Every daily things
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I am sure many of us are either busy with work, studies, etc etc...
read a book and find something daily that we can do.... inconspicuously and not wayang :)
like...
Effort of thinking of wholesome thoughts
Effort of reducing anger, greed, ignorance in our minds...
Do every little small good things... e.g. giving up seats in transport
Do a short meditation if possible... 15mins?
Every morning tell yourself not to harm a sentient being
Praise your friends, colleagues when they did something good
All these are related to Noble Eightfold Path- the Path to Enlightenment...!
Noble Eightfold Path in our daily life that we can do no matter how busy we are, how tired we are. I am sure it will gradually change our habits, mentality
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Thank you 2009novice for the pre-bed reminder :)
Also thanks for the notes you are sharing with us from your Dharma course. Hope you can keep posting if it's not too tiring.
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Thanks Realization :)
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Good thread... here's a sharing:
In cultivation, at what state of the mind does one awaken? What is the state of awakening like?
The correct concept of cultivation
First of all we need to understand what is cultivation. Some people think that cultivation means not having an occupation but to be engaged in the daily activities of prayers to the Buddha, meditation or chanting the sutras. The actual purpose of cultivation is to eradicate our undesirable conduct and to maintain our good conduct. In other words, to follow the Bodhisattva path in emulating the practices of the Bodhisattvas. When we know the meaning of cultivation, then we understand its purpose, which is to eradicate our self serving and evil habits and thus reduce our negative karma. However, many people do not understand this principle and they misinterpret its meaning. Actually, not only those who have renounced to be Buddhist monks or nuns need to cultivate, lay-Buddhists also need to cultivate, if not more diligently. Even those who do not subscribe to any religion need to cultivate. Cultivation is not only a matter for monks or nuns alone. What is cultivation? Where do we practise cultivation? Let me tell you a story: More than twenty years ago, I took four years to cultivate as I travelled across the country. Step by step, I covered Taiwan by walking. Once when I was in Hua-Lian, an elderly Buddhist asked me, "Master! A monk should reside in the temple to meditate, pray and chant sutras, but when you travel about what are you cultivating? I replied, "That’s right! I am cultivating. Sakyamuni Buddha teaches us to cultivate our conduct. He does not encourage us to cultivate sitting down! In the past few years I had been practising sitting meditation, now I wish to travel about. While walking and also amidst all my other activities, I do not commit evil deeds, I chant the names of the Buddhas, I praise and commend others, I tell people about the Dharma, I avoid the places of vice, this is the way I cultivate."
Thus, to cultivate means cultivating in the midst of our activities. This is a point that many people do not understand. They think that cultivation will result in a society that is pessimistic and low-spirited. This is a mistake. Jen Chen Buddhism advocates cultivating in the midst of our daily activities. Many retired old folks have no need to attend to household chores anymore, thus they can afford to spend their time to chant the names of the Buddhas and to cultivate in the midst of their leisure. However, there are many housewives who need to tend to their children, household chores and many other matters. How do you expect them to cultivate in their leisure? Thus, the need to cultivate in the midst of their activities; while cooking they could chant the names of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. No matter what activities they are engaged in, it is always possible to cultivate. Instead of gossipping about our neighbours and friends or engaging in other frivolous talks, why not refrain from all these. This is cultivation. Therefore, only when we cultivate in the midst of our activities do we understand the meaning of cultivation. To cultivate in our leisure may cause others a lot of frustrations. For example, a husband may be upset because his wife neglects the household by spending too much time chanting or running from temple to temple. For her to introduce Buddhism to her husband, thus, would not be an easy task. If she understands the principle of cultivating in the midst of her activities, it would be acceptable to the husband. Should he be invited to places of vice, he would know how to turn them down because his wife is a diligent cultivator. Both husband and wife are then cultivating at the same time.
There will be progress in our society when we understand the principle of cultivation. Otherwise, society will backslide. Over the last few decades, I have come to realize that we need to cultivate wherever we are. When we possess the correct concept of cultivation, any time is an appropriate time for cultivation, any place can be the place for us to seek enlightenment. If each and everyone of us conduct ourselves in this way, then the world will become a pure land. If we think that we can only cultivate in the temples, or that we cannot cultivate when we are working, then it is very possible that we commit evils deeds without even knowing. When we are with Buddha every moment, and cultivate constantly, then we are truly practitioners of Buddhism.
As to when in the cultivation process does one awaken and what it is like to be awakened, only when you follow the guidance of the Dharma and put it into practice, will you know you have awakened: when you drink the water, only you know how warm or cold it is.
How do we practise Buddhism when we are so busy with our careers and constantly facing a shortage of time?
Cultivating amid our activities
Many of us think that learning and practising Buddhism means utilising Sundays, our rest days or daily, to pray or meditate in temples. This perception is neither right nor wrong. We may be busy with our work and other activities, but, Buddhism is best practised amid these activities. Should one be totally inactive or free, what else is there to practise? It is common to see people working and singing at the same time; machinists talking while working the machines; housewives working on their chores and exhorting their children at the same time; others work with their minds preoccupied with all sorts of other problems not related to their work. In short, they may be occupied physically, but mentally, their minds are not free or empty. As such, does learning and practising Buddhism really pose a problem to our heavy schedules? This is definitely not so. A verse from the "Seven Buddhas" reads: "Avoid all evils; do all that are good; purify one’s mind. These are the teachings of all Buddhas".
So, we just need to purify our minds. While at work, although our body may be in action, it is actually amid these actions that we cultivate. The mind should not wander and the mouth should not chatter unnecessarily. We should concentrate on the work wholeheartedly, and constantly act on purifying our thoughts. This is practising Buddhism, and in fact it is the right approach. With this in mind, 
the busier we are, the more opportunities we have in cultivating. Let us not treat Buddhism as a form of superstition and think that to practise means having to make extraordinary efforts such as going to the forests or temples to meditate or to chant. A commuter, when travelling in a train for example, may emulate the mental purity of the Buddha, and listen to the rumbling of the wheels and at the same time rythmically chant the name of the Buddha or Bodhisattva so that the mind does not wander. Naturally the mind will become pure and calm. Learning Buddhism means emulating the mental purity of the Buddha. Buddha is one who has already attained perfect enlightenment, sublime wisdom and blessings. On the other hand the commoner has lesser blessings and wisdom. Still, he would have made tremendous advancements if he merely practises Buddhism amid his daily activities to the extent that he attains purity in his bodily actions, speech and thoughts.
Thus, no matter what we do, where we are or how busy we may be, we can still practise Buddhism. As long as we put this into practise, our wisdom will develop and our blessings will gradually grow. For this reason, Jen Chen Buddhism advocates practising amid the activities of our daily lives; practising without attaching to the notion of practice; maintaining awareness without attaching to the notion of awareness; and attaining without attaching to the notion of attainment. When we understand this principle and have no more confusions, we can be considered great practitioners of Buddhism.