A joy or a chore?

Jeffrey

Since november I have been disciplined enough to say I meditate 30 minutes rain or shine.

The dark side is that I think the thought that meditation is something from the 'to do list' like washing my clothes. This thought is not a solid monolith. Instead I often also have joy in meditating particularly when some sunshine is coming today after clouds for over a week But I just think it is interesting how it can become a chore. I know it is another thought just like a cloud in the sky, but I would like to link in to that joy. I remember maybe a year ago that it struck me that meditation (sometimes) can be like waiting in the dentists office, just a waiting.

Any thoughts? As 'always' I've probably already answered my question!

Tosh

I think you're right on the money, Jeffrey. I think if someone said they had a practise that spanned a long period of time, and they claimed that every meditation was a joy, I'd be a little bit surprised about that.

In one of my books a meditation practise is described as 'work'. When we go to work, we do it everyday, but we don't get paid everyday. We have to keep on going to work and eventually we reach a 'pay day'.

My meditation practise seems to run along those lines.

how

Meditation is like everything imaginable because everything imaginable will eventually arise.
From my zen perspective, I would not deliberately link it to anything because the purpose of my meditation is to allow all phenomena to arise un manipulated by my habitual efforts to fiddle with those results.

Perhaps though, Tibetan practises have there own checks & balances for such things.

person

I'd say for me it is usually a chore and rarely anything grand or blissful, I'm usually sitting in my negative emotions it seems. Occasionally I look forward to it but not normally. What usually does get me onto the cushion is that I know how I'll feel later if I don't. Not guilty but just having a more suffering mental state.

Jeffrey

@how, linking to the wish to be free from suffering which is bodhicitta no matter how distorted it gets. My teacher calls it the heartwish and the checks and balances would be that the longing is reliable but the objects of longing are not. It's an upadesha poiniting instruction from a teacher to student. You cannot actually find 'oh here is bodhicitta, got that,,, what's next?'

karasti

Sometimes meditation is a grind. But to arrive at a near area you have to push through. meditation is a lot like exercise for me. Some days I cannot wait until I can exercise (meditate). Some days I'd rather pull my toenails out than do either. But once I am done, I always feel good. Without exception. That is what keeps me going back. When you stop doing it because it feels like a grind, you lose ground and have to start over, just like when you stop exercising you lose muscle and it's a lot of work to build it back up. When you persevere you get to higher levels.

This is why having a teacher in person is so necessary. It's not required, but I think it is quite necessary. Because when you arrive at these points, that is when you go to your teacher and say "I am having such a problem" and he will tell you what to do. There is a teaching for basically any problem you can come across in meditation, from getting bored, falling asleep, to dealing with the emotions that come pouring out when you cut through the blahblah in your monkey mind. When you do not know what to do with those emotions and how to work through it with your practice, then how do you move past it? That is why having a teacher is so priceless. My teacher is not even close by. But he is always within contact (well most of the time) and will respond with an answer as soon as he can. It is ideal to have a meeting of the minds in person, but in our world it is not always possible. But it is better to have a meeting of student and teacher on the phone or in email than not at all, and to suffer along thinking you can do it all yourself when you cannot. For most people, there are always exceptions. But that is how meditation works on the Buddhist path. As was said in the retreat this weekend, Buddhism is self-confrontation, and when you start confronting your self with your deeper knowing mind, it gets painful. Knowing how to deal with that is not something that just comes naturally to most people.

Sabre

If your home is very dirty, it's a hell of a chore to clean it up. You need to dust it, mop it, do the laundry, etc, etc. Not nice, not likeable. But once it's done, you can enjoy a nice clean house.

Similar with meditation. Cleaning the mind is not always such a nice thing, but the cleaner it gets, the more enjoyable it becomes. At a point you may find yourself actually not really wanting to do anything else, especially on retreats I find.

Metta!

lamaramadingdong

A boring joy.

Invincible_summer

A teacher I met said this: "You wouldn't go a day without brushing your teeth. It's the same with your mind."

person

Invincible_summer said:

A teacher I met said this: "You wouldn't go a day without brushing your teeth. It's the same with your mind."

I don't floss :-/

fivebells

Always a joy. Once you know how to cultivate first jhana, everything gets much easier.

lobster

Most of us don't meditate.
You will notice what is being talked about is formal sitting, confrontation, something arising, joy, boring, difficult, exercise etc.

I sit formally, just done that - see I have done something, now I have stopped.

Being mindful, before and after, how does that 'come into being'? I would suggest through the same processes . . . dependent on what we have learned: focus on the breath, internal chanting, slowing the chatter, becoming aware and naming the arisings, observing the arisings etc . . .