SENSE RESTRAINT EXERCISE

Hello everyone,

At last night's sit I was asked if I could make the exercise of sense restraint that we do for the Fundamentals of Zen course at the Victoria Zen Centre. Here it is! Remember, just pick ONE and do it for a week.

Restraint of the Six Senses

Sight:
• Refrain from T.V., movies, video games, or unnecessary computer use.
• Refrain from unnecessary reading.
• Refrain from indulgence in visual pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.

Sound:
• Be conscious and make an effort to eliminate background noise (radio, T.V. etc)
• Become comfortable with silence.
• Refrain from engaging in frivolous or unnecessary chatter.
• Don’t indulge in eavesdropping or give ear to gossip or slander.
• Refrain from indulgence in auditory pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.

Smell:
• Refrain from using perfumes, strongly scented soaps or deodorants.
• Do not avoid or cover up unpleasant odours (bathrooms etc.)
• Be aware of the effect of the sense of smell on desire, ie. food, sexuality etc.
• Refrain from indulgence in olfactory pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.

Taste:
• Eat only at meal times (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) with only water at other times-no snacks.
• Eat simple foods, and do not indulge in overly rich, sweet, or heavy foods.
• Eat modestly at meals. Do not overeat to compensate for not snacking.
• Refrain from indulgence in taste pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.

Touch:
• Refrain from environmental comfort seeking, do not adjust the temperature unless you are ill or seriously at risk of becoming so.
• Practice letting go into hot and cold.
• Refrain from wearing or sleeping in luxurious fabrics (silk, velvet, fur, cashmere, angora etc)
• Abstain from masturbation.
• Refrain from indulgence in tactile pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.

Thought:
• Refrain from all intoxicants and stimulants (includes coffee, black or green tea {even decaffeinated}, caffeinated soda beverages, chocolate etc).
• Refrain from mental fantasy (ie. what I would do if I won the lotto).
• Refrain from mental indulgence in video games, reading, sexual thinking, and philosophical debate.
• Refrain from scenario building and negative thought indulgence.
• Refrain from indulgence in mental pleasures in response to boredom, emotional strain, or comfort seeking.