Zen Practice – You Just Meditate

Accept the reality. The reality tells us if we are right or wrong.

Students occasionally ask me about how to prepare for meditation. In reply, I ask a question: Do you need to prepare to generate an angry thought? Then, you do not need to prepare. You just meditate.”

Such a student might also ask, “Is there a goal I should have in my meditation?” Yes, you can set a goal, which is to have a calm mind. You need to practice gradually. As I have often said, if you have five minutes, practice five minutes. Later on, you can increase the time to six minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, and so on. No matter how many minutes are available, it is okay as long as you can reach calmness. If you practice only one minute and can make your mind calm in that amount of time, congratulations! It is similar to when a person tries to make money. You go to work and earn money. If you do not earn money for working, then why do you go to work? Why do you go to your office? You need to have a goal or a purpose for your practice. If you cannot achieve your goal or purpose, why do you practice? There is no point, otherwise. Simply do your best and you will have wonderful results.

If we cannot attain the result we want, we need to check ourselves to see if the process is wrong, the idea is wrong or the method is wrong. Then, we must try again. The results tell us whether correction is needed. A smart person follows the reality, accepts the reality and changes himself, while a person with a very rigid mind challenges the reality. The reality is the truth, and the reality has already told us what the truth is. So, all the conversations and ideas about reality are useless. They are assumptions; they are not real. The reality is real, and it is there. A smart person will do some introspection to check himself and see if he has made any mistakes. He will ask himself why he cannot reach the destination.  Because he has not reached the goal, he will check to see if he made a mistake in the very beginning.

So, smart people will accept the reality and check themselves in order to have the right reality and right results. When we accept the reality, then we are able to change ourselves. Do not challenge the reality, but instead make the right efforts in order to get the right results.  It is not right to challenge the reality. Challenging the reality only wastes your energy and creates too many wandering thoughts. It is unnecessary.

Remember, the reality tells you if you are right or wrong. It has nothing to do with your explanations. Let’s say you have started a company. You do so much and you try so hard, but you make no money. What is the meaning of your effort? The reality tells you if you are right or wrong.

For example, you feel uncomfortable; you are ill. You have negative thoughts in your mind. You should check yourself in order to recover from the illness. Some people start to complain when they get ill. “If you are in a bad mood, you are already wrong. We do not need to tell anyone, nor do we need to complain.

Smart people check themselves and change themselves from within. Think about this. If you do not change your personality, attitudes and thinking patterns, even though the whole world changes you will still have suffering. So, it has nothing to do with outside things.

Accept the reality. The reality tells us if we are right or wrong.