While it’s true that I’m generally happier now than I was before I started meditating, I still experience sadness. Why do I still get sad even though I meditate daily?

It’s enough to say that all of us have gone through a considerable amount of social conditioning and that we still carry a lot of that baggage with us as we come into adulthood. Think of it as a good thing: you’re opening to your social conditioning and, as a result, you’re slowly seeing it fall away.

For you, it seems, sadness predominates. For others, it may be fear or anger. To begin with, feel compassion for others in a deeper way than you hitherto have because you can see clearly what it’s like for so many people to carry so much baggage with them–and for so long.

Second, take the following analogy: let’s suppose that you’re like a blank movie screen upon which certain images (or movies) are appearing. As the movie screen, you note that some images come while others go. Some are horror films while others are romances, others action films, and so on. See that all of them start and stop. But note well: you, as the screen, remain unaffected. You don’t go when the romance stops. You’re still here. And you’re not in any way changed while the sad story is playing out; the characters may feel sad, but you, as the screen, are just open and receptive.

Just so be like the screen when sadness appears. It’s like an image or a film: you’re not in it; it’s playing out within your expansive presence. Be open to the possibility that you’re not touched by the content of these feelings or thoughts. 

See for yourself.