The Leisure to Practice

Is basically having the time to "Pray without Ceasing" 24 hours a day in your life if you wish.

It was around 1980 when I realized it was possible to pray for a life like this. I saw clearly the advantage to having time to do this and all the good it created in my own life and others around me, in my family as well as people I met or passed by on my way through life.

It starts with having the time to maintain your center around your spiritual practices which allows you to begin to change your world and all the world around you through prayer.

Around 1980 I began to more formally study Tibetan Buddhism. Up until that time in my life I had been a dualist in my thinking more. But, I began to realize it wasn't working to think like this.

A good example might be if you look at a rain storm. Is a rain storm good or bad? That's right. It depends upon who it is affecting. For some people who need water to drink or to wash down their driveway or to water their plants the rain might be good. But, for people caught out in the rain without an umbrella or rain jacket it might be bad depending upon the situation.

So, there is no ultimate way to say that rain or snow or wind or even drought is ultimately good or bad, is there?

So, trying to make blanket statements of what is good or bad simply cannot work for things like weather or people. People can be good in one situation and bad in another situation. And this is true of everyone on earth. No one is always good or bad in any situation. So, to live as a dualistic thinker is to be a child and immature in your thinking.

So, for me, I saw non-dualism as a more useful approach to life, a more adult approach to life where having compassion for all beings in all situations made sense.

However, what is useful is right mindful compassion and not idiot compassion. In right mindful compassion one realizes whatever is going on around one and compensates for that situation and thinks things through and finds ways to be helpful in whatever situation one finds themselves in.

So, having the time to pray without ceasing is also a time for practicality in the application of kind thoughts, kind feelings and kind actions towards oneself and all beings in the universe.....

By God's Grace

The Leisure to Practice

Growing up I didn't even know this was actually a thing. Basically, as I began to study more about Buddhism I learned about "The Leisure to Practice". From my point of view it is valuable to all people that pray. If you are praying for "The Leisure to Practice" like I started praying for when I was around 30 years of age or so, what you are asking for is so you have the free time to pray for everyone in the past, present and future and praying for the end of their suffering and their enlightenment throughout the universe in the past, present and future.

Before this I had learned through reading "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda that one could be a Householder Yogi instead of going into a cave or joining an Ashram somewhere.
So, your yoga is being married and raising a family and supporting them. So, by 23 to 25 years of age I knew this was likely going to be my yoga too. I starting living with my first wife when I was 25 and we married because my son was going to be born when I was 26. So, I began to be a Householder Yogi at this time in my life. And this worked for me.

So, by 30 I learned about "The Leisure to Practice" which is about having enough time to "Pray without ceasing" 24 hours a day waking and sleeping. So, I prayed for the Leisure to Practice from the time I was 30 to 50 before it was given to me by God.

But, remember God doesn't work in the way that we do. "God works in very mysterious ways" and this is no joke but reality.

So, when I believed I was dying one morning I called my son to come take me to the hospital because I thought I might be dying that morning. However, while I waited for my son to come drive me to the hospital 9 angels surrounded me and started saying in unison: "You aren't going to die! Your life will get better now!" They kept repeating this over and over to me until all the cells of my body believed the angels. So, when I got to the hospital and told the doctors and nurses about the angels they told me that this was a common experience people had regarding near death experiences and people recount these sorts of things all the time to them in the hospital. So, they were not surprised when I told them about the angels coming and telling me I wasn't going to die and that my life would get better now.

For the next 8 months doctors didn't know if I was going to live or not but then one day they told me I was getting better and they told me they finally knew what was wrong with me which was a heart virus and they knew this because my heart had finally begun to heal itself from the virus. They said I was lucky because most people die from this then (in 1998 and 1999).

So, basically, I had had to retire or die for 8 months. So, my wife insisted I retire so I wouldn't die and leave her and our 2 1/2 year old daughter and my 9 year old daughter alone. I also had a grown son that was then 24.

So, if you ask God for the Leisure to Practice God might give this to you like he gave it to me. I have been retired now for 20 years since I was 50 after God gave me "The Leisure to Practice" and to pray for people to the best of my ability ongoing.

By God's Grace

The Leisure to Practice

I first became aware of this as a vocation around 1980. I was starting to meet Tibetan Lamas and they were saying this was a desirable state of being to be able to help yourself become more enlightened while you also help everyone else become enlightened too.

So, I began praying for the "Leisure to Practice". To some degree I was already there except my children were then 6 to 9 years old (my older kids) and I had bought land to survive the recession (which took the unemployment rate to about 10% like during the Great Recession) and built myself a house by selling one of our vehicles to buy building materials to build an A-Frame for my wife and chidren and I to live on that we had paid for with cash, (land and building materials). This saved us about 60,000 dollars in rent over the next 5 years time and allowed us then (when they oldest was about 12 to move to the San Francisco Bay area and buy a business by then.

