Dear friend,
I have had this question for a while, but I feel like this situation is getting worse, but can meditating a lot (thrice a day) make you more sensitive? I feel like I’ve been crying way too much lately, even by my standards :) Even someone mistakenly raising their voice at me seems to break my heart. Also, how do I meditate without any expectation from the practice? I feel like I get low when I don’t seem to get that point of peace during. What am I doing wrong? Thank you:)
—Nirja, India
Dear Nirja,
A person can go through a phase, in his meditation practice, of becoming very sensitive, but usually it is accompanied by inner strength too. The meditation practice helps a peson to become sensitive to the world around him, without been overly focused on himself.
I would suggest that you review the meditation technique as it is offered by Ananda. Please click on this link to review it. https://www.ananda.org/meditation/free-meditation-support/articles/a-simple-meditation-technique/
Try to follow this practice, and hopefully it will help you overcome your sensitivity.
When meditating, don’t let your approach to meditation be so achievement-oriented that you end up mentally tense. Yogananda, once said to a disciple, noting his tendency toward impatience, “The principle of Karma Yoga applies to meditative action also. Meditate to please God. Don’t meditate with desire for the fruits of your meditations. It is best, in the beginning, to emphasize relaxation.”
What Yogananda meant was, don’t desire fruits that accrue to your ego. For it is the ego, not the soul, that experiences impatience. Patience is the fastest path to God, because it develops soul-consciousness.
The more you seek rest as the consequence of doing, rather than in the process of doing, the more restless you will become. Peace isn’t waiting for you over the next hill. Nor is it something you construct, like a building. It must be a part of the creative process itself.
Learn to be restful, even in the midst of activity, and you will be able to relax better when you sit to meditate. As Paramhansa Yogananda put it, “Be calmly active, and actively calm.”
If you want to read about the different aspects of the meditation practice, please click here:
https://www.ananda.org/meditation/free-meditation-support/articles/
Blessings on your meditation practice,
Nayaswami Diksha
