If you haven't cried deeply a number of times, your meditation hasn't really begun.
Interpretation
Deep emotional experiences are essential for true meditation and self-discovery.
Ajahn Chah emphasizes that genuine meditation goes beyond mere sitting in silence; it involves confronting and processing deep emotional pain. By allowing ourselves to experience and cry over our emotions, we open the door to a profound understanding of ourselves and enhance our meditation practice.
In practice
In a mindfulness workshop, the facilitator used the quote to stress the importance of emotional release in personal growth.
Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You'll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy. Learn to let go without struggle, simply let go, to be just as you are - no holding on, no attachment, free.
When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by.
If you haven't wept deeply, you haven't begun to meditate.
To observe and watch one's own mind is something really interesting. The untrained mind will run and follow its old habit patterns. Because it has not been trained and taught, it will get lost in all kinds of stories and issues. Therefore we have to train our mind. The meditation practice in Buddhism is all about training one's own mind.
Meditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind.
The heart is just the heart; thoughts and feelings are just thoughts and feelings. Let things be just as they are.
To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.
It is the part of a fool to give advice to others and not himself to be on his guard.
Let's ask God to help us to self-control for one who lacks it, lacks his grace.
It is better to be looked over than overlooked.
If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.
Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!
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