Adolescent Practice
October 25, 2003
If you don’t think the idea of rebirth is scary, think of having to go through adolescence all over again — all the awkwardness, the embarrassment, all the problems of adolescence, high school, dating, asserting your independence. We’re always glad that we’ve gotten past those things. But when you come to meditate, it’s like going through adolescence all over again. When you start out, you’re given a set of rules to follow. That’s like being a child: Don’t do this, don’t do that, do this, do that. And for a while the rules work. But then there comes a time when, if you’re going to make the meditation your own, you’ve got to test the rules. That’s adolescence, which is why it’s difficult, because sometimes the rules are good rules that can carry you all the way through adulthood, while other rules are best put away now that you’re no longer a child. Sometimes the problem is that you had a childish understanding of the rules and, as you grow up, you’ve got to change that understanding. So you’ve got to sort that all out. No wonder it’s an awkward time.