stim Morane: It is a typical feature of the human situation that we blur past aspects of life that bear more attention and appreciation.
Stim Morane: The little 9-sec exercise is just intended to counter that tendency.
 ...

Stim Morane: Admittedly, one can't claim too much for an exercise that may only involve seconds a day. But quantity is not the only issue.
Stim Morane: Insight doesn't depend on time, necessarily.
Stim Morane: One of the things I find myself valuing and emphasizing in my RL teaching is just the capacity for appreciation, appreciating life's basics. And contemplative traditions have found that the "basics" dimension includes quite a lot that isn't usually noticed.

 from: 2008.04.12 07:00 -  Why Write?      

Pema Pera: we are poking holes in our habitually limited view of the world with those 9-sec tricks 

• Flexibility -- the notion of 9 seconds is a guide line and not a strict instruction.

">from: 2008.09.04 01:00 - PaB T-Shirt or Tattoo? 

Rowan Masala: I’ve had some trouble feeling like I’m able to really let go that quickly, so I’ve been using more extended pauses, but I’m trying to shorten them now, to get to the point at which I can do it in a few seconds
Fael Illyar: When I started, I did the pause for as long a I felt necessary. It naturally got faster as I did it more.
Rowan Masala: that’s good to hear, encouraging
Pema Pera: and there is no need to strive for perfection
Pema Pera: just letting go a little bit is good enough!
Fael Illyar: no point looking at the clock for exactly how long it takes :)

• use a time reminder or not?

from:  2008.08.26 01:00 - Plans, Postulates, Hypotheses

Pema Pera: no reason to do it with a clock — many people do find it easier with a clock, one thing less to worry about, others prefer free form, either way is fine 

Pema Pera: The thing is, if you don't use a clock, you stop to breath when you are no longer caught up in something — when you do a clock, or a random number generator, you can catch yourself in the act of narrowing down; and that gives an interesting opportunity to see your own mind in action

Pema Pera: the sudden realization that you were far more caught up and narrowed down than you realized can open your eyes, widen your horizons

• frequency is more important

from  2008, May 17, Lab Journal Notes

Pema Pera: basically, I want to let everybody free to do what they want. The frequency is more important than the actual content of the practice
Pema Pera: but if people ask me for advice, for suggestions,I can come up with many ideas, like taking a breath, looking around, dropping what you were preoccupied with, and seeing whether you can open up in a natural way, or you can chant a brief mantra, if that is your practice, or anything else.
Jack Milgrom: So its mainly shifting your perception away from what occupies most of our time?
Pema Pera: yes, Jack, sort of like shooting holes in the cover we have all put over reality, letting the light of a wider perspective shine in.

• integrated with daily life

Maxine's excerpt from "Simplity", 2008, April 14,

Pema Pera: While 9 seconds is very short, seemingly laughably short compared to usual contemplation techniques, it does have the advantage of already being integrated with daily life
... the very fact that you come back to it every fifteen minutes does not give you a chance to drift away and forget about it altogether
... and when you keep doing it, you will find that the practice colors the remaining 891 seconds of the quarter of an hour as well

• take brief notes

from: 2008.08.20 13:00 - Gathering of the great and good 

Pema Pera: have you ever tried to jot down some brief notes, while doing the 9 sec practice?
Quilty Bookmite: No.
Pema Pera: it may be fun to do. I know it sounds almost silly, to "meditate" for nine seconds, and then to even write down something about that . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . but still, until you try, you won't know!
Pema Pera: The idea is not to think about it
Pema Pera: but more spontaneously just to express yourself
Pema Pera: a word, a few words, anything brief
Quilty Bookmite: I can certainly try. It does seem a short time for anything to come up, especially when I am used to meditating for longer periods.
Pema Pera: That's the delight of it -- it almost shouldn't work, and yet it does!    

• for the time in between the 9 seconds

From  April 15, 2008, Simplicity,

Pema Pera: seeing is simple, integration in daily life can take infinite shades and colors
Pema Pera: Here is a suggestion, for the time in between the 9 seconds windows: how about simply trying to stay more with what is, rather than with what you have — do you think that idea is compact and portable enough to carry along with you during the remaining almost-15 min-interval?
Maxine Walden: please say a bit more,
Pema Pera: the first step in the 9-sec practice is simply to remember to do it — to stop and do anything at all
Maxine Walden: yes, that is clear
Pema Pera: the second step is to become comfortable with it, with taking a breath, relaxing, dropping the momentum of what you were doing, and taking a short note
Maxine Walden: dropping the momentum…that seems important and I will try to look to it
Pema Pera: but then third step, which we haven’t really talked about yet, is the question of how to let these source of inspiration inundate the plains of the remaining 891 seconds ^^