Why Meditate ? & What is Meditation?

—

“Why Meditate?”

Why not ? It seems to be ‘the’ happening,Thing these days, especially in the west ! Sorry, that was in a lighter vein…… On a serious note, if we want to address that question, we are confronted with another.

“What is meditation?”

In this day and age — of science and technology — a rational definition, or a “what” is the question we are most likely to ask and whose answer we are most ready to accept. Science is the ‘what’ answerer and we are inured to its ability to give us answers that we find easier to accept… For instance, what is the distance to mars or what is the speed of light or what is matter ? We dub that as “being rational”.

But there is another kind of question that is equally powerful, if not more…and it falls in the realm of the spiritual. It begins with “why”… Why does life exist on earth? Why are we here on this planet? Why do living beings co — exist ? Which brings us back to “why meditate?” Nine out of ten people will answer “because i want peace.” Have you asked yourselves, why are we not at peace? Is it because of a certain restlessness? Why do we feel restless? And, why is ‘peace’ so important?

The feeling of peace is the bedrock for all that we consider good in our lives. The content of our happiness and our joys. A lack of peace, conversely, is the cause of all evil and all that we consider wrong…whether it be terrorist activity, violence, personal angst or social chaos…all wrong doing comes from a restless mind.

Why is it that inspite of all the amenities we have to luxuriate in today, we are restless? The answer simply is, lack of integration… A disintegration in our being. Our consciousness is in chaos. It is too preoccupied taking in the rush of superfluous experiences of the outer world to be even remotely aware of our inner world and its needs.

Our outer world has no connection with the inner. No volume and no value of amenities that we may experience externally can touch our inner being and awaken our intuitive capabilities. Information fills our brain and that is an outer activity. Sensorial activities engage our body and that is an outer activity. Intellectual pursuits feed our mind and need for recognition, but that too is an outer activity… All this outer wealth cannot make us rich on the inner side. Instead, it is making us lose the ability to relax.

Whatever is precious in life, whatever is outstanding can be savoured only when we are deeply relaxed. That is why meditation.

Meditation helps us come home to our self… To our inner being. It helps us get integrated with the elements that matter. It is that dimension of our life — like a fifth dimension — where our inner gets enriched. Recharged. Yet, we are not called upon to go anywhere or do anything.

Meditation is just feeling your ‘being’. That is it.

Of course, it is not something that happens by default. You have to practice it consistently to attain that state of deep relaxation…and integration. Once you continue the practice correctly, you will sense a revving up of energy, almost akin to a well-tuned engine whose ignition has been turned on and it has found its pace instantly.

Meditation gets you tuned to your surroundings, to other human beings… And you discover a rhythm entering your life. ‘an intent sense of contentment’ is how i would describe it.

Just as a fruit is best appreciated not by its looks, but by its taste, so is life. Gloss and appearance will not help us enjoy its contents. The shinier and redder the apple, the more rotten tasting could it be. To appreciate the ‘deliciousness’ of life and taste happiness we need to meditate. You cannot relax if you are restless.

You cannot be really happy if you are not relaxed. Our vital energy is drained when we are restless.

We expect to be happy, but do not want to meditate. How do we expect to see the change in our life, if we cannot be the change? Albert Einstein once said, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Let us not fall victim to that.

Meditation must enter your life to make it a happier one.