For meditation time must be found & taken.

Many people have told me they find meditation an interruption to life.
This is definitely true for me at times.
Meditation was not what I had imagined.
It is not always easy, it often isn’t sweet, it doesn't immediately fix my problems or necessarily improve my relationships.

Sometimes it simply takes time from my day, it makes demands on me & then I felt guilt when I don't do it.

Surely my other work & activities are much more important?
Besides where are the lights? Where are the insights & revelations?

Where are the visions of the divine described by the saints & mystics that I am entitled to for sure (so I thought).

Little by little as I practice meditation with more regularity I begin to learn & I begin to understand.

Meditation is not a matter of mood.

To meditate only when I feel like it is more to seek relief than to grow.
To meditate only when it suits me is to want the divine on my terms.
To meditate only when it is convenient makes the divine a very low priority in your life.
To meditate only when it feels good is to inhabit total emptiness when I most need to be filled.

The hard fact is nobody easily finds time for meditation.

There will always be more pressings or seemingly more important things to do. Yet the time must be found & taken.

What are the consequences if this time isn’t taken?

Without meditation the energy for the rest of my life runs down.
The fuel runs out.
I call myself too tired, too busy when in fact I am too tired & too busy not to meditate!

The burdens of the day wear me down & I no longer remember why I decided to do what I am doing, work on the project I am working on, stay in the relationship I am in. I just get more & more tired & my vision of life & the divine get dimmer & dimmer

Meditation, or any spiritual work, requires regularity, disciple, practice, practice & more practice.

It requires that I follow the simple instruction of a spiritual teacher who has walked the path before me.

Meditation & the spiritual growth that can occur is not about my needs, wants & insights. It stretches beyond me & is anchored in the needs, wants & insights for the entire universe.

As Master Choa Kok Sui says; follow the simple instructions & practice diligently.

What are the consequences of these two activities?

I may be able to manifest my greatness.

 

Based on the writings of Joan Chittister, OSB in Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today & Master Choa Kok Sui’s Teachings