Hey,
This is Ish and today I'll be talking about how to measure the progress of your meditation.
So oftentimes in meditation we often feel that we're a little bit too close to the source.
So we sit for our practice and then we go on about our day.
And we don't really feel that we're changing over time.
And one thing I would say is you want to put yourself in situations which would have normally affected you and see how you fare.
So the two examples I'm going to give are dealing with your parents and then also dealing with relationships and dating as well.
So Eckhart Tolle once said,
The true test of spirituality is to hang out with your parents for a weekend.
And this is kind of true in a sense.
So when I first started off my meditation practice,
I think I was about 15 or 16,
I was just doing about 15-20 minutes a day.
And I felt that when I felt really good and felt really calm in the moment,
And then when I talked to my parents,
They were criticizing me about something,
It just went away within,
Let's just say 15-20 minutes of the conversation.
So I wasn't able to keep that presence that I built up during my meditation because I wasn't grounded in the practice enough yet.
And then I went off,
Went away for college and this is when I had bumped up my practice from about 15-20 minutes a day to about an hour a day.
And that was more established.
And then when I came back home to visit,
My parents were still the same,
They still talked to me about the same things.
But I felt that I was able to keep my calm for a couple more days.
So instead of 20 minutes,
I was able to keep it for,
I kept it for about 3-4 days.
And then I went away again and I came back when I was about 23-24.
And at this time I've been meditating a lot longer,
For longer as well.
And also been going to longer retreats,
Like 6-7 hour,
10 hour meditation retreats.
And this time I noticed that I was able to keep my groundedness and my centered,
Despite whatever was going on in the background.
And that's how I was able to tell that my meditation had actually had an impact in my daily life.
And the second example I would bring would be dating and relationships.
So I think when I was 17 at the time,
Or 18,
I would go on a date or even be involved romantically with a girl and then things wouldn't work out.
And I would just be destroyed for months and months,
Even though it was very short.
Just because I didn't have a clear enough understanding of myself and that groundedness,
Where I didn't need things from others.
And I didn't have the happiness from within,
Right?
And that would happen to me quite often,
17,
18,
19,
And then,
Like I mentioned,
When I had a stronger meditation practice around 20-21.
This is when I would still get affected and obviously emotions would pop up right after a breakup for example,
Or anything like that.
But it didn't last as long,
So it was a quicker turnaround time and I felt I bounced back a lot faster.
And then take now,
Well after a long,
Almost decade of practice where I've been going to retreats,
Like I mentioned.
Now if that were to happen to me,
I would still feel upset for sure,
But it definitely wouldn't be as long and I would keep my centeredness.
So those are a couple of ways and you can obviously apply it to your life for whatever it is.
For work,
Or school,
Or if you have kids you can see how well you react to different situations.
So you want to put yourself in situations which have normally would have riled you up and see how well you react to that.
The second thing I would say is,
Often times you will find that friends that you haven't seen in a while,
Who know an older version of you,
When they see you again,
They'll kind of make these comments such as,
You've been a little more calm today,
Or you've got this really zen look to you,
Or zen vibe to you.
And to me that's a very good compliment because it kind of validates your practice but also shows that it actually works for you,
This whole practice,
Because from an outside view,
You are changing,
But from the inside you feel that you aren't really progressing and at times you might feel frustrated,
Having those comments come from other people makes you really feel that,
Hey this practice is actually working for me.
So this is a very short talk and I hope this kind of gives you a better understanding of how to gauge your practice and if you also feel that you aren't really getting the benefits right away,
That's totally fine,
You just want to keep consistent at this practice and it'll give you benefits over time.
It's not something that can be a quick fix,
But this is ideally a practice that you have with yourself that will give you some amazing benefits,
Just past externals over time.
So I hope this helped.
