NOTES FROM THE CUSHION (PDF-1682)

Meditation should be enjoyable, at least if you are in it for the long haul. You can’t just grit your teeth and wade through it. It is a liberator, not some bitter medicine. That is why if you are having trouble sitting on a cushion to meditate, it can be helpful to find some activity in your life that you already enjoy, something that takes focus and concentration, to use as an object of meditation, and try that. For me it was close-up photography, computer programming, video editing, and writing. For others it could be fly-tying, jewelry-making, pottery, or what-have-you. More difficult might be watching sports or movies. Only you can know by trying. For example, it would be very hard for me to watch a movie and meditate, without being distracted by the content of the movie and just following that. That is a no-brainer, because the whole point of watching the movie is the content.