Does This Meditation Thing Work?

I was laughing out loud yesterday in my car while listening to a dharma talk by one of my favourite Buddhist teachers, Sakyong Mipham, talking about the question he is asked regularly: "So tell me: does this meditation thing really work?"

"No, it doesn't." He replied. "What do you think I'm going to say? Tibetans are very practical people, so they spend 25 years in freezing caves only to come out and say, `'nope. doesn't work!"" It would be an odd job description of a Buddhist teacher like Sakyong Mipham to -in his own words- learn people something that is extremely boring, time consuming, painful even -"which by the way, doesn't work." :D

I recognise this hesitation around meditation. It is even daunting for myself sometimes to believe that I'm doing something essential while sitting on my cushion. Maybe it's because the actual looks of someone sitting in a crossed legged meditation is deceiving. It all looks so unreal, so boring, so simple and peaceful at best. What we tend to forget is that there is more activity that you can imagine going on inside. The meditator is looking at her mind, becoming aware of all the stuff there. It is the warriors discipline.

I have come to think of meditation as part of my personal hygiene, not as something 'spiritual' I do. In fact, it's probably one of the most earthy and grounded routines I have. Like I don't forget to brush my teeth, I don't forget to meditate because otherwise I will feel the plaque in my mind whole day.

Which isn't to say that I'm a perfect meditator, who rises peacefully out of my meditation practice and then goes on planting seeds of peace in the world. Hell no. But, it does give me some space to consciously orient my mind towards the things I want to cultivate. It's very simple. Do I want to cultivate speed or contentment today? Will I strenghten the ability to appreciate my life or will I tighten my mind in ball around "getting what I want"? Do I want live my life awake or asleep? To me, the answer is simple.

Love,

Geertje