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cattasallaJust two thoughts I've had that aren't connected to each other, but are connected to things going on in my life.
First, is about sitting when you don't want to sit. Now, for beginners, I might suggest they not force themselves too much, in case they develop unpleasant associations with meditation which prevents them from doing it. But once you have your meditation practice fairly well established, and you understand that it's a fairly good thing for you to do, then it becomes extremely important to sit even when you don't want to. I used to get up after trying, if I wasn't getting settled at all, and it seemed like I wouldn't. But you know what? If you only sit when you feel like sitting, then you only learn about the mind that wants to sit. The mind that doesn't want to sit has a lot more dukkha, and that's what you want to learn about, so it's even more important to sit when you don't want to sit. That's the mind you want to learn to work with.
Second, one of the four types of clinging that generates dukkha, according to the Buddha, is clinging to views. That means tightly holding onto particular beliefs or viewpoints, investing them with reality, and operating through them rather than through a direct experience of reality itself. I think that a lot of Buddhists take the admonition of nonclinging to views to mean they can't hold a position on anything, or must treat all positions equally, because they're all equally empty, or something like that. It seems to me that in these cases, the view of what 'nonclinging to views' means is being clung to, and it's impeding a greater understanding and liberation.
First, is about sitting when you don't want to sit. Now, for beginners, I might suggest they not force themselves too much, in case they develop unpleasant associations with meditation which prevents them from doing it. But once you have your meditation practice fairly well established, and you understand that it's a fairly good thing for you to do, then it becomes extremely important to sit even when you don't want to. I used to get up after trying, if I wasn't getting settled at all, and it seemed like I wouldn't. But you know what? If you only sit when you feel like sitting, then you only learn about the mind that wants to sit. The mind that doesn't want to sit has a lot more dukkha, and that's what you want to learn about, so it's even more important to sit when you don't want to sit. That's the mind you want to learn to work with.
Second, one of the four types of clinging that generates dukkha, according to the Buddha, is clinging to views. That means tightly holding onto particular beliefs or viewpoints, investing them with reality, and operating through them rather than through a direct experience of reality itself. I think that a lot of Buddhists take the admonition of nonclinging to views to mean they can't hold a position on anything, or must treat all positions equally, because they're all equally empty, or something like that. It seems to me that in these cases, the view of what 'nonclinging to views' means is being clung to, and it's impeding a greater understanding and liberation.