Meditation has no Failure

 IN MEDITATION, there are people who think of themselves as failures. Not being able to make one's mind concentrated is enough to make one feel a sense of failure, particularly when they hear other people talking that once they enter into meditation, the mind just becomes calm and concentrated, never straying away from breathing. Some set a target for themselves but the mind keeps wandering and at times they get more frustrated, it appears to them that realising the desired result may not be achieved. Bringing the mind back to the primary object does not seem to help either. The mind never seems settled.

  
         There are many reasons for one feeling a sense of failure. May be the expectation is too high and one is not aware of one's own expectation or one has not learnt how to deal with expectation itself. By and large, people come to be disappointed in meditation when they are unable to keep the mind focused on one point, especially breathing or abdominal movements. There are those also who feel defeated in their efforts because sounds and various thoughts disturb them. The experience seems to be driving them to the limit of their ability. The problem is one of being unable to accept theinability.
 
         This is largely due to the judgmental mind. The principle of a non-judgmental approach to Vipassana is not being heeded. A judgmental mind conditions many things — wanting to be something and not wanting to be something. There is a strong desire 'to be.' Vipassana essentially aims at seeing such desire. However, it could be very despairing to see some of our own real experiences in Vipassana meditation. We are not yet ready to see things such as disappointment and the prospect of unfulfilled expectation. While hoping for the best, we are not at all prepared for the worst.
 
         Taking the wandering mind just as another meditation object to observe and contemplate, we could have avoided being disappointed. By observing the judgmental mind, there could be an escape from being trapped in confusion. The mind keeps wanting to be something else (a concentrated mind) all the time, unable to open to the conditions at that present moment, which is wandering. There is also an element of 'want' manifested in wanting not to be something, like having awandering mind. The judgmental mind itself is trapped in two extremes,wanting to get rid of something and wanting to be something else. Just watching and observing these extremes can help one out of being judgmental. Watching and not reacting, are other aspects of mindfulness working the Middle Way which abandons the two opposite extreme approaches.
 
         There is no failure in meditation. Any effort is rewarding in one way or another. We come to learn a lot about how the mind functions, not least the danger of leaving it untrained. It is helpful to remind ourselves that not all failures are necessarily an indication of weakness. The ascetic Gautama, before his enlightenment, went through some kinds of failure, if we may say so. He did not obtain the solution he was seeking from the two best-known meditation masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. Having decided to leave a princely life, he found himself not nearer the set goal. A few years, not just a few meditation sessions, of harsh practices that followed did not bring him any reward either. Six years is a long time for someone who is searching extensively and making an earnest effort like ascetic Gautama. He could have called off all his efforts if not for his strong resolve and patience. He made progress through learning from his own failures. His efforts bore fruits in the end, and we benefit them now. Therefore, determination and patience are important friends in coping with failure.
 
         Meditatively, we should endeavour to cope with failure in two ways. First by cultivating the right attitude towards failure or rather, a perceived sense of failureas discussed earlier. Secondly, we should be mindful of the sense of failure itself and the responses to it such as disappointment, frustration and impatience.
 
         Awareness in these cases will prove that developing concentration alone is not sufficient. There are also other very indispensable qualities like determination (aditthana), and patience (khanti) to develop in meditation. Mindfulness helps one to achieve them.