Patience and Practice

Sounds old fashioned doesn't it? We live in an age when instant gratification, immediate expression, fast results are required, almost demanded. We devise technology to help us speed up.

I am often asked 'What is needed in order to begin meditation and mindfulness?' 'What do I need to bring?' 'What should I expect?'

The answer is ' Bring nothing and expect nothing!'

Not a sensational marketing soundbite! Nevertheless, it's the simple truth.

All that is required is patience and practice.

Again, these two words are hardly likely to trigger a flood of excited anticipation or enthusiasm.

That is not something that will concern those who want to look deeper than the surface of things and below the surface of their perceived self.

The rewards are immense but they are cultivated over time. If you come to meditation expecting or hoping to discover an instant cure for your discomfort, sorrows, angers, anxieties, you will most likely fail. You will be like the gardener who plants a seed today and expects to see a fully grown tree or shrub tomorrow.

If you come prepared to be patient and practice it is very unlikely that you will fail to benefit.

Way back in 1968, before the word 'Mindfulness' was known to many, Christmas Humphreys wrote, '...all that can be said or written on the subject of concentration may be summarized in three words: 'Begin and persevere.'

This remains true and perhaps more pertinent than ever.