The big problem with meditation

Emptiness simply means an absence of reactivity. When you relate to somebody, there's not you and me and your little mind running its little comparisons and judgments. When those are gone, that is emptiness. And you can't put it into words. That's the problem for people. They think there's some way to push for an experience such as emptiness. But practice is not a push toward something else. It's the transformation of your self. I tell people, "You just can't go looking for these things. You have to let this transformation grow." And that entails hard, persistent, daily work.

- Charlotte Joko Beck, "Life's Not A Problem"

Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 27th of October 2010

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Really this is the big problem with meditation. It "entails hard, persistent, daily work" and nobody else can do it but yourself. I like that Charlotte Joko Beck tells it straight as it is. I could also break it down to two aspects - 1. Getting yourself to the cushion everyday, 2. Sticking to the method throughout the allotted time period. Daydreaming, even 'unpleasant' daydreams can be incredibly enticing.