Meditation is fun. Well, sort of. Most people sit down to "meditate" and get frustrated because all these thoughts keep running through their heads. After they sit for a while they say they "can't meditate" because of all the thoughts. Well...
As Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj explained (in his book I Am That), the natural tendency of the mind is to have thoughts. Swami Satchidananda says the same in his translation & commentary of the Yoga Sutras. Sri Satchidananda says clearing the mind is like throwing out the trash: you can't throw it all out at once, but you separate it first into piles and then clean out one by one. Our mind is like that too, and a yogic practice can be watching the mind, trying to bring in more positive thoughts, and dismissing or transforming the negative ones.
By taking the time to actually watch the thoughts, we are taking the first step towards yoga: we are becoming aware of them. As we "progress", we gain more control over the thoughts and start to filter, arrange, and master these fluctuations of the mind.
So if you're sitting down and frustrated by the thoughts, try not to worry. Many of the greatest yogis became so after years of practice. Those years started with just one day, and then the next day, and then another day, and before long it just became a habit. Like most worthwhile change, it will take time, but time is no excuse to avoid starting, today or any day.
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weird, was just thinking about meditating and for some reason your yoag place popped up oddly on a search for pet acupuncture in forest hills and then i remembered talking to you about tracking classes you had taken months ago and i wondered if you still were and then emailed this and now i will probably try to mediate b/c i am frustrated with my thoughts and just read your post, and i wonder what the next non random random link in the chain will be.
ReplyDeletehope you are well and i don't know if halloween is yoga "approved" since buddhists don't generally support scary thoughts and creatures but if so happy halloween weekend.
how weird is this comment