5 Small Habits that Will Change Your Life Forever (Monk Advise) | Buddhism In English

Summary

In this enlightening video, a monk shares daily practices that foster a happier and more fulfilling life. He emphasizes the importance of morning gratitude, meditation for mental clarity, journaling for reflection, mindful eating to appreciate nourishment, and planning the day for prioritization. These habits, he suggests, are the secret to achieving extraordinary feats and maintaining a balanced life, accessible to everyone with 24 hours in a day.

Takeaways

• 🧘 Practice daily habits and rituals to achieve a happier and more fulfilling life.
• 🌞 Start the day with morning gratitude to appreciate all aspects of life, including challenges and people who have helped you grow.
• 🧘‍♂️ Engage in morning meditation to cultivate a calm and peaceful mind, setting the tone for the day.
• 📓 Keep a journal to reflect on daily activities, express gratitude, and acknowledge good deeds.
• 🍽 Practice mindful eating, focusing on the purpose and experience of eating to enhance mental awareness and appreciation for food.
• ✍️ Plan your day before it begins to prioritize tasks and achieve mental clarity and freedom.
• 🤝 Acknowledge the support of others, such as those who provide food and assistance, and express gratitude for their contributions.
• 🌱 Recognize that challenges and difficult people in life offer opportunities to develop patience and mental strength.
• 🕰 Understand that everyone has the same amount of time; it's the organization and planning of that time that leads to a more fulfilling life.
• 🔄 Replace toxic habits with good ones to improve character and overall well-being.
• 🌟 Incorporate monk habits and personal practices to enhance daily life and find a sense of purpose and happiness.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to share habits and practices that monks follow in their daily life, which can help viewers achieve a happier and more fulfilling life.

What does the speaker believe is the secret behind people's extraordinary achievements?

The speaker believes that the secret behind people's extraordinary achievements is a good set of habits that they practice every single day.

Why is focusing on daily habits and practices important according to the speaker?

Focusing on daily habits and practices is important because what we do and think in our daily life shapes our character and ultimately makes us who we are.

What is the first practice mentioned in the video, and why is it important?

The first practice mentioned is the morning gratitude practice. It is important because it helps individuals to be thankful for everything and every person in their life, which can lead to a greater appreciation of life's value.

Why should one be thankful for bad people or tough times in life?

One should be thankful for bad people or tough times because they provide opportunities to practice patience and mental strength, making life more interesting and contributing to personal growth.

What is the significance of morning meditation according to the video?

Morning meditation is significant because it gives a refreshed start to the day. The calm and peaceful state of the mind and surroundings in the morning makes it an ideal time for meditation.

What type of meditation do monks typically practice in the morning?

Monks typically practice love and kindness meditation, mindfulness meditation, and breathing meditation in the morning, depending on their choice.

What is the purpose of journaling as mentioned in the video?

The purpose of journaling is to review the day, reflect on what was done and what was missed, write down good deeds and things to be grateful for, and cultivate a habit of remembering the good and valuable aspects of life.

What is mindful eating, and how does it benefit monks?

Mindful eating is the practice of being fully aware and focused on the food being consumed, its texture, taste, and warmth. It benefits monks by providing a meditative experience during meal times, promoting calmness and a deeper connection with the act of eating.

Why is planning the day important according to the video?

Planning the day is important to avoid operating in autopilot mode, to prioritize important tasks, and to create mental freedom and clarity to focus on other valuable activities, including meditation and spirituality.

How does the speaker address the common complaint about not having time for meditation or reading?

The speaker addresses this by emphasizing that everyone has 24 hours in a day, and it's about how one organizes and plans their day. By planning and working on that plan, one can create more free time and a happier day.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Introduction to Monk Habits for a Happier Life

The video introduces habits and practices followed by monks in their daily lives, emphasizing their potential to lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. It highlights how extraordinary achievements often stem from consistent good habits. The speaker emphasizes the importance of focusing on positive habits and eliminating toxic ones, as daily actions shape one's character.

05:01

🙏 Morning Gratitude Practice

The first practice discussed is the morning gratitude practice, where monks express thankfulness for everything and everyone in their lives. The speaker explains the importance of being grateful for the Buddha, his teachings (Dharma), the community of monks (Sangha), teachers, parents, and even difficult people. This practice helps recognize the value of life and promotes a positive mindset.

