On Failure
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- The important thing is to remain open and curious to whatever sensation is experienced in meditation. If we start to desire or wish for a particular pleasant sensation, then we may start to judge our meditation on whether we experience that wished for sensation or not. We can become distracted by desiring sensations rather than retaining our curiosity as to what meditation is.
It is better to remind ourselves that it is simply a sensation that we are aware of; just like we are aware of thoughts and aware of emotions. |
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- It is okay to fail.
Sometimes we get to the point where we feel we can't meditate, we can't find the right words to contemplate or wonder how on earth do I self inquire?
And we arrive at the point where we really don't know what do to next. It may seem that we are failing but at the moment of not knowing what to do we are open to all possibilities and if we listen life will show us what to do next.
Sometimes we get to the point where we feel we can't meditate, we can't find the right words to contemplate or wonder how on earth do I self inquire?
And we arrive at the point where we really don't know what do to next. It may seem that we are failing but at the moment of not knowing what to do we are open to all possibilities and if we listen life will show us what to do next.
- It's important to know what do we do when we become distracted in meditation.
If we become frustrated and start to judge ourselves as failures then we are heading for trouble with our meditation practice, perhaps before we have really got started. We are often our own fiercest critics, and we can be much harder on ourselves, than we would be if we were talking to a friend who confessed to be been distracted in meditation.
Everyone who has ever meditated will have been distracted at some point. The trick is to always go back to following the technique you are following. Put your faith totally in the technique. If you are following your breath remind yourself to follow your breath again. No matter how many times you are distracted - go back to following the breath.
Ian McArthur
If we become frustrated and start to judge ourselves as failures then we are heading for trouble with our meditation practice, perhaps before we have really got started. We are often our own fiercest critics, and we can be much harder on ourselves, than we would be if we were talking to a friend who confessed to be been distracted in meditation.
Everyone who has ever meditated will have been distracted at some point. The trick is to always go back to following the technique you are following. Put your faith totally in the technique. If you are following your breath remind yourself to follow your breath again. No matter how many times you are distracted - go back to following the breath.
Ian McArthur
