The Lead Singer for Metallica, Maybe.

Meditation:  Solemn reflection on sacred matters as a devotional act.


I have been attending an 11th Step meditation meeting on a regular basis.  Meditation is a funny thing.  It's an oddly difficult thing to do for a goal oriented, task driven German peasant like me.  I tend to think of things as having a start and a finish with concrete, verifiable processes and tasks and goals in between.  A leads to B and then right on through to Z.  There is the right way to do something and there is the wrong way to do something.  I've taken classes and read books on meditation.  I've tried to get my hands wrapped around the hows and whys of the practice.  What I've found, of course,  is that there isn't that much specific to learn about it.


It was either the venerable Dali Lama or the lead singer of Metallica who said something about people who meditate continuously for 10 or 15 years might begin to see some improvement in their technique, but it's no given.  The idea is that it's the process and not the finish that's important.  The means justify the ends.

Don't struggle.  Don't try.  Don't judge the results.  Don't force anything.  It's very difficult to prevent thoughts from coming into my consciousness so the advice is to let them come if they want to - I watch them come and I watch them go, without judgment.  Let them flow on by.  They aren't real.


Surprisingly difficult.