The Trap of Meditation
Meditation is something that is really very beneficial.
It can help calm the mind
and even have a healing effect upon the body.
And yet I have noticed meditation causes
a great amount of stress to many people.
It is a particular contradiction in spiritual work.
There seems to be a lot of pressure and judgement
around meditation and perhaps all areas of spirituality.
You’re Not As Good As Someone Else
If you don’t meditate and someone else does
then you’re not as good as them.
If you do meditate but cannot calm your mind
then you’re not a spiritual as someone else
and you feel bad about yourself.
If you can calm your mind but only for a minute or two at a time
Then you’re not a very good meditator
and you feel bad about yourself.
If you can calm your mind for 5 minutes
you’re not as good as somebody who can calm their mind for 10 minutes
and if you can calm your mind for 10 minutes
you’re not as good as somebody who is very spiritual
and can sit for half hour or an hour in perfect peace
on a lotus flower
with angels floating all around their head!
I Rebel Against This Judgment With Every Fibre Of My Being
It seems highly contradictory to me
that something that is supposed to make us feel better
can actually make us feel so much worse.
Well it’s not actually meditation that makes us feel worse.
It is this expectation that seems to surround spirituality
And the judgement that comes from it
that causes the pain.
You Are NOT Less Worthy
If you don’t meditate you are NOT less spiritual
than someone who does.
If you cannot concentrate for very long
you are NOT less worthy than someone who can.
Your worth is not determined by these things.
My worth is not determined by these things.
I Have Been Through Peaks And Valleys In My Meditation
I have been practicing meditation for close to 30 years in one form or another,
and I have been through many struggles and many joys during that time.
There have been times I have meditated for an hour a day
and times I haven’t meditated for 6 months or even a year
because of the stresses in my life.
When I look back upon myself in each of those times
I do not see myself as being more spiritual or less
depending on my meditation practice.
I am Spirit, You are Spirit
What I see is that I am spirit and that this spirit is going through a process.
This process leads me from somewhere to somewhere else
and I don’t really know where!
I do know though that every part of that process is necessary and beautiful.
See my recent post about admiring the beauty of every part of the process.
Accept Yourself As You Are
So whether you meditate a lot or not
Whether you meditate very deeply
or struggle with your every thought
I encourage you to accept yourself as you are.
I encourage you to love yourself the best as you can, exactly as you are.
Let Go Of Comparison And Judgement
I encourage you to avoid comparing yourself to anyone
whether they be, in your perception, more spiritual than you
or sometimes they may even seem, in your perception less spiritual than you.
Take all that energy and use it to love yourself and accept yourself instead.
Listen to your own heart for it will never lead you astray.
And allow yourself to be free of any judgment that you might feel.
This will most certainly lighten your load.
