Sit is a weekday meditation podcast hosted by Charles Shereda. Each episode starts with a short reading from a spiritual text like the Tao Te Ching, then a brief guided meditation, followed by a discussion.
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Ask the average Westerner about suffering, and she will likely tell you that it is just an inescapable part of modern life. But meditation, she might suggest, can help relieve that suffering – a way to feel blissful. Like a legal drug with only beneficial side effects.
For many of us, though, reality looks somewhat different. The simple act of sitting quietly for a few minutes can amplify our pain, revealing to us our stresses, frustration, anger, anxiety, fear, shame, or self-abuse. These powerful feelings risk overtaking us when we finally take the time to sit still and be with what is. Acknowledging and respecting pain – and seeing it as a component of the journey – can help us finally begin to learn who we really are and listen to our inner truth. And recognizing that can help us stay committed to sitting when it seems like the pain will never end.
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Every time we sit, it’s a chance for us to practice deep honesty: to accept and understand what is, and to be compassionate with ourselves when we discover a story playing in our minds about how it should be.
We can learn what it means to be our true selves.