Day 2: Myth #1- I Can't Do This!

 


Meditation is not a task to be mastered, it is an awareness of this moment, just as it is.

The feedback I get indicates one of the biggest obstacles to a meditation practice is the belief we are not good at it. We don't like feeling incompetent so we don't meditate. We believe that if we were good at it, we could sit and immediately turn our minds into cloudless skies, effortlessly free of thoughts and filled with inner peace. It would be lovely if that were true, but then it would not require "practice".

Here's a little secret: We can't ever be good (or bad) at meditation. Once we start a meditation practice we will wonder what being "good at it" even means. Meditation is not a task to be mastered, it is an awareness of this moment, just as it is.

Osho suggests that instead of struggling against the mind by trying to forcibly calm it, we instead need to become an observer of the mind.  Just like someone sitting by the side of a river watching it flow by, sit by the side of your mind and watch. Don’t do anything, just observe. It's like watching a movie or listening to music. We can do this.

Myth Buster #1: The only way you can fail at meditation is if we don't do it. Period. One time we will sit and be blissed out. The next time we can barely get through 20 minutes without screaming "MAKE IT STOP!". This is normal, business as usual for a meditation practice. We are not doing it wrong and we are not bad at it. Trust me! All is well. 

Keep going.




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