INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT NO. 13
WHAT DOES SUCCESS IN MEDITATION DEPENDS UPON?
Since the very first time I came across meditation, I realized that I was dealing with something special and extraordinary. Although I did not have the slightest idea as to what was happening while I meditated, I still practiced meditation regularly and I was experiencing wonderful things. I would often take part in different courses and workshops dealing with meditation, where I met many people who had a similar interest.
However, even after a short while I noticed one thing that was never quite clear to me. Many people were attending the workshops in the hope that a new technique they had come to learn would give them better results than the one they were practicing until then. They felt that the responsibility for their “progress in meditation” lay in the meditation technique itself.
In time I began to realize that, even though we had seemingly similar interests in attending various conferences, the real reasons for our coming there were quite different.
I would come and attend such conferences expecting to learn something new that would help me on my way of meditation and that would help improve my entire understanding of the process of meditation. The majority of other people, and I realized that from the conversation that we had together, were searching for a different method that would help them be more “successful in meditation” than with the method they had been using thus far.
If you feel like one of those people who are constantly searching for new methods of meditation because the method which they are currently practicing is not providing them with satisfactory results, you can be sure that in 99% of all cases the lack of good results of meditation is not a result of the method you are using, but in your approach.
Yes, you understood well – the issue is your approach. I understand that each method is characteristic for their different emphases, but still I say that the main reason why a person is not making sufficient progress in meditation is their lack of commitment to meditation.
By “lack of commitment” I do not mean spending several hours a day meditating, but rather the very approach to meditation. If you are completely committed to something, that means that your attitude toward it says, “I will do this no matter what. Other options are of no interest to me, period.”
With an approach like that and twenty minutes of meditation a day, you will be getting far better results than if you spend several hours a day meditating without the same kind of approach.
Time in itself is pretty relative term, and even more so when you enter the realm of meditation which happens, in essence, when we get connected to the vibration level in which time definitely has no existence.
Nobody can guarantee that you will have more intense meditational experiences when meditating for ten minutes as opposed to spending two hours in meditation. The logic which is applied in everyday life loses its adequacy when it comes to meditation.
Meditation reveals its secrets only to those who are truly committed to it. And trust me, this secret has nothing to do with the method you are using nor with how many minutes or hours you spend meditating.
So, if you are not happy with the current results of your meditation, instead of focusing on a new method that will help you get better results, you should rather be focusing on what it is that is hindering you from becoming fully committed to meditation. Question yourself. Let those questions be present in your mind until you feel that the right answer is coming, and when you feel it coming, stop asking questions and be open to receive an answer.
When you feel that you have received an answer, apply it immediately. Do not delay it for even a moment.
Repeat the same procedure every time you feel that there is some sort of “brake” in your progress.
All that we wish to experience is in existence even now. If it were not, we would not be able to wish to experience it. The only reason why we still do not have the experience that we are striving for is our approach.
Change your approach and your experience will change as well. Of course, here it applies to approaching meditation, but it can be applied to other areas in life just as well.