The reason why some people aren't able to meditate is actually very silly. The first mistake some people do is to operate from their ego. These people begin with 'I know' or simply are not student enough to learn.

So, how do we begin then?

It's actually quite simple. While breathing, you need to be humble.

Well! The next question is, am I not humble? Am I arrogant?

Not quite! But, being humble means to be open to receive what's coming towards you without confronting it, questioning it or doubting it.

For example- If you begin with the question what's there in it? Or say, is that it? Then, it won't work for you. 

So, what is the practice then?

The practice is- just breathe in and out; and be humble while taking in every breath and breathing out. 

What I am saying now gets closest to being humble. Observe your breath like a child will observe every ant that will walk past it. I actually will suggest to you to sit next to a child and watch the child observing everything around it. Let us say, a few ants walk past the child. You will see that the child's observation of each ant is the same, intense. Its observation does not dilute.

Children are in meditation naturally. Coming back to the ant, while the child is keenly observing the ant, its in meditation. What we do with the ant is quite different. Since we have seen ants all our life, and an ant is not new to us, we do what we know best, we begin to think. And believe me, that can sometimes be the worst thing to do. We must turn our thinking cap on only when we need to. But we learnt very young to think all the time. 

Thinking leads to judgement. And judgment leads to conclusion. Once we have concluded, we cannot be humble. Our minds own the moments from there on. 

So! We must begin observing our breath with enthusiasm. We must be interested to observe our breath as if we discovered something new and we want to know everything about our breath. This is humility. Watch every breath with the same humility and enthusiasm. This way we won't get frustrated with meditation.

Let me share a practice with you to overcome any frustration and impatience. This is what I suggest you can do:

  • Get a bag of hundreds or so pebbles. You don't have to buy them. You can collect them from anywhere. 
  • Once you have the pebbles, put them into a bag or a box. 
  • Next, take out one pebble at a time and arrange them one next to the other in another bag or box. 
  • Every time you bring out a pebble, look at it, smile at it and put it into the other box. 

Do this everyday without getting into the belief 'I know'. Be humble. Do this practice every day as if it's the first time you are doing it. As you develop this humility, meditation will happen and it will happen effortlessly.

Know that it's not difficult to meditate. It's just that we are not humble enough, patient enough, to just be.