Some Thoughts On Sitting Meditation Attitude And Intention

These are some thoughts about setting our intention for sitting - otherwise known as seated meditation. How we choose to set the mind before we sit can have a profound effect on our experience. When we hope to have a particular experience we are setting ourselves up for resentment or disappointment. We cannot possibly know or control the outcome of anything including our meditation experience, but somehow we might think we can, especially if we have hoped for certain outcomes and they showed up. While it is wonderful that you have had pleasant and profound experiences while meditating, if we expect them frustration will eventually arrive. This can then become a hindrance to practice. Instead sitting with an open heart, open mind and not expectations except possibly the length of our meditation allows for all of it to happen! Thanks for your practice.

Transcript

Today I want to offer a short talk. Regarding Sitting. Which is another way to describe. Seated meditation. And we develop the right attitude. Towards annotation. It's always a joy. It's not something we must do. Something. We need to do or have to do. But meditation is something we get. It begins with setting our intention. Before the meditation session. Where you've sat in our chair or on our cushion. And our surroundings are. As good as they will be for this period of sitting. Maybe we have a bowl or bell with us. Maybe we have lit some incense, A candle. Or maybe we're just sitting on a park bench in the middle of a busy park. On the subway. And the bus. Airplane. The place. We have decided to sit. Is not that important. So setting our intention. Is why we're meditating. Maybe we want to develop. Metta or loving kindness or deepen our compassion towards ourself or others. Those are certainly. Nice and wholesome intentions to set. But the majority. Of my meditation sessions. My intention is simply to sit. If I set a timer. For a certain amount of time. That would be included in the intention. I'm choosing to sit. For 30 minutes. Whatever it may be. But beyond that. I leave. My intention, My goals, Completely open. I'm not trying to have any particular experience. When I put requirements on my experience. I want it to be compassionate. I want it to be kind. I want it to be pleasant. Peaceful. I want to experience deep concentration. Or gain some insight. If I Request. Those results. I'm bound to. Create some unhappiness. Because I can't control the results. I have found over many years of meditation practice that by simply. . . Sitting with an open mind, And an open heart. No matter what my experience during the practice is. It was a quote-unquote good meditation. Even when I have an experience. Or the body. Feels uncomfortable for the whole session. And I'm fidgeting. Or the mind. Is busy and caught up. In the past or the future. And I'm simply spending. The entire time on the cushion. Trying to gently bring my mind back to the present moment. Or times when I'm too sleepy and I really should be in bed, But I choose to sit on the cushion and I end up having trouble staying awake. Well, I could do things differently. Especially regarding the sleepy meditation. Because my goal is simply to sit. My intention is simply to sit. I always meet my goal. I'm never disappointed. My meditations are always, Again, In air quotes, Good. There's always peace. Because I haven't set myself up for disappointment. So the next time you meditate. Try and set an intention. That seems. . . Open-hearted. Open-minded. And kind towards yourself. Thank you for your practice.