Chapter 5

Question 1

Why shouldn’t we judge a meditation as “good” or “bad”?

Answer 1

Doing this is not helpful because it doesn’t help improve the quality of our meditation, it is a negative judgement that doesn’t help us improve our sit. It only enables us to find ourselves lacking and allows us to be hard on ourselves, the opposite of what meditation is meant to be doing.

Question 2

What is helpful with a meditation sit?

Answer 2

• A good measure of you meditation sit is whether you made an effort to stay aware and stay with the breath (or other anchor). If you do this, over time, the quality of your mental states will improve.
• Meditation depends on enjoyment, interest and a strong sense of purpose. Without these, you will be left trying to force yourself to concentrate, which doesn’t work.
• You need to treat yourself with respect, care, love, attention and subtlety.
• We need to stay aware of how we are responding to changing conditions, and make sensitive adjustments.
• Make friends with yourself and make gentle and steady effort.
• If you find yourself feeling emotionally distanced from what is going on in your meditation, turn towards your experience. Open yourself up, take a friendly interest in it. Have an attitude of kindness, loving, open-heartedness towards yourself.