Sunday, September 14, 2008

The enormous value of hanging in there

Here's a wonderful description of what happens when you hang in there with meditation and don't throw in the towel because it's uncomfortable in some way:

But if you wait and endure restlessness, greed, hatred, doubt, despair, and sleepiness, if you observe these conditions as they cease and end, you will attain a kind of calm and mental clarity, which you never achieve if you’re always going after something else. This is the virtue of meditation. If you sit and patiently endure, you find your mind going into a state of calm. That calm occurs because there’s no more trying to become something or trying to get rid of something. There’s a kind of inner peace or relaxation of the mind in which you stop following the struggle to become, or to have sensory pleasure, or to get rid of some unpleasant conditions that you’re experiencing. So you are at ease with those conditions. You begin to learn to be at ease with pain, with restlessness, with mental anguish, and so forth. And then you find that the mind will be very clear, very bright, very calm.

-- Sumedho Ajahn

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the inspiration! It's all about sticking in there...

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  2. Yes, that really is it!

    So glad to have you stop by, Miss Attica. Please come back!

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  3. I will! You're welcome to visit my blogspot aswell, although it's brand new, and a bit sparse still...

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  4. Anonymous1:27 AM

    Thats some good advice. Over the years I have gave up and started again, then gave up and started again but recently I think I have cracked it and dont think I will ever stop meditating. Nice blog by the way, I will be coming back here :)

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  5. I'm glad you stopped by, Barry.

    Ha! Are we long, lost cousins? :-)

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  6. Anonymous6:46 PM

    Thanks for an inspiring post. I've pinned it to the wall next to my computer! You have a wonderful site.

    Mike

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  7. Very good to hear from you, Mike. Please come by again!

    (I'm very glad you like the site.)

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