When we start a session of meditation, there’s usually a cacophony of thinking going on. Dozens of thoughts may be competing for our attention and the noise alone is enough to distract us from our breathing, or whatever object we’ve chosen to focus on.
That’s life. Our minds are incredibly agile and they usually keep this level of busyness up all day. So it’s no surprise that for much of our session we are wading through the “surf zone,” where we’re constantly unbalanced by waves of thought.
The general teaching is to expect this. Expect to keep having to tell our puppy minds to “sit” on our object of concentration and “stay” there. True to their natures, though, our minds keep being called away from our intended practice by some thought or emotion more tempting than watching the breath.
We just need to go back to “sit and stay.” Over and over, again and again. It can try the patience.
That’s the practice. It cultivates patience, as if we’re stuck in traffic inching along for hours and we can choose to be either patient or miserable. The surf zone also trains the mind to obey the instruction to “sit and stay” on a chosen object. So, distractions aren’t failures. They’re opportunities to keep training the mind.
Don’t expect this training-the-puppy time in the surf zone to make it easier for your mind to settle into meditation next time. It may just be that next time your mind goes into your session with less turmoil on it. But the time after that all bets are off again.
Where you’ll most clearly see progress from wading patiently through the surf zone every time you meditate is in your daily life. As months go by, you’ll find it easier during the day to focus on what you choose to read or think or do. You may even find it easier to be patient in heavy traffic.
These benefits of meditation will be enhanced by recognizing and celebrating them. After dharma talks, it’s common for someone to report that as a result of their practice they’ve become better able to “be there” for others – or themselves – in trying circumstances. Celebrating your practice for giving you these benefits will help you keep slogging through the surf zone, time after time, in meditation and in life.