10:02

🧘‍♂️ Morning Meditation

The second practice is morning meditation, which is considered one of the best times to meditate due to the calmness of both the mind and the surroundings. Different types of meditation, such as loving-kindness, mindfulness, and breathing meditation, are practiced by monks. Morning meditation provides a refreshing start to the day and helps maintain mental clarity and peace.

📔 Daily Journaling

The third practice is journaling, a daily habit that allows for reflection on the day's activities. Monks write down what they accomplished, what they forgot, and what they are grateful for. This practice helps in recognizing the positive aspects of life, reinforcing a sense of value and happiness.

🍽️ Mindful Eating

The fourth practice is mindful eating, which monks practice during their meals. They focus on the purpose of eating, the texture, taste, and warmth of the food, and maintain a calm and quiet environment while eating. This practice not only supports physical health but also serves as a form of meditation, especially for those with busy lives.

📅 Planning the Day

The fifth and final practice is planning the day. Monks prioritize their tasks to avoid operating on autopilot and ensure they focus on important activities. Planning helps in organizing the day, making time for meditation, and achieving a balanced and fulfilling life. The speaker stresses that everyone has 24 hours in a day; effective planning is key to making the most of it.

🌿 Conclusion and Encouragement

In the conclusion, the speaker encourages viewers to adopt these monk habits to experience a lighter, happier, and more fulfilling life. They acknowledge that some viewers may already practice these habits and suggest adding any they don't currently practice. The overall message is to inspire a healthier and happier lifestyle through these simple yet profound practices.

Keywords

💡Habits

Habits refer to regular practices or behaviors that are performed routinely. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of developing good habits as a foundation for a happier and more fulfilling life. The term is used to describe the daily practices of monks and the speaker's personal routines, which contribute to their character and overall well-being.

💡Practices

Practices are the activities or exercises that are regularly engaged in to achieve a specific goal or to maintain a certain state of being. The video discusses various practices such as morning gratitude, meditation, journaling, mindful eating, and day planning, which are integral to the monks' and the speaker's daily routines. These practices are portrayed as essential for personal growth and achieving a meaningful life.

💡Monks

Monks are religious ascetics who live a life of contemplation and devotion, often as part of a monastic community. In the context of the video, monks are presented as individuals who follow a disciplined lifestyle with specific practices that contribute to their spiritual journey. The speaker mentions that monks practice gratitude, meditation, and mindful eating, highlighting how these habits shape their daily lives.

💡Gratitude

Gratitude is the feeling of appreciation for what one has or for what others have done for them. The video script discusses the practice of morning gratitude, where monks and the speaker express thankfulness for various aspects of their lives, including teachings, community, and the people who support them. This practice is tied to the theme of enhancing life's value and appreciating all experiences.

💡Meditation

Meditation is a practice of focusing the mind and achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. The speaker mentions that morning meditation is a crucial part of a monk's life, helping to start the day with a refreshed mind. Different types of meditation such as love and kindness, mindfulness, and breathing meditation are mentioned, illustrating the diversity of practices aimed at achieving mental peace.

💡Journaling

Journaling is the act of keeping a written record of one's experiences, thoughts, and reflections. In the video, the speaker describes journaling as a daily habit that helps in reviewing the day's activities, noting down good deeds, and expressing gratitude. This practice is linked to the theme of self-awareness and personal growth, as it encourages individuals to reflect on their actions and feelings.

💡Mindful Eating

Mindful eating involves being fully aware of the experience of eating, including the taste, texture, and the act of consuming food. The video script highlights this practice among monks, who focus on the purpose of eating and the sensations associated with it. Mindful eating is presented as a way to incorporate meditation into daily life, especially for those with busy schedules.

💡Planning

Planning refers to the act of organizing and arranging activities or tasks in advance. The speaker in the video emphasizes the importance of planning one's day to avoid operating on autopilot and to prioritize important tasks. This practice is connected to the theme of intentional living and achieving a more organized and fulfilling life.

