A soldier practices many skills day in and day out. They practice physical combat, shooting skills, etc. for hours and hours. Why? So that during a conflict, if the need arises, they’re able to cash-in their hours of practice. They bleed in practice so that they won’t have to in war.
That is what meditation is too.
We all know that everything is temporary. But how many of us remember this, and are actually able to use this when something bad happens to us? Not many. We’re not able to cash-in this fact when the need arises. If we were able to do this, we would be liberated like The Buddha.
Hence, meditation acts as a practice session. A practitioner keeps telling them self “This too shall pass” every day through meditation even when they don’t need to hear it. And when the need arises — maybe something horrible happens to them — they’ll be able to cash-in their hours of practice. The inner voice will tell them “This too shall pass” and they will suffer less.
Hence, turning intellectual wisdom into experiential wisdom essentially means practicing enough so that you’re able to cash-in your knowledge when the need arises. That is how you rewire your subconscious. Now, what you’re supposed to do is examine your internal dialogue and why you’re saying/thinking the things you do. Ask yourself — what is your emotional mind saying in these situations? What is logical mind saying? are these two minds one? Does one have more power than the other? Why?
These questions make great starting points for meditation and deepening your understanding of the questions, who is asking them and why can open the doors on parts of you that may have been conditioned shut. You also need to understand that with time, your wisdom will grow with asking such questions and finding your own answers. You need to keep auditing your life, and understand what you need to work on, and act accordingly.
