Preparation & Meditation

Sometimes people think that when they meditate there should be no thoughts and emotions at all; and when thoughts and emotions do arise, they become annoyed and exasperated with themselves and think they have failed. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a Tibetan saying: “It’s a tall order to ask for meat without bones, and tea without leaves.” As long as you have a mind, you will have thoughts and emotions.

Glimpse After Glimpse

Sogyal Rinpoche

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Reality; or getting it real, that is where I am headed when I sit. Meditation takes preparation. Preparation requires self-examination and prayer. Preparation takes care of the most haunting and persistent thoughts that arise and the liturgy of recited prayer elevates my thinking … not to escape… but to view myself and the world from a liberated perspective. As I sit… shopping lists… chores to be done… people I care about… resentments…something she said… something I did… guilt… things undone… incidents that occurred several years before provoking laughter… all these pass through my mind. Should I try to repress them they would simmer and build up pressure… recurring… insisting… persisting… and I arise from sitting more exhausted than refreshed. Instead, I breathe them in and breathe them out… like packages to be mailed… breathe them in and breathe them out… giving them to God and letting go. It takes practice and I am told to be kind to myself and, if I can, laugh…. the Heart of Compassion will laugh with me.

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