In order to develop and reap the benefits of our meditation practice,
We of course must put forth effort.
We must make effort to continuously come back to the chair or cushion,
Especially when the mind doesn't want to.
And we must make effort to pay attention to the object of our practice.
But the idea of effort often gives rise to a very forceful,
Will-driven connotation within the Western mind.
Conditioned by type A culture,
We seem to know only one type of effort,
And that's full throttle,
150%.
Now this approach might be useful and beneficial in the world of competition,
Such as business or athletics,
But when it comes to working with the subtlety of the mind,
This type of an approach will give rise to the opposite effects we desire.
So gradually and naturally,
We begin to develop an effortless effort,
A balanced middle path approach.
And the Buddha had a wonderful analogy for this type of approach.
He used the image of the ancient stringed instrument referred to as the lute.
Now for us,
We can just envision a stringed instrument more familiar to us,
That of the guitar.
Like all stringed instruments,
The strings need to be tuned,
Tightened or loosen to get the proper sound.
And as he described,
If the strings on the lute or the guitar are tightened too tightly,
What happens to the string?
It can break,
It snaps.
And if it's not tightened tightly enough,
There's no sound.
So in order to tune a guitar string,
We have to find that balance of tension and ease.
And so too with training the mind.
Now this effortless effort is actually something that arises naturally.
We cannot give rise to it using willpower or force,
Because that of course will only give rise to restlessness.
And so gradually with time and patience,
We begin to see this is too much effort,
This is giving rise to restlessness.
This is not enough effort,
This is giving rise to dullness within the mind.
And gradually over time,
We begin to find this proper balance and this middle point of effortless effort that sustains our practice over time.
