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Can anybody meditate?
I get asked this question a lot. I suspect people ask
because they think that probably everybody else can meditate but they can’t.
They want to be reassured that they are not alone, that there are at least some
other people they can identify with, those hapless souls who were born
incapable of meditating. But it isn’t so simple.
Thinking you are unable to meditate is a little like
thinking you are unable to breathe, or to concentrate or relax. Pretty much
everybody can breathe easily. And under the right circumstances, pretty much
anybody can concentrate, anybody can relax.
People often confuse meditation with relaxation or some
other special state that you have to get to or feel. When once or twice you try
and you don’t get anywhere or you didn’t feel anything special, then you think
you are one of those people who can’t do it.
But, meditation is not about feeling a certain way. It’s
about feeling the way you feel. It’s not about making the mind empty or still,
although stillness does deepen in meditation and can be cultivated
systematically. Above all, meditation is about letting the mind be as it is and
knowing something about how it is in this moment. It’s not about getting
somewhere else, but about allowing yourself to be where you already are. If you
don’t understand this, you will think you are constitutionally unable to
meditate. But that’s just more thinking, and in this case, incorrect thinking
at that.
True, meditation does require energy and a commitment to
stick with it. But then, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say, “I won’t stick
with it,” rather than, “I can’t do it”? Anybody can sit down and watch their
breath or watch their mind. And you don’t have to be sitting. You could do it
walking, standing, lying down, standing on one leg, running, or taking a bath.
But to stay at it for even five minutes requires intentionality. To make it
part of your life requires some discipline. So when people say they can’t
meditate, what they really mean is that they won’t make time for it, or that
when they try, they don’t like what happens. It isn’t what they are looking for
or hoping for. It doesn’t fulfill their expectations. So maybe they should try
again, this time letting go of their expectations and just watching.
(From Wherever You Go, There You Are)
If you want to learn more about the basics of insight meditation, there's a good introduction here.
