Something very simple

What are we doing in meditation? We are doing something very simple, very profound, and very transformative; we are paying attention. When I say that we are letting go of our images and our desires as they arise in the form of distractions, we’re not fighting them. We’re not saying, ‘That’s bad, I shouldn’t be feeling that, I shouldn’t be wanting that, I shouldn’t be having that.’ We are not judging them as they arise. We know they’re there, we accept them. We’re not trying to suppress them, because if you try to suppress them you’ll lose. What we do is we take our attention off them. And so, with infinite patience, you are simply letting go. It’s like a ship going through the water. You steer your way through the waves of the mind – the desires, the images, the fantasies, the memories, the plans. Gently, one by one, you let them go by taking your attention off them. And we do that by giving our attention to the mantra. That’s how it works. 

Grace at Work by Laurence Freeman OSB