If you are trying to know, shape and free your mind, then Insight Meditation will work. However, like all skills that you have mastered in life, you will need to practice. Think for a moment of the discipline, patience & persistence that you required to develop your skills to a professional level. Insight Meditation is no different. You need to have a structured practice, a well defined process to follow, remedies that you can apply when you stumble, and most importantly the right attitude. To succeed with Insight Meditation you need to:

• Expect nothing
• Enjoy yourself
• Pace yourself
• Accept yourself
• Let go
• Be gentle
• Investigate yourself
• Experience everything
• Note similarities

If you establish a good Insight Meditation practice, then through repeated meditation sessions you will develop mindfulness. When mindfulness spreads to all aspects of your everyday life, you are then on the path to true freedom.

Note, meditation is indeed challenging. It is a practice that is 100% experiential and 0% theory. What you experience is the truth. Remember, success and progress is measured in cushion sitting hours.