A. There is nothing wrong with having various perspectives to contemplate or reflect upon. But I believe it is important that beyond this you have one main form of meditation practice that will firmly anchor you and provide the stability of practice that is crucial. Although we do have a specific meditation practice to nurture, it can be very useful to wander around and explore, hopefully in a spirit of enquiry and playfulness. Especially off the cushion. This spirit of openness helps us not to get too bogged down, and, importantly, helps us not to be always taking ourselves so seriously. It is very easy to fall into the trap that you must somehow fulfill your main practice at all costs, and as quickly as possible, that to divert is a sign of weakness or lack of commitment. As long as whatever you are contemplating is an aspect of Dharma, then you cannot ever be off the path. But always see these wonderings as a supplement to the form of practice that you are committed to.

I am aware that a lot of practitioners don’t have a specific form of practice as their main focus but rather have a variety of options and choose whichever one they think is appropriate at any given time. If changing meditation practices is done with a teacher who suggests picking an option, then that is fine. But from my experience most practitioners make the choice themselves, and often for unskilful reasons, for example: not getting anywhere, boredom, not in the right mood, etc. It is my understanding and experience that authentic understanding and change comes from learning to stay with a very specific form of practice without diversion, usually for years. It is often the case that change takes place not because of the specific practice being cultivated, but rather through developing the ability to stay with one practice.