1996-07_06 Vipassana Retreat, Part 6 of 8 - Q&A 4

Talk: 19960706-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-vipassana_retreat_part_6_of_8-43310 Start_time: 01:10:24 Display_question: Why am I crying during meditation when I’m not a crier by nature? Keyword_search: cry, crier, meditation, nature, crying, psychotherapy, quiet, conditioning, meltdown, defense, sadness, shape Question_content: Questioner: When I meditate, I have a strong feeling and I cry. I'm not a crier by nature. Larry: So, is it meditate? Questioner: I want to know if I'm doing something wrong. Larry: No. When you say I'm not a crier by nature, obviously I don't know you at all. But what you're saying is familiar to me. I don't think meditation is putting the crying into you. I think what it's doing is you're beginning to see some need to do some crying. And just as it could come out in psychotherapy, it can come out as you get quiet. Something that you've not been, some of us have been brought up to not cry or however we've learned it. It's very hard for us to cry. So once you start, this is a meltdown. Once you sit for long, if we kept going for a few more days, you'll see your defenses will start to melt down. Now you have to be ready to then work with what comes up. And that's what we're doing. We're trying to get in shape so that when whatever brings up the crying comes up that you'll be right able to be there with it, so you can get to the source of why you're crying. There's some sadness or whatever it is. So, I would say it's probably more like that. End_time: 01:11:39