A few weeks ago, I taught an all-day Beginners’ Workshop at CIMC. It was encouraging to be in a room full of folks, many new to the Center, eager to learn about meditation. As we defined mindfulness as a group, the discussion turned in the direction of what qualities facilitate meditation, and we started to use the metaphor of explorers searching for truth. When we meditate and turn our attention inward, we are in effect exploring the depths of our consciousness, the body, heart and mind, not knowing what we will discover. Our habits, conditioning, and past lived experiences and potentials come to light, visible in new ways. Then when we open our eyes at the end of formal practice, we move into the realm of exploring our relationship to the world around us, that is how we relate to people, objects, and experiences.
What do explorers have in common with meditation practitioners? Participants in the workshop named these qualities, useful for inward and outward explorers: curiosity, kindness, warmth, non-judgement, receptivity, joyfulness, appreciation, the ability to surrender to how things are, capacity to trust the unfolding, a willingness to see clearly, creativity, enthusiasm, a wish to learn, to grow, to discover, fearlessness, courage, comfort with not knowing and uncertainty, gumption to walk the road less traveled, enjoying one’s own solitary presence, persistence, respect, openness to failure, honesty, direct communication, resilience, integrity, calmness, freshness, a sense of humor, equanimity, generosity, patience, gratitude, and so much more.
One of the students asked a question often raised in beginners’ workshops, “How do you know if you’re making progress?” Our society so values “progress” and in other realms we often measure our worth by how much “progress” we make in getting from where we are to somewhere “better.” But when it comes to meditation, it is radical to learn that our practice is not to go anywhere else but to keep arriving here, over and over again. Coming home to ourselves, explorers of the present moment if you will. And if you must have a quick litmus test, my favorite measure of meditation progress (which by nature is immeasurable and not outcome focused) is just this: Are you becoming a kinder person and is there less suffering in your life?
As you keep embarking and re-embarking upon your journey as a meditator, I hope you’ll consider these words by T. S. Eliot.
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”