I am not really a regular practitioner of meditation per say but this is how i feel – my mind sorta slows down a bit, i dont do the breathe in, breathe out thing, mine is more of an active type of meditation – like i listen to some kind of music and focus on that or just do some flow type work – sometimes i just keep walking and sort of flowing into the moment. The empathy is already there within us, meditation is just a way for you to kind of get closer to your inner clarity. It helps you to deal with your own negativity better – like developing an efficient toxin flushing mechanism and over time..The calmer you are, the better you can deal with life and others, right? Its a slow, subtle change but over time, your energy changes. Its not at all about ignoring others cuz we get all omg, so positive and awesome and radiant and spiritual super saiyan blast – rather its about getting closer to what we really have in common and what can be done – a sort of opening up of perception and the feeling aspect – mind and heart together.

One more thing! The fact that it feels like “BS” lately probably means you are in for some kind of an awakening or shift in perspective! It usually feels worse before there is a big release. Try and not resist the areas of resistance that you encounter- this is how you know you are on your path and doing good work. Remember that only love is real. Everything else is based on past fears/hurts/judgments and usually represent a cry for love (when you knew you weren’t getting the love you needed). Hope this gives you something to look forward to in your practice! Many blessings

Meditation can help develop will power. While meditation you are supposed to concentrate on your breathing and when you find your mind wandering you are supposed to go back to your breathing. The mind would much rather entertain itself with other thoughts and worries so every time you redirect it you are strengthening your will power. This can supposedly help us in the real world when we need to concentrate, do, or not do somsthing. It is as little as not letting something rude slip from your tongue. It has nothing to do with others and everything to with strengthening the mind to be more aware of the present because when you are not is when bad decisions are made on auto pilot.

Sometimes people use meditation to numb emotion, yes. That doesn’t mean meditation isn’t a valid and useful tool. Some people use hammers to smash windows and cause damage.

Since you’re not really asking about meditation but about a particular situation with this teacher, maybe raising your real question in a different sub-forum would get you a more useful set of responses. It sounds like you’re having difficulty expressing yourself clearly towards this person:

when the message finally got across (more through my actions than words I suppose) […] I thought maybe I might explain why I was upset, and I suppose I even promised that I would, but…[…]

Better communication, focussed on expressing your feelings without making this person responsible for them and saying clearly what it is you want, might provoke a more satisfying response from them. Or it might not. Sometimes people will abandon you and you don’t know why. You may have to find another teacher.

I hope you find a good way through this.

Thanks so much for coming back to say that.

I don’t talk about my own problems much on here, I just like to send people good wishes and give advice if I can, but it’s hard sometimes not to know how things turned out or if my blathering is at all helpful. (It’s helpful to me as a metta practice, but at best it wouldn’t be just that, you know?) There’s some rough stuff going on on the forum today, breast cancer, an 8 year relationship on the rocks, friendships falling apart when they’re needed most…

It’s good to remember that things also turn out ok sometimes. So thanks. And I hope your friendship will continue to grow.