Zen Meditation Is Experiencing What Is, Not What We Think Should Be

A Zen student told me that in her meditation she tries to observe whatever thoughts or feelings arise “with kind attention.”

I suggested that this was just one more tyranny she was imposing on herself - instead of noticing what comes up, she was adding a condition, that the attention must be “kind.” That isn’t a real feeling of kindness, but rather a story about how she should feel and a rejection of the actuality of her life and her moment.

What if you observe ari...