I’m in bed by 10pm. The highlight of my day is usually something inside my own body or head. Someone watching my life would certainly be bored, but does that mean it’s boring? This is a strange shift for me. As I think back, I used my free time to do interesting things, tell people about interesting things, or listen to interesting things. A ten day course is interesting to someone who has never heard of it, but once you’ve talked about it once, it’s no longer an interesting topic.
Meditation is really only interesting to the person who is practicing. There’s no performance at the end. And the findings are only interesting to the individual because the experience is so personalized. Yet more and more of my time and energy is going towards this personal quest on the path of dhamma. So I’ll ask again; Is my life boring?
There’s no doubt that it’s boring from an outside perspective, but there’s an additional shift. I’m less concerned about what other people think of me and whether my stories entertain them. I’ve discovered a private, personal journey that challenges me at the deepest levels so I no longer need to create entertainment. I don’t need to be entertained, and I don’t need other people to entertain me.
The interaction that I find most satisfying is meditating with other people. This seems strange because I’m merely on my own personal journey sitting next to someone on their own personal journey, but there is a deep bond that comes with this shared experience. We both know that we’re facing our deepest fears and challenges, and that we’re helping each other through it. That’s a big deal. So to the untrained mind, there is no doubt that my life has become boring, but the reality is that my life has never been more full. Time to meditate.
