Oakville Zen Meditation
“Awakening inventory” using a scoring system www.mindfulnesszenmeditation.ca
Are you “awake” or close to “awakening”? Please note: this is a very rough, non-scientific and limited inventory that may help you or not to assess your journey. The highest score the closest to “awakening”.
Score the following statements as:
Strongly disagree=1 Disagree=2 Neutral =3 Agree=4 Strongly agree=5 and be very honest with yourself!
1 2 4 5
I have an ongoing sense of contentment, ease, equanimity & open mind..................................................................................................( your score here ).
I have pleasure for doing routine stuff / non exciting stuff.......................................................................................................
Life and things are what they are and not what I want them to be.........................................................................................................
I am trying to stay more in the present moment than being in the past or the future......................................................................................................
I am not controlling my life, events and most people & it is OK...........................................................................................................
I feel intensely alive in my sensual experiences......................................
I am engaging in helping anyone beside, obviously, my loved ones.........................................................................................................
I am pretty good in being aware and controlling my desires, aversions & delusions....................................................................................................
From meditation practice, I am paying attention to my thoughts and feelings as often as possible........................................................................................................
When I am eating, I am just eating, for example tasting the food & nothing else...............................................................................................................
I am trying to keep my mind where my body is...................................................................................................................
I am judging only when I need to make a decision.........................................................................................................
How I look does not have any bearing on my self-worth or sense of identity........................................................ ................................................
I experience regular periods of mental and emotional quietness......................................................................................................
I am incapable of causing intentional harm to anyone/anything...........................................................................................
I don’t feel the need to belong to a group, community or society............................................................................................................
I have little sense of needing to do / produce anything; I am content just to be as I am..................................................................................................................
I feel equally connected towards all human beings regardless who they are....................................................................................................................
While making decisions I trust my intuition and feelings to take me in the right direction...........................................................................................................
My sense of self-worth is not affected by how much I have / achieve nor by success/failure..................................................................................................
I notice my emotions rapidly before being immersed by them...................................................................................................................
Using my meditation practice, I know how to pay attention and to use my mind to control its behavior.................................................................................................................
I practice awareness of my body, 5 senses and mind as much as I can..........................................................................................................................
Nothing lasts.........................................................................................................
I try to keep an open mind even when I am not in my comfort zone......................................................................................................................
Score the following statements as :
Strongly agree=1 Agree=2 Neutral =3 Disagree=4 Strongly disagree=5 Be very honest with yourself!
( Careful! Reversed order from the previous scoring scale! 1 2 3 4 5
I find difficult to establish or maintain deep/authentic relationships....................................................................................( your score here )
Becoming successful, recognized, wealthy and in control are important for me......................................................................................................
Illness and Death are frightens me...................................................
I am more than my material “body-mind”..........................................
I am judging everything all the time even without any purpose................................................................................................
I feel pressured to think and act in certain ways to gain trust, control and acceptance........................................................................................
I believe that most things will last because I am able to control them....................................................................................................
I trust my thoughts 100% because they come from my mind......................................................................................................
Past, present and future do exist..........................................................
I am an independent, separate, indispensable individual with a self-intrinsic entity .................................................................................................................
A strong & powerful ego is critical to succeed in life.............................................................................................................
It is always possible to achieve happiness by having /doing more and more stuff...............................................................................................................
I can survive only by myself without the help of others............................................................................................................
Like for happiness, causes of “suffering” come from the outside world..............................................................................................................
I need to have fun whatever the means to be happy...........................................................................................................
Most of the time, my mind is not where my body is and it is doing something else.................................................................................................................
Multitasking is good for the brain...................................................................
