You have all heard me say: doubt is the most important hindrance because the power of doubt lies in its ability to cripple our practice. Doubt is Mara's favorite trick. The minute Mara throws you into doubt, you are wavering, you are not going anywhere. It's a little bit like that rocking chair, you know, you are doing a lot of energy stuff but you are not going anywhere. You know doubt is great fun for Mara. How do you destroy doubt, how do you overcome doubt, at least, how do you neutralize it?
Again we can consider using truthfulness and wise thoughts but more important than that is a Kalyanamitta. A good, kind, wise, spiritual friend. There's no greater strength that you are going to have access to, than having a friend who is wiser than your Mara.
How does any great sports person become better? If they have a great coach they are going to become a better swimmer, a better basketball player, whatever it is they do, they need a great coach. The coach has to be able to see where the player is doing something wrong. The coach has to be able to correct the hand movement, the kicking, whatever it is. And if the coach is wiser in that way, then the swimmer, the basketball player, whatever, will improve with their skill more and more and more.
Meditation is very much the same. You need coaches, you need spiritual friends who can see more than what you can see, at least in regards to your doubt. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you have to come running to me and Rosemary with everything. Some of your good meditation friends might have a little bit extra understanding concerning what's holding you back. So go and talk to one of them. See if they can help you. If they can't help you, talk to another, talk to another, or write us an e-mail, whatever it is.
You don't want to sit with doubt, because doubt is a crippler. So the most important thing to overcome doubt, is a good, wise friend and being able to somehow, either with the friend or within yourself, bring forth the wisdom, which will then overcome the doubt.