When we start learning a new skill we’re often often astonished at the details experts notice.
A professional baseball player can point to a hundred tiny factors that produce an effective swing. A beginner won’t be able to see most of what’s being pointed out.
Although we don’t notice these things when we start out, we begin to see them once we gain expertise. We begin to understand how we grip the bat, where we place our hands, what our swing angle is, how we position our feet and twist our hips all contribute to a smooth, effective, satisfying swing.
But in order to get to expertise, we need to get through the hard, sometimes boring part of practice. And to get through that, we need to focus on the joy each little achievement of skill can provide.
And so it is with meditation.
When we first begin to meditate we might think there is one way to sit, one way to breathe, one way observe or chant or sing. But as we gain in meditative skill we see there are a hundred
We just need to keep building up our meditative skills. And we need to keep acknowledging the joys of the tiniest achievements.
Soon enough we too will become expert meditators.
