Why Meditate

At first sight this looks like a simple question which deserves a simple answer. If you were to ask one hundred regular meditators you would in all probability receive one hundred different answers. Such answers might range from the down-to-earth, ‘I feel better in myself, to the mystical, ‘It brings me closer to God’. Perhaps the question is for you to answer in your own time. Meditation is really a personal search and no one person may answer for another.

Meditation may be thought of as a journey, an adventure into the depths of your own being. It is said in Buddhism that we study Buddhism in order to study ourselves. It is a long journey. There is much to discover, more than you ever dreamed possible. It has been wisely said, ‘A man would search for God. Let him beware he will discover his true self. A man would seek himself. Let him beware he is in mortal peril of beholding God.’

Here is perhaps the first paradox of the search; we look for the self only to lose it, we seek the lesser but find the greater. We begin with the self – after all what else is there that you can truly claim as your own? The injunction to ‘Know Thyself’ is the universal call to awakening. Perhaps you think that you already know yourself well enough. What, then, is the point in taking up meditation? Look again. Look into the mirror of the self. How well do you know the face that looks back at you and all that lies behind it? What do you really know of your own motives, desires and aspirations? Where have you come from, where are you going? When did you begin and when shall you end? Who are you? What you think, feel and know of yourself at present constitutes the starting point for your journey.

Meditation is a way of change. It is a process of gradual refinement, of distillation and transformation. It is you who sets the pace for your own progress. It is you who determine whether meditation works or not. Like anything else that is worthwhile meditation requires hard work and discipline. It is not an easy road, for you are transforming yourself at all levels of being by your own application and labor. It is not an easy task but it brings a rich reward. For the sake of simplicity, we may look at the several areas in which meditation may have an impact. In reality this separation does not exist, as meditation itself will certainly reveal. Analysis can usefully precede synthesis on occasion. It is merely helpful to look at the different areas in turn.