But, my actual Leisure to practice did not come fully until I was 50 and had almost died and was forced to retire. The miracle for me was I was in a financial position where I actually could retire at 50 and be okay ongoing. So, I entered into the Leisure to practice sort of in shock of how God had brought what I had prayed for about by almost killing me in the process.

So, the first 5 years of my "Leisure to Practice" were psychologically hard to adjust to after a life of trying to support my wife and children after leaving college to work full time around 25 to support my new wife and baby to be.

However, I also knew I could help myself and everyone I knew more by having this "Leisure to Practice".

I realized today that this isn't necessarily just a religious or spiritual thing but that anyone who is into helping themselves and all other beings can benefit from this state (and everyone else around them too) by achieving this financial and psychological state of being benevolent to oneself and others.

Often you see people creating non-profits themselves or working for non-profits and volunteers once they reach this state around the world.

In the past people had to become Priests and Nuns or Ministers to achieve this but with university educations and educations from the school of hard knocks often people reach this state at literally any point in their adult lives worldwide.

So, the Leisure to practice more broadly defined would be: "Being freed up to help yourself and all other beings that you choose to without any limits".

For me, personally I would say, "By God's Grace'

But, I realized today even if you don't believe in God or Buddha that you can still be kind to yourself and all other beings you meet in any creative way you can think of and "Change the world" in a good way.

The Leisure to Practice

I first heard this term sometime in the late 1970s or around 1980. I decided then (I was around 30 then) that this was a good idea for me to work towards. To be able to have time to contemplate, to pray, to write, to travel, to meet people and to see what good I could do spontaneously in the world.

I suppose it is not for everyone. I have met people who only know how to be workaholics and couldn't imagine being as creative or imaginative as this all the time. Even for me it can be a bit much sometimes. And even this blog is a part of "The Leisure to Practice" the way I heard it described by Tibetan Lamas so long ago.

It is a way to make other people's lives better. It is a way to think about how life can be better and talk about it or write about it or even to paint or whatever useful creative thing you can try to do for yourself or mankind.

In some ways I always expected to work until I died like most people do. Retirement for many turns out to be a bridge too far. So, I prayed for the Leisure to practice and in 1999 it finally happened. In the fall of 1998, I got a heart virus that wasn't diagnosed properly until spring 1999 and when I realized in May 1999 that I wasn't going to die then, I suddenly had the rest of my life to look forward to because I had had to retire in order to stay alive those 7 months somehow. So, since 1999 I have lived for 14 years now, The Leisure to Practice and it has been much different than I expected but also much more amazing than I expected too. So, if praying and helping mankind and traveling a lot and visiting people all over the world suits your demeanor and personality then you should pray for "The Leisure to Practice" too.

The Leisure to Practice

I began praying for "The Leisure to Practice" when I first realized it was a desirable state of being for me in 1980. I continued to Pray for the Leisure to practice until it was given to me when I almost died in 1998 and 1999. Having obtained this "Time to work for my enlightenment and the enlightenment of all beings" was strange for me after struggling most of my life to survive financially and to support my children and to keep going no matter what. But, it happened. And then I found myself basically retired at age 50. The last time I worked for someone other than myself was working helping do the 2000 Census and even that wasn't because I needed the money it was because I wanted something "normal" to do during my transition to "The Leisure to Practice".

I know that many people are "Workaholics" either by nature or be training and wouldn't know what to do with themselves with the Leisure to Practice. But, for me, what the Leisure to Practice looks like is a lot like the lives of successful artists, writers and creative entrepreneurs in general. In otherwords, you don't have a set schedule and so you can devote time to projects that are important to you or to helping others in various ways.

For example, there may be people in your family that need to spend time with you, people who are having various problems that you might be able to help with or who might need a little financial help that you might give. By having the time to help yourself and people in your life in various ways you can qualitatively increase the quality of your own life and everyone's life around you if you choose to. You can study anything that is important to you, and embark upon spiritual and religious practices. And you can do whatever you sense is helpful to yourself and all life in the universe at any moment you choose to. Obviously, this isn't for everyone. But, it works for me and I bet a lot of you out there would be happy in a life like this helping yourself and others to better lives all the time without the need to have to be forced to be at a 9 to 5 or longer job that takes all of your time and doesn't really give you what you need or want. So, if this is desirable to you then I suggest you pray also for, "The Leisure to Practice".

After living a life like this for almost 15 years so far and only being 64 this life reminds me the most of what Saint Germain's life was described as during the 1700s. That is kind of what it is like for me except that I have a wife and children from about age 40 down to around age 16.

The Leisure to Practice

I prayed from 1980 until 1999 for "The Leisure to Practice" which basically means the time to really pray and to learn and to practice everything important that being a human being can actually Be.

My prayers were granted in May 1999 when I learned from my doctor that I wasn't going to die after all. The previous 7 months doctors were not sure I would or could live anymore in this body. So, after they finally diagnosed in May 1999 what actually had been wrong with me the previous 7 months of near death and told me that I actually might live a long life as my heart had healed from the virus I felt amazing. So, I moved slowly from a state of preparing for death for 7 months to realizing I needed to share all my experiences with life and God because that was one of the things God had saved my life for.

