{"id":913,"date":"2009-11-10T13:09:52","date_gmt":"2009-11-10T13:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/11\/meditation-marathon-dealing-with-distraction.html"},"modified":"2009-11-10T13:09:52","modified_gmt":"2009-11-10T13:09:52","slug":"meditation-marathon-dealing-with-distraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/11\/meditation-marathon-dealing-with-distraction.html","title":{"rendered":"Meditation Marathon: Dealing with Distraction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I sat the graveyard shift at the meditation marathon. &nbsp;The 3 am drunkards definitely served as mara-demon quality distractions. &nbsp;Reminded me of Milarepa meditating in his cave:<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><object width=\"560\" height=\"340\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/_PQVNsC_YDI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;\" \/><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/_PQVNsC_YDI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\"><\/object><!--more-->I often think of dharma in the old Hindu sense of my personal path. &nbsp;A kind of destiny. &nbsp;The feeling that there is in fact the right place to be, the right thing to say, the right effort and focus to maintain in every moment. &nbsp;In this way, it&#8217;s all about working with distractions. &nbsp;Especially in our distraction-saturated culture. &nbsp;I found working with the distractions outside the window a fruitful practice. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Otherwise, I had a rather peaceful sit. &nbsp;Broadway was pretty quiet from about 4 am to 6 am. &nbsp;And there was no disco music on! &nbsp;Moreover, it was a joy to feel the sun coming up over the buildings, to watch the light bounce off the streets. &nbsp;That was a distraction I didn&#8217;t mind spending a moment with.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>For the record, I found the meditation marathon a wonderful way not only to practice, but also to raise awareness for awareness itself. &nbsp;I felt the energy outside the window; I appreciated the exchange we were having with the public. &nbsp;I vote yes to more marathons in the future!<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I sat the graveyard shift at the meditation marathon. &nbsp;The 3 am drunkards definitely served as mara-demon quality distractions. &nbsp;Reminded me of Milarepa meditating in his cave:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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