Practice Makes Perfect
For beginners, in order to make meditation a part of your daily life, consistent practice is quite important. Before you can get used to it and really experience its benefits, considerable effort is needed to cope with the resistance that is caused by your old habits. This is a natural process that we can approach easily and with confidence.
Question:
Thank you again for coming. For someone like me, and others who are very inflexible and find the meditation or the seven-point posture uncomfortable and even painful, what kinds of exercises or stretches would you suggest?
Khenpo Sodargye:
Whenever we start to learn anything new, everyone feels challenged at first. Whether it is sitting in Vairochana’s seven-point posture or taming the mind, it is always difficult in the beginning. Nevertheless, if you persevere in your practice, you’ll find this posture is very effective in controlling your body. I’ve met many intellectuals who initially had a strong resistance to Buddhism. But after studying for a while, they rationally discovered that Buddhism is very good for them and for others.
Take prostrations as an example. There is one particular person that I know; he didn’t want to do prostrations, because he thought his body couldn’t do it. But gradually, he started to do prostrations, and out of a group of many, he was the first one to finish 100,000 prostrations. So continuing to practice will undoubtedly make a difference. With consistent practice, anyone can overcome their inherent difficulties. I believe that everyone can find himself or herself capable of achieving what they initially find challenging. We can certainly make progress in improving body posture within a short time. As long as we keep practicing, we can definitely succeed in doing practically anything.