And, my prayers for "The Leisure to Practice" which I had given from 1980 to 1999 were Granted by God so I was now both retired and free to practice at age 50. Having only ten years before this time thought that I was going to have to work literally until I died this was also an amazing occurrence in that way too. So, the only useful way was that God had granted me a miracle in my life to do his work for the rest of my life. And since I had been praying for this outcome for almost 20 years it manifest and my life was like someone taking a several ton weight off my chest. I was free to do whatever I wanted. I was free by God's Grace to help myself and all beings I met in any way God or I could think of. (And this is quite a lot right there).

So, I guess the point I am making is this. If you already have the Leisure to Practice it might be more important than ever before to write online and to help people in any way that you can too. Because the next few years (as a precognitive psychic and as an intuitive) remind me a lot of 1938 and 1939 just before world war II. If there is a big war it will start between Iran versus Turkey and Saudi Arabia to start. If oil jumps about 1 to 5 dollars a gallon in price at that point the rest of the world will have to get involved or go bankrupt and starve to death literally. So, I guess this is what I see the world facing right now. So, if you can help avoid a major world Calamity now is the time to write and to help create a better outcome anyway you can starting right now!

The Leisure to Practice

Some people might ask, "Is retirement potentially the 'Leisure to Practice'"?

The answer would depend upon the person, of course. However, in my case I discovered while studying with Tibetan Lamas during the 1980s in the western United States and in India and Nepal that "The Leisure to Practice" was one of the most important things that a person could do for mankind and all life on earth and throughout the universe. Even being able to have the presence of mind to write this for you right now is a part of this "Leisure to Practice" that I prayed for since the 1980s and received as a bi-product of almost dying in 1998 and 1999 for 7 months. So because I was forced to retire I began my path of "Leisure to Practice" in earnest. I suppose one naturally would have to be on a path of developing compassion for all life in the universe like many priests, ministers, monks, nuns and other spiritually motivated altruistic people do first. Having learned compassion for all living things one then can move forward "to help" all life in the universe in all time and space realistically.

In my personal experience my prayers drew my "Leisure to Practice" into reality. This might happen for you as well if it is your path. So, I have been living a "Leisure to Practice" life now since 1999. I see it as a worthwhile goal for all people psychologically suited to this path and practice of compassion for all life in the universe. So, since I have been 50 years old now I have been on this path. I find that God allows me to help all beings into more useful and helpful ways of functioning which brings more and more beings towards inner peace and enlightenment. If this is your path pray for it and it will come in its own time and way.

The Leisure to Practice

Though many of you now out of work around the world might be upset because you don't have enough money to buy what you want because of a lack of complete employment at a level you desire you may have time if you are collecting unemployment compensation that is a priceless commodity-- The Leisure to Practice. In all philosophies and religions around the world the time to commune with the infinite is valued, to get yourself straight with all life and God if you believe in God, or to simply regroup and to think about what you need to do next to survive the coming years.

When one is simply being a workaholic with nose to grindstone one cannot usually go deep enough to actually prepare or plan for the future regarding what they want from life, where they are actually going, and most important "Do I actually want to live or go where I'm presently going at all?" Taking time do go deeper and to access the answers to these very important questions make life worth living. Without knowing where you want to go "How can you ever get there?". So this time of leisure if you have it while collectin unemployment compensation is a time to commune with nature, yourself, your family, your children and to grow in all good ways for the benefit of yourself and all beings.

The Leisure to Practice

The Leisure to Practice. What is the Leisure to Practice? I have thought about this a lot. I can tell you what it is to me but then I'd like to say what it might be for you.

For me, personally, the Leisure to Practice means that I don't have to worry about working at a job and struggling day after day to just pay the bills to not drown in them one day. It means that I can set my own schedule on my own biorythms and I can tune into my precognitions and dreams and I can pray and meditate as often and whenever or wherever I like without my thoughts being forced toward the next buck I have to make to survive and to support my family. That is what it means to me.

It also means that I am moving toward always being in the right place at the right time for the maximum benefit both physically, monetarily, emotionally, and spiritually for all beings in the universe. It means that I am perfecting spontaneous accomplishment of the same sort Jesus and Buddha lived. So it means to me that I am on the path of a compassionate siddha and moving toward Mahasiddha as quickly and as efficiently and as compassionately as possible for the benefit of myself and all being in the universe.That, is what the Leisure to Practice Is to me.

However, after thinking about this a lot since I have had leisure to practice for at least 10 years now, leisure to practice for you might be something entirely different. It might be just having the time and money to visit your kids or parents on an extended visit. It might be visiting Rome, Italy or Dharmsala, India or wherever your heart is drawing you. It could be any constructive use of your time, even if it is daydreaming or inventing new books, stories for children, gardening, hiking, playing music or listening to it. In other words leisure to practice might be the most wonderful series of days, weeks, months and/or years thus far in your life!