The Meditation Practice

' Meditation is bound to fail if it is being done to fix a problem. Don't meditate to fix yourself, to heal yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship toward yourself. In this view there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for self criticism, for the endless guilt of not doing enough. It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people's lives in a knot. Instead there is now meditation as an act of love. How endlessly delightful and encouraging.'

(Bob Sharples, Melbourne Therapy Centre)

This comment from Bob Sharples reminds us of the honesty, simplicity and total freedom from ego that the meditation practice requires and strengthens. We don't come to meditation for 'self-improvement'. We don't treat it like a fitness workout with targets and challenges whereby we measure our improvement. It is not the latest 'cool thing to do'. We don't attempt to find peace or deep relaxation. We don't seek to eliminate anxiety. We don't seek some esoteric enlightenment connecting us with the wider universe.

We come to meditation seeking nothing. We loosen totally our grip on everything thereby creating the space for our practice. In this sense it is an act of pure love, with no conditions attached.

Only when we seek nothing will we begin to find things. There is no seeker in meditation.