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How NOT to Meditate

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Illustration by Nolan Pelletier.
With meditation only getting more popular, everyone is going on and on about why you should do it. But, as a leading expert in how not to meditate, I say it’s time to look at the other side of the story.

First, there’s that popularity. As a bit of a snob, I’m repulsed by anything, no matter how helpful, that has even a whiff of mass-acceptance. But there are so many more reasons to not meditate. For example, not meditating has been shown to help us:
  • not cultivate a sense of peace, which can conflict with greed, anger, ignorance, and other common qualities that that seem to be especially key to twenty-first-century living;  
  • not spend any energy on coming to terms with difficult emotions and behaviors — energy that can be put to use on social media instead!;  
  • not cultivate kindness, love, and connection with others — with so many binge-worthy shows on, who has the time?
Now, despite all that, you might still want to meditate – and our new online course, "Get Started With Buddhist Meditation," featuring Susan Piver, will show you how. But if you want to truly master the art of not meditating, read on for 5 simple, can’t-miss tips. It’s my sincere wish that they may serve you well. —Rod Meade Sperry at Lion’s Roar

Tip 1: Don’t Give it Time!

Those who want to meditate, Thanissaro Bhikhhu says in his article, "Building Your Mental Muscles," should “set aside a time to do so every day and then stick to your schedule, whether you feel like meditating or not. Sometimes the best insights come on the days you least feel like meditating.”
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Tip 2: Resist the Urge to Know Thyself!

 
As Diana Winston writes in her article, “How to Meditate Every Day, Even If You Would Rather Be Thrown Into a Shark-Infested Ocean,” during the practice we may go “through intense emotions that we don’t want to feel, and nothing short of restraints are going to make us sit there and feel that grief. No, nothing! Sometimes the thought of meditating makes us gag. Especially when we’re having a difficult time in life. Yet paradoxically, that’s the best time to meditate. It’s when we need it the most.”
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Tip 3: Avoid Being Realistic About It!


“Usually when people start sitting,” says Sharon Salzberg in “You Can’t Fail at Meditation,” “we say that five minutes is enough. You don’t have to think, ‘I’ve got to sit here for six hours.’” And, she reveals, “you don’t have to get into some pretzel-like posture and suffer!” Her colleague Joseph Goldstein concurs, saying: “Something quite extraordinary can happen in even five minutes.”  
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Tip 4: Embracing Distraction Is Key!


Embarking on the Buddhist path, writes Judy Lief, “requires that we develop the courage to look beyond our distractedness to what lies behind it.” And when we get into the meditation posture, notes Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “we provide ourselves with a supportive structure in which to view the mind and its distractions. We often forget that this ‘seeing’ is a powerful and necessary realization in and of itself.”
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Tip 5: Don’t Even Put Yourself in a
Meditation Posture!


As we once posited in the Beginner’s Mind section of Lion’s Roarmagazine, getting into a meditation posture is one of the easiest ways to find yourself meditating when you wouldn’t otherwise be: “You don’t even have to actually meditate — but keep doing it. In time, it will feel more familiar and you’ll be less resistant to actually meditating.”
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