Sorry, but it will never happen - trust me on this one. The first hurdle that will trip you up is your attachment, wanting to feel good. We constantly try to avoid pain by seeking pleasure, always trying to find something to add to our lives that will make us feel better; it's what the Buddhists call samsara - a lifetime of constant suffering.
There's a problem at the other end of the spectrum too, in trying to find peace and quiet or freedom - or, my favourite, serenity. In pursuing this, we form another attachment to the ways we organise things to bring us the peace and quiet we seek. With an attachment, we find that every noise or intrusion disturbs us.
When I sit in stillness and silence, it is me that needs to be still and silent. It is impossible to arrange the world around me to be completely still when I want it to be. Noises will always intrude, life will continue to go on around us. My situation is complicated by the fact that my hearing appears to have improved significantly. I don't know whether this is a result of being still and silent so much but I now find that I can hear much more than other people - so there is the irony of there being more to intrude on my stillness.
The way forward is to avoid preferring things happening - including stillness and silence, including peace. Everything is as it should be so we need to accept the noises and disturbance around us. If I start my meditation in a quiet house I have to accept my family turning on a TV in another room; on occasions I can even find stillness and silence in busy train carriages, concentrating on my breathing and accepting what is going on around me.
There's a problem at the other end of the spectrum too, in trying to find peace and quiet or freedom - or, my favourite, serenity. In pursuing this, we form another attachment to the ways we organise things to bring us the peace and quiet we seek. With an attachment, we find that every noise or intrusion disturbs us.
When I sit in stillness and silence, it is me that needs to be still and silent. It is impossible to arrange the world around me to be completely still when I want it to be. Noises will always intrude, life will continue to go on around us. My situation is complicated by the fact that my hearing appears to have improved significantly. I don't know whether this is a result of being still and silent so much but I now find that I can hear much more than other people - so there is the irony of there being more to intrude on my stillness.
The way forward is to avoid preferring things happening - including stillness and silence, including peace. Everything is as it should be so we need to accept the noises and disturbance around us. If I start my meditation in a quiet house I have to accept my family turning on a TV in another room; on occasions I can even find stillness and silence in busy train carriages, concentrating on my breathing and accepting what is going on around me.
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