We like meditation when we’re inspired, in touch, on the right path.  But it can feel like a burden when the practice is difficult, not making us soar, not living up to our expectations. We’re caught between the sublime nature of how we think things ought to be and the reality of how they actually are.  This can be very fruitful.

That tendency of the mind to get small and feel miserable, like a victim—right there our minds can get expanded and much larger.  We can take it as a place of practice, where we can drop the complaints and actually train in letting go of judgment and criticism. We can just be there feeling off guard, uncertain, groundless, insecure, not knowing what to do – and just hang there.

This is the place where we begin to learn the true meaning behind the words. Is it possible to not have to change it? In that moment, not have to become the Buddha or a bodhisattva but just actually be who we are right there with all our flaws, and all the ways we’re feeling completely at sea, lost, fearful, anxious and not spiritual.  Is it actually possible to be there with that raw energy – this very tender moment – with care and compassion?