Summary

• Established a special place to meditate.

• Read Chapters 1-3 of Meditation thoroughly.

• Practiced the recommended meditation exercises for at least ten minutes daily - preferably at the same time each day.

• Logged your practice and your experiences in your journal.

Congratulations! You made it through your first week of regular, daily meditation! Did you notice any change in your meditation as the week progressed? Did you feel any different during the day as a result of your meditation? If you haven’t done so already, take a minute to note these changes in your journal.

If you didn’t meditate every day, it’s probably because you either couldn’t find the time, or it was just too hard to get into the habit. Whatever the reason, don’t get discouraged!

I do not give up, I never give up,
For there is nothing
In this entire world
That is irrevocably unchangeable.
- Sri Chinmoy

As we said earlier, learning to meditate is like learning to ride a bicycle. Think back for a moment to when you first learned to ride a bike. In the beginning, you probably fell a lot, and you may have even thought of giving up on the whole idea. But you kept trying despite repeated failure, and eventually it became second nature. In retrospect, all of those failures were actually necessary steps towards your ultimate success.

Why did you keep trying, even though you kept failing and it seemed like you would never learn to ride that bike? It’s because you kept your goal in sight; you knew without a doubt what riding a bike meant—freedom, adventure, independence, fun—and you wanted those things so much that you were willing to do whatever it took to learn.

Meditation is the same. You absolutely will have more peace, more love, and more happiness in your life through meditation. Make this an unshakable belief. Learning how to meditate takes a little work, but once you do learn you’ll definitely enjoy the ride!

Ask, and you will receive;
Seek, and you will find;
Knock, and it will be opened to you.
- Matthew 7:7