Right, we are often our worst critics when we fail to live up to some view of ourselves.
I was recently reading the book; The Words of my Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche which is a manual for introduction of Tibetan Buddhism and found it full of great practical advice on how to learn (anything). There is nothing new under the Sun. For example, here is a relevant passage;
Do not focus too intently, picking out individual words and points, like a dremo bear digging up marmots--each time you seize one item, you forget the one before, and will never get to understand the whole. Too much concentration also makes you sleepy. Instead, keep a balance between tight and loose.
Once, in the past, Ananda was teaching Srona to meditate. Srona had great difficulty getting it right. Sometimes he was too tense, sometimes too relaxed. Srona went to discuss the matter with the Buddha, who asked him: "When you were a layman, you were a good vina-player, weren't
you?"
"Yes, I played very well."
"Did your vina sound best when the strings were very slack or when they were very taut?"
"It sounded best when they were neither too taut nor too loose."
"It is the same for your mind," said the Buddha; and by practising with that advice Srona attained his goal.
Machik Labdron says: "Be firmly concentrated and loosely relaxed, Here is an essential point for the View."
Do not let your mind get too tense or too inwardly concentrated; let your senses be naturally at ease, balanced between tension and relaxation.
I was recently reading the book; The Words of my Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche which is a manual for introduction of Tibetan Buddhism and found it full of great practical advice on how to learn (anything). There is nothing new under the Sun. For example, here is a relevant passage;
Do not focus too intently, picking out individual words and points, like a dremo bear digging up marmots--each time you seize one item, you forget the one before, and will never get to understand the whole. Too much concentration also makes you sleepy. Instead, keep a balance between tight and loose.
Once, in the past, Ananda was teaching Srona to meditate. Srona had great difficulty getting it right. Sometimes he was too tense, sometimes too relaxed. Srona went to discuss the matter with the Buddha, who asked him: "When you were a layman, you were a good vina-player, weren't you?"
"Yes, I played very well."
"Did your vina sound best when the strings were very slack or when they were very taut?"
"It sounded best when they were neither too taut nor too loose."
"It is the same for your mind," said the Buddha; and by practising with that advice Srona attained his goal.
Machik Labdron says: "Be firmly concentrated and loosely relaxed, Here is an essential point for the View."
Do not let your mind get too tense or too inwardly concentrated; let your senses be naturally at ease, balanced between tension and relaxation.