Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.
Interpretation
Meditation, like any other skill, requires consistent practice for personal growth and understanding of life.
In this quote, Elizabeth Lesser emphasizes that the practice of meditation is akin to mastering any art form or sport, where discipline and regular effort are crucial for improvement. The ultimate goal of meditation isn't to excel at the technique itself but to enhance one's awareness and ability to live fully, highlighting the transformative purpose behind the practice.
In practice
During a mindfulness workshop, this quote can inspire participants to commit to their meditation practice.
Whatever is happening, whatever is changing, whatever is going or not going according to my plans - I release my hold on all of it. I leave behind who I think I am, who I want to be, what I want the world to be. I come home to the great peace of the present moment.
If you're interested in opening the doors to the heavens, start with the door to your own secret self. See what happens when you offer to another a glimpse of who you truly are. When your heart is undefended, you make it safe for whomever you meet to put down his burden of hiding, and then you both can walk through the open door.
Every day we're given a choice: We can relax and float in the direction that the water flows, or we can swim hard against it. If we go with the river, the energy of a thousand mountain streams will be with us . . . if we resist the river, we will feel rankled and tired as we tread water, stuck in the same place.
Grief is an expression that you loved well.
May you listen to the voice within the beat even when you are tired. When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead. May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding and leads you to freedom.
When we slow down, quiet the mind, and allow ourselves to feel hungry for something that we do not understand, we are dipping into the abundant well of spiritual longing.
I wish I was as sure of anything as he is of everything.
You are good when you are fully awake in your speech, Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose. And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.
Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
When you have the choice between being right and being kind just choose kind.
When you realize that every stressful moment you experience is a gift that points you to your own freedom, life becomes very kind.
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