Phase change.

Phase changes are interesting. They are not necessarily intuitive when we are going through them though.

Consider a pot of water for instance.

You can turn up a burner and apply constant heat to a pot of water. That pot will consistently rise over a period of time.

100 degrees. 120. 140. You'll make steady progress until you reach 212 degrees, and then all of a sudden the temperature will stop rising.

The water will boil at 212 degrees. The burner is still on, heat (energy) is still being applied. But nothing seems to change.

Of course, the water is undergoing a phase change from liquid to gas. It's boiling, and the constant application of heat allows for the phase change to happen.

Back the heat off a little bit, and the water stays water. Useful for many purposes, like making coffee or boiling pasta, but the full transformation to another state never occurs.

Interesting to think about this as it relates to our own mind and meditation practice.

You apply consistent energy over time and seem to make a lot of progress, then things seem to stagnate. Do you stay diligent in your practice, or back off?

Maybe you're undergoing a phase change.