TCL 017: The Key to Unlock Deep Meditation
These four steps are the key to overcoming many of life's problems and achieving all the benefits that come from deep meditation.
Have you achieved deep meditation yet?
Probably not, and that’s ok.
Most people, even after they understand the theory of how to achieve deep meditation can struggle.
Indeed…
I struggled for many years before I had my own breakthrough experience, which if you have not read about you can do so here.
But this breakthrough moment came only after I put in the work to understand what was holding me back!
And as I have said before…
We cannot predict when, but if we have all the right things in place, deep meditation will naturally flow.
So, if you are still struggling…
Let’s do something about this right now.
Here are the 4 steps you need to follow to go deep!
STEP 1 – Find what EXACTLY is preventing you from going deep into meditation
Now… Most people think they know what is preventing them from going deep.
They will tell me things like…
Stilling my mind…and being able to focus.
My anxiety means it’s hard to sit for long.
My monkey mind won’t stop.
Finding the time to practice.
Too many disruptions in my life.
If I could only control incessant thoughts.
While it is true a busy mind will prevent you from achieving deep states of meditation…
All of these are merely symptoms of something deeper, they are not the cause.
Look deeper!
Ask yourself…what is causing the mind to be busy in the first place?
You might think, well my mind is busy because I am busy.
So if I could just find the time to sit and practice deep meditation would come.
Right?
Not quite…
Ask anyone who has done a long meditation retreat and they will tell you a different story.
For instance, I remember one time when I was in retreat and my mind would not shut up, and I was getting quite frustrated.
Then…
After one particularly bad session, I walked out of the meditation hall totally deflated, and my teacher just happened to be standing there as if waiting for me, and I said to him.
“Gen-la, it’s as if my mind is getting worse.“
His reply was classic!
“Good, now you know what to work on!“
And he was right!
The real cause preventing me from achieving deep states of meditation was buried within my subtle internal monologue.
That is why the combination of journalling and meditation is the quick path to deep states of meditation because it goes to the heart of the problem.
It shows you EXACTLY what is holding you back.
And from there you can deal with it and we do that through journalling.
Let’s turn to that…
STEP 2 – Writing from the Inside
As my teacher pointed out during a retreat, the subtle internal monologue has a lot to say.
Some of it is rubbish; some of it revealing.
And it is this revealing part that we are interested in.
By clearly seeing this you will know what is preventing you from achieving deep meditation consistently.
And therefore, you will be able to process these monologues to go even deeper.
But the process is not a one-time-only thing.
There are layers to deep meditation and these layers are often (if not always) related to various monologues.
The more layers you process; the deeper your meditation.
That just makes sense, right?
Also…
Writing about your journey can be fun.
Even if you have never journaled, or you have some kind of aversion to journalling per se…
When coupled with meditation it makes the practice of both fun because it is ACTUALLY something useful!
It gives you clarity of your internal environment – increasing self-awareness!
Then by teasing out the subtle internal monologue, you are literally healing from the inside through the combination of exploring in meditation and describing what you find through journaling.
That’s why my teacher said, “Good, now you know what you have to work on!“
However…and this is an important point.
Your journalling needs structure.
The reason for this is that some of the subtle internal monologue is just blah blah and can be ignored.
Yet other parts are quite revealing and point to the problems.
So these need to be targeted with specific questions to tease out and understand what is going on at a deeper level.
And we do that with four important questions both inside and outside of meditation.
Journalling before, during, and after meditation, therefore, have different roles in the overall structure of the virtuous cycle of meditation and writing.
In my experience, it is easy to make the mistake of just writing whatever comes up, thinking this is “processing” but it’s not.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a good start but it is not the most effective way to journal, and has the potential to simply reinforce wrong ideas that can lead you in the wrong direction.
More on structuring techniques below.
Let’s turn now to the 3rd step.
Thank you for reading…
I think there is real value in the work I do, and real value in it existing in the world.
So I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all the paid subscribers who have helped to support this project and make this all happen. It means a lot to me and gives me the courage to continue.
Please know, I see you. And I appreciate you.
And if you are enjoying this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber because it really does make a difference.
warmly,
Clarke Scott