Haruki Murakami and the Dalai Lama - Daily Rituals

1) Haruki Murakami's Daily Ritual

 

Haruki Murakami in the above memoir, described his love for running everyday and how it has changed his life

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Haruki Murakami, the renowned Japanese fiction writer has the following daily schedule. He gets up at 4:00 am and then writes for about four to six hours. In the afternoon, he then goes for a 10km jog or a 1500 meters swim. 

The he comes back home and reads or listens to some music for a while. He then has dinner and goes to bed by 9:00 pm. He has committed to this extra-ordinary lifestyle. He makes sure he follows this schedule every single day no matter what. Thus he is able to constantly produce quality work. It is this commitment to practice discipline in his field that has made him one of the greatest fictional writers of all time.

2) His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Daily Ritual

His holiness, the Dalai Lama for instance wakes up at 3:30 am everyday and spends one hour on prayers and meditations. He then goes for a walk and has breakfast from 5 am to 6 am. He then continues his prayers and meditations from 6:30 am to 8:30 am. From around 9am to 11:30 am, he studies various Buddhist texts written by Great Buddhist masters. He will have lunch by 12:30 pm. 

Then the next four hours are kept aside for interviews and meetings which he does at his office. He then returns for evening tea at 6 pm and from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm he does his evening prayers. Finally after a seventeen hour long day, his holiness retires for bed at 8:30 pm. Again here you see an example of a disciplined daily schedule, where his holiness has focused most of his attention on the most important tasks of his life. He has set aside time for every activity and being disciplined and following this daily schedule brings balance to his life.

 

 

 Daily Meditation and Fixed Hours of Rest, that his Holiness the Dalai Lama commits too everyday brings balance, enhanced awareness, and spiritual calmness to his life.

It is because these great personalities commit to these daily rituals that they are able to constantly contribute to the world and still be in balance in their personal lives.