💡Toxic Habits

Toxic habits are negative patterns of behavior that can have harmful effects on one's well-being. The video script suggests that focusing on good habits and eliminating toxic habits is crucial for personal development. The speaker encourages viewers to replace these detrimental habits with positive ones, contributing to a happier and more fulfilling life.

💡Spiritual Journey

Spiritual journey refers to the personal quest for understanding one's place in the universe, seeking meaning, and developing a deeper connection with oneself and possibly a higher power. In the video, the speaker mentions that monks eat to support their health and spiritual journey, indicating that their daily practices are part of a broader pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.

Highlights

Introduction to habits and practices of monks for a happier and more fulfilling life.

Emphasis on the importance of daily habits and practices in shaping one's character.

Morning gratitude practice: being thankful for everything and everyone in life.

Acknowledging and being thankful for bad people and tough times as opportunities to build patience and mental strength.

Morning meditation: a practice to start the day with a calm and peaceful mind.

Different types of morning meditations, including love and kindness meditation and mindfulness meditation.

Journaling as a daily practice to review the day, acknowledge good deeds, and remember what one is grateful for.

Mindful eating: focusing on the purpose of eating, the texture, taste, and warmth of food.

Reflecting on the purpose of eating for health and spiritual journey.

The calm and quiet environment of monastery dining halls during mindful eating.

Mindful eating can serve as a form of meditation for busy individuals.

The importance of planning the day to avoid living in autopilot mode.

Planning helps prioritize important tasks and achieve mental clarity and freedom.

Everyone has 24 hours; it's about how we organize and plan our time.

Incorporating these practices can lead to a lighter, happier, and more fulfilling life.

