Meditation in Amsterdam - How much Meditation is necessary?

Many time in the Amsterdam Meditation, the question often arises as to how much meditation is necessary.

This is an excellent example of what is called "coming from a low paradigm".  In other words, its the wrong question and it reveals that the questioner sees meditation as:

1.  a means to an end, and
2. a burdensome mean at that

When someone asks how log this or that takes (somehow a very common question for any result that is highly valued or which seems to require great effort), they implicitly state that the doing of the activity is not the goal.  The goal resides somewhere else in time, in the future.

Ironically this is the very opposite of what meditation and the meditative life are.

Meditation is entirely concerned with the here and now.  It is the effort of bringing the mind to the present moment time and again and train it to obey us when we don't want it wandering around engaging in addictive fantasies, which can be good or ugly depending on the mood.

That exercise is also not performed, though I confess of being guilty here, for the achievement of a certain goal.  Just like any action that we want to keep free from karma, it is done as an offering, for its own sake.  I'll write an article about this in the near future (mental note).

An interesting point about actions as offerings is that we enjoy performing them and the result is secondary or totally forgotten. This enjoyment makes us stop asking the question of "how long do I need to do this for".

When we're having fun, dancing, skiing, chatting with friends, we never ask: OK how long do I need to do this for until X result is achieved.

They are actions done for themselves, we rejoyce in them, they feel good and the "how long" question disappears.  So it is with meditation.

THAT SAID,  it's probably good to mention how soon can someone start enjoying the side benefits of meditation after having taken up the practice.  After all there is indeed effort to be invested at the beginning and that effort can sometimes seem pointless especially if it is misguided and when the effects of meditation are subtle or non existent.

I dare say the first month of meditation is probably not bringing much. Its likely to be confusing even with guidance and the point is not understood.  One has not internalised what it means to meditate and so the mind doesn't know what to do or is incapable, so results are minimal.  There may be already here some reduced anxiety and slight awareness growing in the practitioner.

Some 3 months in, things are starting to change gradually. The practitioner is starting to acquire what Osho called a "knack" for meditation and it starts to make a difference.  However at this stage (and in some cases far longer), many people don't take a meditative attitude into daily life.  So while there are neurological and physiological changes slowly taking place, some of that work is lost or positively destroyed by assuming that daily life requires a different approach.

So in 3 months you can start to really benefit, and after this, some will stop, others will dabble and some will go on to make this a lifelong practice.

A question I would ask in response to the original one in the title is: how much meditation is necessary for what?  If all you want is to be a bit less neurotic then you can practice a couple of times a week and after some time you'll see a bit off difference which will make you think its not that bad a practice.

However for those lucky among us who somehow early on got a taste of the states of mind it can really evoque, or who have been traumatised (yes lucky to be traumatized, though only in retrospective) to the point where this practice is no longer a luxury but a dear necessity, meditation will pay back manyfold and the question of how much is no longer relevant.

The full meditative experience is the joy of life, and alignment with the Tao, the whole.  How much of this is necessary?  Once again, its the wrong question.

Namaste

Pablo

www.meditationamsterdam.com