Some Pitfalls Along the Path 261 purity of direct
experience. This reminder keeps the practice alive for
us at the very moments we may need it the most and
are the most ready to betray it. It keeps us looking
deeply, in the spirit of inquiry and genuine curiosity,
and asking constantly, "What is this?", "What is this?"
Or perhaps, on occasion you may find yourself
thinking that you're getting nowhere with your
meditation practice. Nothing that you want to happen
has happened. There is a sense of staleness, of
boredom. Here again, it's the thinking that's the
problem. There is nothing wrong with feelings of
boredom or staleness, or of not getting anywhere,
just as there is nothing wrong with feeling that you
are getting somewhere and in fact, your practice may
well be showing signs of becoming deeper and more
robust. The pitfall is when you inflate such
experiences or thoughts and you start believing in
them as special. It's when you get attached to your
experience that the practice arrests, and your
development along with it.
TRY: Whenever you find yourself thinking you are
getting somewhere or that you're not getting where
you are supposed to be, it can be helpful to ask
yourself things like: "Where am I supposed to get?";