Dear friends,
Many people meditate, try to meditate, or feel guilty for no longer meditating. I have been a meditator for many decades and a meditation teacher for about 30 years. I have learned a few things that you may find helpful if any of those descriptions applies to you.
1. Meditation is a method and practice, not a hard and fast goal. When someone says, “I have tried to meditate and am not able to”, it indicates a misunderstanding of what the point is. Such people imagine a calm mind or some state or other they expect to achieve while meditating. When they fail to achieve their imagined goal they become discouraged.
After all these years I never have a completely calm mind when I meditate, but I am better than I used to be. In all human endeavors progress is always directional and not absolute. And even that needs to be understood as over a long time. Daily measurable improvement is very unlikely. Let go of your imagining about what is supposed to be achieved. For some people meditating is like a farmer who plants a seed and digs it up every day to see how it is doing! Not the best approach.
2. There is no set amount of time needed for benefits to be derived. Be gentle with yourself. Do perhaps ten minutes or so in the morning, but try to be regular. Ten minutes every morning is much better than a hit-or-miss half hour once in a while. Meditate as long as it is enjoyable, then get up. You will then leave each meditation feeling good, and enthusiastic about the next session. Don’t just pick an arbitrary amount of time. Let your own experience be your guide.
3. Everyone who meditates has thoughts. The best way to work with them is not to try to block them, but to allow them to drift through without giving them any energy, as a cloud passes through your sight when you are outside. When you notice your mind wandering or thinking about something, just bring your attention back to your breath. There will likely be periods when the mind becomes still (and if it doesn't you aren’t “failing!”). Increased calmness will happen naturally, as a result of concentration on the technique, and not by trying to make it happen more directly, with your will.
There is much more that can be said, but not here. There are many good books about meditation, and I know a bookstore that has an excellent selection. :-) Come visit and ask at the front desk, or buy online from us here.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the Gang at East West