Meditation Is Work

Many people who try meditation

say they can’t because their minds

are too distracted, not realizing that

the distractedness is the reason to

meditate, to develop clarity of mind.

So, they give up, because they 

expected the heavens to open in

the first half hour. Many teachers

have said that meditation is manual

labor, putting yourself on a cushion

and following your breath, labeling 

thoughts as thinking. The closest 

thing it reminds me of is when my

family would spend an afternoon

pasting S&H Green Stamps into

books. Boring, repetitive, and. in

the beginning, looking at the 

dresser drawer full of stamps,

seemingly endless, times ten

because I was a kid. That’s why

you need to know why you’re

meditating before you even start.

It's a life long endeavor.