(The following post in from the Introduction to my new ebook, How to Work with the Four Distractions to Meditation. Please feel free to go directly to the link to download the ebook, or read the intro first to see if its contents are of interest to you. Take care.)
I think that it’s fair to say that many people experience difficulties and challenges when first starting to meditate, especially if the technique or method that is being used is based on observing and working with thoughts, feelings and/or sensations.
As meditation practitioners, we need to know that there’s nothing wrong with us if we find ourselves wanting to get up from our meditation practice and run away, get a cup of coffee, watch the TV…basically, do anything but meditate, because difficulties and challenges are common.
What may come as some relief is to know that difficulties and challenges can be a sign that our practice is working! Encountering distractions and experiencing challenges are signs that we’re paying attention to what is going on and that our habitual habit of tuning out what’s going on is beginning to change.
What are the biggest challenges in learning to meditate and what are solutions to these challenges? While the title of this work is How to Work with the Four Challenges to Meditation, I am not implying that there are just four challenges, or even that these challenges apply to everyone who meditates. In this ebook, we’ll address the main challenges that many people encounter while learning to meditate. While there are other potential challenges and obstacles, the four that we’ll be discussing here come up repeatedly for those who are learning to meditate and even for those who have been meditating for a while!
What’s problematic with writing about “challenges” in meditation is that in a very real way, even the concept or notion of there being a “challenge” is by its nature no more real than is a thought that arises briefly within the mind and then fades away. In fact, when we work with our mind through meditation, we soon discover that thoughts are almost “ornaments” or phenomena of the mind and in the same way, once a perceived challenge has arisen, it can easily pass away if it is just “left to be.” We’ll discuss this in the next pages.
What I have been repeatedly reminded of in my long process of trying to come to some understanding or realization of what meditation is, is that I am not so much trying to overcome some “thing” as I am trying to gain an understanding that this “thing” or challenge is temporary and in most cases, flimsily non-existent! Where are my thoughts? Why does sleepiness feel so solid? We’ll discuss these and other questions in this ebook.
In writing about distractions that arise, I’ve addressed the four most common things that I, and others whom I’ve spoken with, have encountered when engaged in the practice of meditation. While these four distractions: thoughts, sensation, emotions, and sleepiness can feel like real challenges, when dealt with from the basis of a mindful and aware approach, they – like clouds in the bright sky– can easily dissipate, leaving us to rest in a truer nature of our being.
Read this ebook and then see how and if what I’ve shared with you helps you in any way. As in all of the materials that I present, if something really works, or doesn’t work, please let me know.
Please stay tuned for a new post on How to Overcome Distraction While Practicing Compassionate Meditation.
[…] I find is that when I’m practicing meditation, other things in my life, the “four distractions” in my mind, become less solid and less real. Here’s the magic, the mind-blowing thing […]