I like how you said,

I soon learned that being diligent in one’s practice in no way guarantees freedom from pain, or growth in compassion and enlightenment.

I had the same experience, and saw evidence of that all around me… people I met who were self-professed “twenty year meditators” had just as many foibles as anyone else; it wasn’t until I met people who were engaged in self-healing, development, and were actively applying themselves towards their goals that I started seeing people who carried the kind of “sovereignty” I was looking for.

Thanks again for sharing.

I am so grateful for you for showing how meditation is a invaluable resource in dealing with those voices, beliefs and perspectives that get in the way of our connecting to source. My first exposure to mediation came sobbing in the shower. Overcome with grief at the state of the world and my life, I found something about the stillness of the morning, the warmth of the water pouring over my body, and the twilight state between sleep and wakefulness that naturally lent itself to the release of tears. About this time a friend had lent me Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart. There was something about her fearless admonition that the spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear that gave me some clarity that I had somehow placed myself on a path that I could trust. “Follow the tears,” I kept telling myself.

I soon learned that being diligent in one’s practice in no way guarantees freedom from pain, or growth in compassion and enlightenment. The more I hung on to the illusion that meditation is about “success” or “failure,” the more I lost the basic point–learning to lean into the discomfort of life and see it clearly rather than protect myself from it.

My path more recently has been that of acceptance–acceptance of my limits, of my fallibility, and the wonder that occasionally arises as I learn to accept that this moment is the perfect teacher, and it’s always with us. It is nice to meet others walking along the path and to share the experiences and learnings that have been useful to us along the way.

Thank You.

Meditation can be a good resource, for sure; and, sometimes our will is something too “downstream” to be effective in a situation like that. What can be really helpful is to work directly with those voices, and with the beliefs and perspectives that they’re coming from (which the Inner Clearing Process is designed to do, incidentally).

Is there any other way to learn to control your mind except through meditation? I don’t think so.

I will definitely check this out.

Thanks,

Eddie