How to be a Happy Meditator

To be successful in our meditation practice – and attain inner happiness – depends as much on our actions in between the meditations as on the meditation itself. In Part Two of his series on meditation, Fedor Stracke presents some ways we can have greater success, together with an analysis of some common mistakes.

One conducive condition is, of course, a regular meditation practice.  To be able to establish a daily meditation routine it is crucial to develop a feeling of happiness with our meditation.

One obstacle is to push ourselves beyond our ability and impose on our practice an idea of how much we should meditate rather than looking at how much we are actually able to meditate. We can build up so much resentment that we end up feeling nauseous and tired just thinking of the meditation cushion.

Even great bodhisattvas can meditate only according to their mental ability and merits: For the average beginner this is also true.

In the long run, it may be much more beneficial to base our practice on principles such as quality over quantity and slowly but surely. After all, ideally we should feel happy and inspired just by thinking of sitting again on our beloved meditation cushion.

Five Types of Enthusiasm
To ensure that our practice does not get derailed by a lack of enthusiasm, Asanga suggested implementing these five types of enthusiasm:

1) Armor-like enthusiasm is the joy in the practice preceding the actual meditation. It is like the armor that we put on before going into battle.
2) Enthusiasm of training is the joyful mind with which we then engage in the actual practice.
3) Enthusiasm of self-confidence is the joy in our abilities, overcoming self-denigrating thoughts like, “How could someone like me accomplish this?”
4) Irreversible Enthusiasm is necessary to prevent us from throwing in the towel when our practice is not immediately successful or takes longer than expected. This enthusiasm is essential to be able to see our practice through.
5) Enthusiasm without content helps overcome the small mind; e.g., out of laziness focusing only on one small part of the path.

These five types of enthusiasm are a great psychological aid to achieving our aims. To foster great enthusiasm, meditation on the benefits of meditation is as important as the actual meditation itself …

Ven. Tenzin Dongak (Fedor Stracke) studied for ten years at Sera Monastery and then served five years as translator for Geshe Doga at Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He is currently teaching at Aryatara Institut in Munich, Germany.

This article is an excerpt of the full article printed in Mandala

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