Don't mess with my meditation!

Shri Shantananda Saraswati, 

Yesterday there was an article by Oliver Moody in the newspaper on Meditation messing with your head.  The Times Newspaper which Grandpa and I share because we both like different bits of it, he likes the editorials and political articles, me the main news stories, photos of babies, menus and articles on meditation!  So, for the first time in ages, there was a negative article on meditation, how it shouldn't be taken on lightly because it can mess with your head.  The sentence not undertaken lightly reminds me of the sentences which are read before the marraige service. It goes like this.. "Marriage is an honourable estate which should not be undertake taken lightly, wantonly or without due reverence".  Of course this is true, marriage is definitely not for pansies, it

Father Laurence Freeman OSB. 

takes courage and perseverance coupled with love, affection, patience, kindness, tolerance, attraction and understanding to make it through the up to 50 or more years you are going to be together.  And you should be faithful to it if you want it to work.  I think of it like being in a house, it gives you the protection you need but you have to look after it.
Meditation should be given the same seriousness when you take it on.  It will serve you well it you keep to it's simple guide lines and you make sure it has a good provenance.  It isn't just mood music and incense, it is a method of bringing your mind to a still point, of dissolving the impediments to that stillness.  A proper meditation technique will have been perfected and given by a person who has achieved it's benefits and knows it's science.  It isn't to be undertaken lightly but it is worth undertaking as a disciplined practise.  It also helps to have a guide and help, someone who has meditated for a long time.  So, you see it really is very much like marriage and the initial magic of attraction and ceremony is the best way to begin both.