(Part 1)
None of this is to defend or criticize meditation. Nor do I have easy solutions – or any solutions – to mitigate the risks that the articles vividly describe. These are my observations of the difficulties I’ve faced in my own years of practice. More of us need to understand that not only meditation a hard journey but also that breakthroughs are vastly more powerful than we expect.
The academic I K Taimni, in the preface to his masterful exposition of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, had this to say about people embarking on the practice of Yoga:
[the pursuit of the Yogic ideal] can be undertaken only on understanding fully the nature of human life and the misery and suffering which are inherent in it and the further realization that the only way to end this misery and suffering permanently is to find the Truth which is enshrined within ourselves, by the only method which is available, namely, Yogic discipline.
It is also true that the attainment of this objective is a long-term affair and the aspirant should be prepared to spend a number of lives—as many lives as may be required—in its wholehearted and single-minded pursuit. No one can know in the beginning his potentialities and how much time will be needed. He can hope for the best but must be prepared for the worst.
It cannot be, as he says, “undertaken as a mere hobby or to find an escape from the stress and strain of ordinary life.”
(ends)