Forty-Eight Minutes

A practice card

A stretch of time set aside to be equal to everything in it — the Jain practice of samayika, equanimity.

When

Any time you can protect the whole stretch. Traditionally up to three times a day, at least once.

How

Sit somewhere you won't be interrupted. Put down whatever you're holding, including what you were planning. For this stretch, nothing is to be improved. When something pulls at you, notice it and let it pass. At the end, stand up and carry on with the day.

Try it

What pulled at you

Nothing you type is kept. It floats off the page.

Where it comes from

Jain practice. Forty-eight minutes is one antara-muhurta. Samayika is one of the six daily essentials, sat with the thought na-ham, I am not that, toward body and possessions.

Nothing done, deliberately, long enough to count.

The length is the practice. Forty-eight minutes is what the tradition asks; any honest stretch is a start.

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