By Geshe Konchog Lhundup, resident teacher of Maitreya Instituut, Netherlands

In the beginning meditation is difficult, just as all beginnings can be, but at a certain point, it starts to go by itself. At an even later stage, it is no longer at all difficult whereby detrimental and unwished for thoughts no longer arise. We have heard on occasion that people who have only recently begun to meditate are very dissatisfied because of the amount of aggression, desire, and annoying thoughts which arise during their meditation. Some people think that this is brought about by the meditation itself. We are always happy to hear such things, because these people can easily be shown that this is a proof that they can actually see when disturbing thoughts are arising. Most people are blind to this. It is very good if you have come so far that you can realize what is going on in your mind. This offers room for the next step, which is namely to shut certain things out of the mind. This is, therefore, not a bad sign, but in fact a very good one. So if you are thinking to yourself “I have been so busy with Dharma and have tried different meditations only to feel as if my negative thoughts are increasing,” this result is then actually a good one. It is a sign that you are beginning to see just exactly how many detrimental and harmful attitudes are present. You begin to see what your enemy is and what the negative sides of your own personality are. People who are not studying any facet of spirituality and have not even the slightest idea that thoughts which are harmful are aris­ing in their mind, are so under the influence of this disturbed mind that they are totally unaware of it.

In some cases, negative attitudes are seen as good qualities. For instance, in some cultures, you are only recognized as having become a man after having killed another human being. Or in some circles, qualities are measured by the amount of capital you have taken ille­gally. It is then an important step to develop wisdom and to learn to make a distinction between what is damaging and what is beneficial and to know why some things are damaging and others beneficial. It is an even greater step to look courageously into your own mind and recognize these distinctions.

Therefore, it is most positive to continue with your meditations, even if in the beginning it looks as though the negative and unwished for thoughts are increasing, rather than decreasing. You must go easy on yourself and not expect too much. If only you continue to strive in a positive direction, you will at some point discover that your mind is so concentrated, that you are truly prepared for a direct experience of selflessness or emptiness. After such a direct experience of emptiness, the negative disturbances such as aggression shall never again arise. So it is important to be aware of this and at the same time not expect that it will all be accomplished by tomor­row. If you resolutely continue, you will gain trust in the benefits of meditation through your own experiences. From this your wisdom and intuition will develop in a natural way.

In this process, you will learn what is good for you and how much you can take on or whether or not you have to go back to where you started from, the point is to con­tinue confidently in your quest for what is beneficial. If you do this, then the strength in what is negative will decrease. The more we increase the virtuous and benefi­cial imprints on our minds, the more strength is taken out of that which is harmful.

The sword cuts through from both sides. If you are working towards purifying, then you are at the same time increasing your positive imprints. On the basis of making the distinction between what is harmful and what is beneficial, we should meditate as much as we can.

The human mind has boundless and unlimited possi­bilities. This same human mind then has no restrictions to the possible potentialities not yet developed. This means to say that we cannot meditate enough, simply because the mind can always take on one thing more. There is also the advantage that what has already been developed in our minds will carry on to our next lives. Our bodies, as we have seen in the Olympic Games, when put through intensive training, will perform record acts of achievement. But at a certain age, when the body’s capacity has been reached, it will degenerate until at a certain point, it will no longer function. Some people can do amazing things with their bodies. We have seen on television how some athletes can jump to unbelieva­ble heights. We have seen how water ballerinas swim like dolphins in their competitions. This is of course very beautiful to see, and with that they can earn a gold, silver or bronze medal. But this all remains within a very small circle of limitations. In spite of the unbelievable amount of time and energy invested in trying to knock off one tenth of a second to beat a record, the body still remains limited.

The boundaries of our mental abilities are indefinable. Now we are not talking about one-tenth of a second. The possibilities of the mind are unlimited and chal­lenge all definitives and although we have developed our minds to a certain extent, the mind actually only reaches to the level of a toddler.

One of the contrasts is that the more physical devel­opment we wish to achieve, the more difficult our task becomes. Every next tenth-of-a-second or centimeter higher we must jump becomes more trying and strenu­ous, while the progressive steps in developing the mind become easier.

This we will naturally doubt, when we discover how tedious it is to stay centered in beneficial activities and not give in to all our old tendencies, which still tend to arise, even though we would like to have been rid of them long ago. Yet we have only been busy with meditation for a short time. Should we determinedly continue, we shall discover that at some point, it does become easier.

It is just a question of meditation becoming a habit. In many successive lives and for many years of this life, we have allowed ourselves to become habituated to certain thoughts. That is why harmful and negative thoughts arise so easily without the slightest hesitation within us. So it requires a tremendous effort in the beginning, but it is possible to identify ourselves with beneficial things and pleasant thoughts will arise themselves. That is the power of habit and “habit” is the literal translation of the Tibetan word “gompa,” that is so often translated as meditation. Meditation, therefore, means to make it a habit.

Tibetan/Dutch translation: Gelong Thubten Tsepel Dutch/English translation: Karmen Burrage