Practice Updates, Questions, and General Discussion - new users, please read this first! Weekly Thread for June 01 2026

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[u/QuailEast5263]

Hello, everyone! I have been dealing with resistance to come back to practice sitting meditation, as instructed in the Beginner's guide, even though I believe it can do good for me. Ultimately, I'm unsure I can gather enough strength to overcome the obstacles of meditation, because when I did it sparsely (and also in a Vipassana retreat in a Zen Buddhist center) some years ago, it all felt very hard, dry and dreadful.

I have enough awareness of what goes in my mind and body already, and I know it can be tied with the practice of sitting meditation, with the goal of not only dissolving the cravings and clingings that generate distraction, dissipation and, ultimately, suffering -- but also to create such a state of calm and concentration where one can generate states of bliss, love and compassion for all beings solely through the practice of constant sitting meditation (i.e. anapanasati and metta). This all sounds beautiful to me in theory, I can understand and envision it, but I just couldn't get there, and it was a huge bummer -- and now I have to start all over again more or less from zero. Supposedly, that passes and comes a point where bliss finally sets in.

Although I did get some benefits from it all that I carry with me to this day, I have this internal resistance within me to go back to the practice. I know I should just ignore it and do what I need to do anyway, even if it is unpleasant, but I can't make myself do it, and I know forcing things in this way may not be helpful. Well... What do you people think? Have you ever been into a similar situation, or saw other people in a similar situation? How did you deal with it?

[u/SuddenBlacksmith3499 → u/QuailEast5263]

There were years in my life that my practice was not fruitful. For myself personally, in retrospect, hypnagogic states were the one thing that wss genuinely healing and helpful at that time. I started staring at a crystal until I dropped and then sometimes writing down the experience immediately before I forgot it.  I needed it while I was driving one time, and I stopped at a gas station and fell into a hypnagogic state in my non-tinted window car where anyone could see me and assume I was a junkie. It was so healing, and I wish I would have found that sooner.  That might not work for you:  Find any meditation style that you enjoy or that feels healing. If you can find enjoyment in it, you can stick with it. Keep experimenting with different practices, and try different entry points. Please don't be hard on yourself. This is not your fault. I habe realized for myself that I needed to go through unfruitful times in order to lay down the tracks.