2 super powerful tools to help you get (and improve!) your jhana: 1) foot in the door and 2) bullying the bully

These are two great tools I've been using for many years, and I hadn't shared it yet because I didn't feel like taking the time to write out a polished article. But they're such useful tools I need to just get it in writing and share the idea, since I frequently see complacent Buddhists who could benefit from this.

Let me know if anything isn't clear and I'll clarify.

1.3 foot in the door momentum: bully the bully

this one works closely with the “1.2 binary thinking”.underpromise, overdeliversometimes people won’t commit to attaining a goal, such as first jhana j1🌘, because they don’t want to be someone who can’t keep a promise or vow.what you should do instead, is commit to something attainable, like 5 minutes a day attempting first jhana.then you find that it’s such a pleasant and valuable experience with so many benefits, you naturally increase the amount of time.you got your foot in the door, and you use the momentum to build on it.if you had been discouraged to even commit to trying to attain first jhana, you would have failed because you never even made the attempt.

bully the bully, turnabout is fair play

this is a mental trick to help with your motivation to commit to self improvement projects.for countless lifetime, mara has been using the ‘foot in the door’ principle to lure you into developing wrong bad habits.example: “I’m just going to watch a few minutes of t.v. and then do the project I committed to.”what actually happens? You channel surf a few minutes, something catches your interest and then hours are wasted.mara got his foot in your door and lured you into his trap..So now you’re going to use mara’s trick on him, and use “foot in the door” method to develop healthy sustainable habits for self improvement.Bullying the bully.instead of being mara’s victim, now you can derive joy knowing you’re the one bullying mara everytime you use ‘foot in the door’ to develop a new wholesome habit.that’s bullying the bully, and what a lovely motivating perception to give you rapturous joy (4😁).

Example 1: Jogging is stupid, or so I thought

I hated jogging most of life. I used to think it was stupid and only for sadistic masochists. But 10 years ago, I realized I needed some of aerobic cardio health benefits. So I committed to doing 10 minutes a day of slow to moderate jogging.gradually, over time, I increased it over time because I saw the benefits, and now I do 30min a day or more (meeting RDA of health experts).I got my foot in the door, and built on it. Most people would just fall into binary thinking, either do it and give up, or just don’t even try.I used to hate jogging, thinking it was the most pointless activity ever.But after a few years, when my cardio vascular system strengthened, and light jogging was no longer a painful activity, then I began to appreciate the health benefits, and began to experience occasionally the endorphins and runners high people talk about. (actually those bliss factors are the same as Pīti😁 and sukha🙂 of jhana 4j🌕).Using the ‘foot in the door momentum’ principle, I turned what was once the most hated thing into a valuable ally and a beloved friend 🏃👨‍🍳🥧 that I spend 60 minutes a day with.

Example 2: When in doubt, do jhana

I used the ‘foot in the door’ principle to make sure I meet daily quotas of jhana practice.I tell myself, “even though you’re really busy and need to do X, just sit down do do 5 minutes of jhana, or 5 minutes of taiiji, then do that chore X.”What happens is once I commit to 5 minutes, it always stretches into 30 minutes or 60 minutes. It’s hard to ever do less than 20 minutes because jhana is blissful and really easy to do if you make a daily lifelong practice of it.Once you feel the bliss, and can see and think clearly, it’s very easy to see, ok, chore X is not so important and can wait 5 minutes...or 45 minutes.So my typical day, I commit myself to 8 sessions at minimum 5 minutes each, of either sitting meditaiton or taiji/qigong related standing/walking equivalent exercise.That’s 40 minutes total which is easy to make a firm commitment that I’ll do.But because those activities are so inherently blissful once you gain competence, what I actually end up doing is a minimum of 4-6 hours a day. That may sound like a lot of time, but when you charge your jhana battery for 4-6 hours, then you need 3-5 less hours of sleep.That’s the power of the ‘foot in the door’ principle. I make a commitment of 40 minutes, and I reap much greater rewards because it’s a positive slippery slope and gateway drug.