Transcripts

Nam buddhaya welcome everyone to another

video today from this video I want to

share with you few habits and practices

that we monks practice in our daily life

and also I want to share with you few my

personal practices that I do in my daily

life and I believe these practices and

habits can help you to achieve a more

happier and a more fulfilling life now

have you seen people those who are doing

extraordinary things that average people

wonder and think like how on Earth that

person did that some people call it luck

okay some people call it they are clever

some people call that they are very

skillful okay but I would say the secret

behind their achievement is a good set

of habits that they have done every

single day and they have practiced

ractice every single day and the those

practices and those habits has become a

normal part of their life and that is

why we have to focus our mind on the

habits and the practices that we do in

our daily life because what we do in our

daily life what we think in our daily

life makes who we are makes the

character okay makes our character so

that is why we have to focus F us on the

good habits and remove try try as much

as possible to remove the toxic habits

and replace them with a good one so I

believe these habits these monk habits

and personal habits will help you to

achieve a more happier and a more

fulfilling life so without any further

Ado let's dive into these habits the

first practice is the morning gratitude

practice now this is something that we

we monks practice every single morning

and that is to be simply to be thankful

for and grateful for everything and

every person in our life so the first

thing that I practice is I become

thankful for the Buddha in the first

step and also for his teachings it is

called dhama and Noble community of

monks that is called the sa so these are

the three jewels in my life so I become

thankful for all those three jewels and

also I genuinely become thankful for my

teacher who taught me the Buddhist

teachings and also I become thankful for

my parents and my brother monks and

people who offer me Foods now as monks

we don't earn money we don't cook so

people have people come to the temple

and they offer us food so when we

receive the food we generally become

thankful for them and also I become

thankful for all the people who helps me

during the day for an example example

there are so many people who are helping

me to create these videos so every

single morning I become thankful for

them and you can become thankful for

them as well and also you can simply be

thankful for everything and every

experience and every person in our life

and also remember that you can be

thankful for bad people as well right

people who gave you tough times why

should we become thankful for bad people

and the rude people who gave us tough

times to our life because they are the

persons those are the P people who gave

us ability to practice the patience and

the mental strength right without them

our life would be less interesting okay

the more more we Face challenges the

more we Face tough times there is an

story there's a story for us to tell so

we can be simply thankful for them as

well to for making making our life story

more

interesting in that way you can practice

this gratitude practice every single

morning when you practice the

gratefulness and you when you simply

become thankful for everything and every

person in your life you start to feel

the value of your life because sometimes

we

forget that we have a value in our life

and think like oh my life is miserable

my life is worth worthless my life has

no value but if you really think about

it if you really focus about it our life

is more valuable and the first practice

is that to practice the morning

gratitude the second practice that I

want to share with you today is the

morning meditation morning meditation is

one of the most important practices that

we do in our Mon's life right why

meditate in the morning especially

morning is one of the best times to

meditate because your mind is so calm

and peaceful in that time and also your

surrounding is calm and peaceful at that

time okay so morning meditations give

you a refreshed start to your day so as

morning meditations normally we monks

practice first of all the love and

kindness meditation and some monks

practice mindfulness meditation

breathing meditation a lot of

meditations so it depends on on your

choice what to practice and what not to

practice so morning meditation is one of

the best practices and best things that

you can do to start your day with a

fresh start the third practice is

journaling now this is something that I

do every single day to have a good

review on the day right what I did

during the day and what I forgot to do

and also I take time to write down all

the good things and all the good deeds

that I did did and simply be happy about

it and also finally you can leave some

space to write down all the things that

you are grateful for in your life when

you write down all the things that you

are grateful in your life and if you do

it every single day it becomes a habit

to remember all the good things in your

life all the valuable things in your

life and you will feel much more

valuable about your life so journaling

is one of the habits that you can add to

your life

to make your life more happier and more

fulfilling and the fourth practice is

mindful eating now this is one practice

that we monks do almost every single day

normally as monks we all only have two

meals per day and in some monasteries

some monks have only one meal per day so

while we are having our meals we become

Mindful and we focus or our mind on the

food that we are taking right so the

first step is to recall and reflect on

the purpose on eating of eating now what

is the purpose of eating as a monk we

have our food as a help for our health

and as a help for our spiritual journey

so when you recall that you know that

you're you're having your meals with a

purpose and also the next step is to be

more Mindful and focus our mind on

eating you can focus your mind on the

texture of the food and the taste of the

food and the warmth of the food and

simply be aware of it while having the

meals now while you are having these

meals the surrounding and when everyone

is having that meal in the same way the

surrounding is very quiet and calm as

the monastery's dining hall one thing

one interesting about the monastery's

dining hall is the monastery's dining

hall is very calm and quiet while the

amongs are having the meals because they

simply become mindful about their food

so mindful eating is one practice that

you can do in your life and if you're

having a busy life right if you don't

have some time to meditate a separate

time to meditate you can practice this

mindful mindful eating practice as a

meditation so if you want to know how to

practice this you can watch this video

right here that I have done a separate

video to how to meditate in a busy life

check that as well so this mindful

practice is one of the good practices

that you can do in your daily life the

fifth and the final practice that I want

to share with you today is planning the

day now why should we plan the day

because most of the time we spend our

day in autopilot mode right we always

think what should we do next sometimes

we wonder what are we are going to do

what what we are going to do next and

some times we do the things that we

don't want to do and we don't give that

priority to the important things in our

life and we miss to do all those

important things and that is why it is

really important to plan your day before

you start so every single day before

you're going to bed you can take a book

or wear whatever that you use to not

down right and plan your day and

prioritize the most important things

that you should do and you should focus

on during the day and try to do that

most important task during the day in

the first place right try as much as

possible to do the most important and

the most difficult task during the day

in the first place why should you do

this because after doing that you have

that mental Freedom right mental Clarity

to do and focus on other things that

values to your life so every single

night before starting every single day

plan your day and start the day don't

step into the day without planning then

your day will be planned and you will

have much good time and you can allocate

a good time to have a mental freedom and

to practice meditations and spirituality

now so many people complain about oh we

don't have time to meditate we don't

have to we don't have time to read a

book because we are so busy no everyone

is not busy because everyone has got 24

hours we all have got 24 hours even busy

people not busy people organized people

well organized people and not organized

people unorganized people we all have 24

hours it is all about how we organize

our day how we plan our day so it is

really important to plan your day and

work on that plan and then you can have

more free and and a happier day so these

are the few practices that I do

personally and we monks do in our Mon's

life that can add to your life I think

some of the things some of the practices

you also currently you're also doing all

those things but if you're not doing

this add them to your life and then you

will start to feel that your life is

more lighter more happier and more

fulfilling so I wish you all a healthy

and a happier life no yeah