What Happens with You Meditate?

What happens when you meditate?

Do you loose track of time only to hear the sound of the ending bell?

Or does your mind wander and you wonder how it is possible to bring it back to the object of your meditation?

Or do you sometimes begin to doze off or even fall asleep?

Here is what Thubten Chodron has to say about cultivating compassion for our practice:

EXPOSING THE GARBAGE MIND

“I’m fine. My life’s together. I know what I’m doing. I’ve got to look like a good Dharma practitioner. People shouldn’t see me cry. They shouldn’t know how distracted I am during meditation. I can’t let on how incredibly confused I am.” We think we’re the only one who is confused and not wanting to lose face, we hide our turmoil and pretend to be calmly in charge of the show. But we’re in cyclic existence, so how much control do we really have? How peaceful can we be when we have a samsaric body and mind?

When our “garbage mind”—as Lama Yeshe used to call it—spills out, we may be alarmed and think that we’re not doing the practice correctly. In fact, we are. Only by exposing the garbage mind can we identify it and free ourselves from it.
– Thubten Chodron from Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig

In my opinion, all of the above things can happen and I say that you are meditating as long as you have the intention to set aside a specific time each day (even only 9 minutes a day) and do it regularly.

Yes, it is OK to loose track of time.

Yes, it is OK to have your mind wander and bring it back to your object of meditation.

Yes, it is even OK to be sleepy or fall asleep.

These are all symptoms of meditation as long as you are sincere and continue to practice daily.

Books by Thubten Chodron

Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig by Thubten Chodron Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara / Kuan Yin) is not only Tibet’s patron deity, he also is the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas and as such is deemed the best possible contemplative gateway to the cultivation of compassion. In this book, which has received high praise from monastic… [Read More…]