Challenges

You know a lot of people think that they cannot do a sitting practice.  That they could never sit still that long. Truthfully however, meditation can begin with baby steps.  So what if you can only do the practice for 2 minutes or 5 minutes?  In time it becomes easier and the time lengths do increase.  It is not something you can expect to be perfect at immediately.  Indeed, if you ever think you are going to be that good at it, then you are missing the point completely.

The kind of meditation I am talking about has the eyes open, a good head a shoulders with the building blocks of the spine nicely stacked on each other.  The eyes are fixed gently on a spot about 6 feet away, the hands are relaxed, and yes, you can sit in a chair since if you are like me and have poor circulation in your legs, the agony would well defeat the point. I don't meditate to punish or hurt myself!

Which brings me to the next aspect of the process.  It is about keeping your mindfulness present. Of always working on coming back to the present and your breath as it goes in and out.  The thoughts are likened to a galloping horse.  Out of control.  You may think, hey I never think and can blank out at any time.  Sadly though, that is not the case. The mind will wonder.  Suddenly instead of focusing on the breath, you're thinking about what you have to do later that day, or something from your past, or whatever storyline your currently caught up in.

At this point, like the tinkling of a little bell or the brushing of a feather, you lightly say "thinking" and come back to your breath.  You don't beat yourself up and scream at yourself.  You simply come back.

Now some do use meditation to sort of "cushion" life experiences and pain.  They take it just far enough but not so far that they are actually allowing anything to get through completely.  This is something else.

In Buddhism, it is all about finding the middle path.  Not too much aversion, not too much attraction.  This in itself can be a great challenge.  The nice thing about meditation though, is it teaches you to have compassion for yourself.  Really, I don't think you can truly have compassion for others, if you do not have it for yourself.  Everything in our worlds begins with ourselves.  It sucks but that is the way Samsara works. That is how suffering works.  It is not something "out there" that causes our pain and suffering.  We bring that whole world of pain on ourselves in every storyline we buy into, in every blind spot we carry about what is triggering our emotions and responses.

Like I said before about that one moment, when you have it, you know who you are.  It is like the clouds have lifted and there is the clear blue sky, our basic goodness.  Too bad, unless we are fully enlightened, we cannot hang on to it.

These are the challenges you can expect to face when you choose to walk with an open heart.  It is ironic really, as things don't necessarily grow easier.  The challenges can become greater and greater but the only true consolation is the practice keeps the way and the balance available to us.

I think for myself the greatest challenge is getting past the storylines.  Getting to what is underneath the storylines triggered by my personal beliefs and identity I carry about myself.  It is not easy when you are engaged in something with others or another to be able to step back and go beyond what is obvious to what is below this.  Not easy at all.  And I must say, it does take a fair amount of not only contemplation and compassion for yourself, but a certain degree of courage as well since I know sometimes I am not sure what I shall find.  The good news is however once the dance and the song have been identified, then you can get clearer and just lighten up.  Without the practice however, I doubt this would ever really be possible.

There are no quick fixes in Buddhism or meditation, however there is for every challenge, a chance to carry on and this in itself makes it all worthwhile.