On this journey, we often feel discouraged because of our distractions. I heard a wonderful description of this the other day by somebody who said that they had been meditating for so long and were still distracted. They had come to the conclusion that the best approach they could have to their distractions was just to treat the distractions like an old man watching his grandchildren play. It was a wonderful image, I thought. A kind of compassion but also a certain detachment: letting them play, letting the thoughts, letting the images and the fantasies run around if that’s what they’re going to do; not to get in there and try to fight them off, but to remain faithful and consistent in the work of the mantra. In other words, not to be judging our meditation.
(Aspects of Love 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
