I was listening to meditation teacher Larry Rosenberg’s audiobook ‘Breath by breath’, in which he relates this story.
He was attending a 3-month Zen meditation retreat in Asia. After 45 days, the Zen master running the retreat made a surprise announcement — participants would have to meditate for 7 days without sleep!
Larry was horrified. His first thought was — “Why didn’t someone tell us about this before the retreat started?”
How can one go without sleep for 7 days? So Larry went to complain to the Zen master running the retreat.
The Zen master said, “You are carrying the weight of 7 days without sleep. Let go of that weight and you will be fine.”
While I completely disagree with this extreme approach, the Zen master had some real wisdom.
When we suffer any pain, we usually suffer twice.
The first suffering is due to the pain itself. The second one comes from our resistance. Our mind says things like, “Why do I have to suffer like this? I can’t take it anymore. This is so unfair.”
This second suffering is what makes life unbearable.
In fact, following the Zen master’s advice, Larry stopped resisting and went through the 7 days without sleep and he survived.
In life, the first kind of suffering is a given. But the second one is optional.
That is what meditation and mindfulness train us for — to let go of the second suffering.
It is very hard. But there is no other way.
– Rajan