“The practice of meditation could be described as relating with cool boredom, refreshing boredom, boredom like a mountain stream. It refreshes because we do not have to do anything or expect anything. But there must be some sense of discipline if we are to get beyond the frivolity of trying to replace boredom.”

~ Chogyam Trungpa

We invite, as Thomas Merton said, “useless trouble upon ourselves” when we expect ourselves to always be moved toward spiritual practice. The fact is that many days we will not want to sit. This is where discipline comes in.

Discipline makes practice very ordinary, very boring, so our spiritual path becomes a sort of internal struggle. But in the struggle is where we find the juice.

It is precisely because we don’t want to practice that practice is a practice. Engaging in a discipline is becoming a disciple.

We are learning to worship something other than our own finicky self-interest, which is hell. We are learning how to step beyond the limitations of our self-centered framework.

We are practicing and cultivating our capacity to do what we do not want to do, and not to do what we want to do.

We are exercising our inherent freedom.

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Ed: Bryonie Wise