The Buddha’s Daily Routine.

The Buddha’s Daily Routine.

 

The Buddha was an energetic dharma practitioner who didn’t let his position as a “Dharma King” prevent him from tending to his own personal practice. After his passing, records were recorded from memory by those closest to him and preserved in the Majima Nikaya, a Sanskrit text compiled after the Buddha’s Nirvana.

 

The Buddha walked the dusty plains of Bihar, India, forty-nine years, teaching daily, easily making him the most energetic teacher in religious history. He was an enlightening being, technically known as a Bodhisattva, if you prefer the Sanskrit. Despite his huge responsibility tending to a flock of at least twelve-hundred disciples who followed him, he kept a rigid personal schedule. So, let’s have a look and see what inspires us.

 

The Buddha’s day was divided into five parts: The forenoon session, the mid-day session, and the evening session, which is divided into three parts.

 

The Forenoon Session: The Buddha arose at 4:30 AM and surveyed the world with his “Divine Eye”, taking time to contemplate our planet, its people, and their suffering. After tuning into the suffering of beings and its causes, his mind generated great compassion, as he contemplated their needs and radiated love towards all beings.

 

The Takeaway: We may not be Buddhas, not even close, but it is not difficult to imagine the effect on the world if everybody took five minutes when they woke up in the morning to think of the welfare of others. It is also good psychology, because we start the day less entrapped in our own “stuff.”

 

After generating compassion, it is a good time to meditate before sunrise. The Buddha did this as do most monastics today. His Holiness the Dalai Lama begins his day in similar fashion, despite his busy daily schedule, and being eighty plus years old. In fact, he rises about 3:30 AM to have enough time for his prostration, contemplation, and meditation, before his day begins.

 

Lunch: Lunch was held during the Forenoon Session. Although the Buddha was venerated by kings, he begged for his food daily, going through the streets and alleys, door to door, accepting the offerings of householders until his bowl was full.

 

The Takeaway: Although we may not be inclined to eat once a day, we can be less fussy and about what we eat. The Buddha did not eat to be entertained, but nourished. Greed for fine flavors, he taught, agitates the mind and disturbs meditation.

 

The Afternoon Session: The Buddha rested in his “perfume chamber” after he ate, and allowed time for his body and mind to rest for almost an hour. Then he would come out of his chamber and proceed to the lecture area. Before he began his lecture, he permitted those with personal problems or questions about meditation to approach him and ask questions. Then he lectured. The sutras we have today were compiled from these daily lectures.

 

The Takeaway: Often we don’t give meals a proper space in our lives. Many of us eat when we have the time, which often leads to rushing to eat and rush get back to what we were doing. Monastics “make” time for food and rest.

 

Taking our three meals at a fixed time daily and allowing time for rest afterwards is missing from many of our lives. If this is true for us, we should try to make change. Eating is a sacred ritual for body and mind and a time slot should be made for it. Aside from when unforeseen interruptions occur, eating time should be fixed and also rest time afterwards. We will be happier and more productive if we do so.

 

Rest Time: After lecturing and counselling for approximately three hours, the Buddha retired to his “perfume chamber” to rest, which for the Buddha often meant meditation while lying on his right side, resting his body, so as to return to his busy schedule stronger.

 

The Takeaway: Finding time when we can for a mid-day nap can go a long way towards feeling refreshed. In Asia, where I lived many years (in Nepal and India), a four PM, one-hour rest is common. I have had this habit most of my life. Often, I will pull my car over and crawl in the back of my car to rest or find a park. I find a rest spot wherever I am.

 

The Evening Session: The Buddha divided the night into three watches, the first watch between 6-10 PM, the second watch, between 10PM and 2AM, and the third watch, between 2AM and 6AM.

 

The First Watch, between 6AM and 10PM, the Buddha reserved for public teaching and personal instructions for those who needed it. Individual instructions on a one-on-one basis was an important aspect of the Buddha’s life because as meditation skill develop, disciples would often develop personal issues and the Buddha had to help his disciples individually when these obstacles arose.

 

The Takeaway: Although we may not be Buddhas, we may be able to help a friend or family member in need.

 

Problems, difficult to see when in the thick of it, are often seen clearly by others who are not. Always have time to nurture and help those who come to you, even if it is just to listen. We should always have time to be a good friend.

 

The Middle Watch: The middle watch of the night, between 10PM and 2AM, the Buddha reserved for the Gods to question him. During this time heavenly beings such as Shiva, Vishnu, goddesses such a Tara, and others, visited to council with the Buddha.

The Takeaway: Hopefully, we are sound asleep during this time! And if not, use it for meditation, or study.

 

The Last Watch: The last watch of the evening, between 2AM and 6PM, is divided into four sessions.

 

The first session, between 2 and 3 AM, is spent pacing up and down. This provides mild exercise for the Buddha.

 

During the second part, from 3 to 4 AM, the Buddha meditates resting on his right side.

 

During the third part, that is from 4 to 5 AM, the Buddha enters a state of bliss.

 

For one full hour from 5 to 6 AM, The Buddha enters the Absorption of Great Compassion samadhi, absorbed abstraction.

 

The Takeaway: While most of us would be sleeping, the Buddha is busy being Buddha. All we can do is respect the exalted state of the Buddha and hope to progress there.

 

Summary: The body and mind respond to routines. Even our own physiology demonstrates this. Consider the beating of our heart, or the rhythm of our breathing, the body and mind respond function rhythmically. While we are far from being a Buddha, we all have potential to unlock. If in our daily lives, however it may take shape, we work towards a routine, a way of life that we design, groove with, and settle into, we will accomplish more and be happier, regardless whether or not our goal is a “spiritual” one.

 

Routines give context to our lives, and the feeling we belong in the story we tell. If we learn nothing more than to build a schedule, we have done well.

 

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