When meditating, it seems like there is a thing to do, a right way to do it and something to be attained by doing so. This very notion will keep anything substantial from happening. It creates a scenario something like trying to walk one's way into a comfortable seated position.
True, there are many recommended techniques for strengthening focus or concentration. But these practices are only the doorway, and if one doesn't put the threshold behind him, there'll be no play time in the larger expanses, which is, after all, the grander intention.
Meditation is a practice of surrender.
When thoughts or images lure us away from the object, it's not a matter of correcting an error and getting it right. We just need to let go of the distraction, let go of any urge to see where it wants to take us, let go of self judgment, let go of preconceptions and fall back into the practice.
We surrender our memories and our fantasies, our roles and our obligations, our ambitions and our identities. I'm reminded of a Peanuts comic strip where Charlie Brown was bundled up in so many clothes that he couldn't move. We need to shed layer after layer until we gain the freedom and flexibility that we seek.
Once a settled mind is established as the primary way of being, we can work to distill our sense of self to its purest essence and then begin to move beyond the individual, to global, then universal, consciousness. Beyond consciousness lies unadorned awareness. None of which can be experienced while the ego is driving.
The journey into a meditation is like making a paper airplane. Our intention shapes the wings and our will provides the thrust. But at some point, we have to let go and let it take flight. Otherwise, our meditation is like a kid holding onto his plane and “flying” it around in fantasy.
We have to ignore the man who is the curtain before we can unveil, and then see through, the man behind the curtain.
As long as we cling to our image of who or what we think we are, we'll never be able to move beyond it – to reveal our true nature, to feel our connection with the whole and to discover the enduring contentment that simply is, when life is no longer seen as revolving around false notions of self.
To invite a greater understanding and to allow life to be what it is. To let go of certainty. To surrender to the truth, whatever it may be. This is the wish that spawned the practice of meditation.
May all beings know truth. May all beings know peace.
Namaste
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