Why Meditate?

Buddha taught about 2500 years ago that all beings want to be happy, nobody wants to suffer. Even though the times and cultures change, that statement is still very true. Our emotions have not changed and we still very much get caught up in our negative thought patterns which continuously cause us suffering.

Meditation shows us that true happiness, a sense of contentment, is found within. The practice of meditation awakens us to the natural ease and joy of the present moment.

Through mindfulness and awareness we can learn to work with challenging situations like chronic pain, destructive thought patterns, and difficult emotions. To find happiness we don’t need to turn away from our lives, rather we can turn towards our lives to see how our daily life is filled with endless opportunities for developing awareness, compassion and wisdom. The change in the way we view the world can make our lives more meaningful becoming a source of continuous inspiration.

Becoming intimately aware of our own mind, its tendencies and habits as well as its true nature is an empowering experience. Nobody else has so much power over our mind than we do – understanding that is a beginning of the path to freedom.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a technique for calming the mind and developing insight. The essence of meditation is awareness. It is not blanking of the mind or spacing-out. Meditation training is helping to calm the mind, leading to a relaxed openness, awareness, compassion and eventually deep insight and awareness of our true nature, basic goodness.

There are countless techniques and methods in Buddhism that have been passed down from master to student since the time of the Buddha, some are simple, others complicated, but all are there to empower the individual ultimately to understand the nature of mind, complete freedom from suffering.

In general the Buddhist meditation techniques can be broken down into two: Calm Abiding (skr. shamatha, tib. shinay), and Insight or Clear Seeing (skr. vipassana, tib. lhaktong). Calm Abiding meditation gives one the space to recognise the confused state of one’s mind, to relax, put things in perspective, and find peace. Insight meditation frees one from the power of one’s conflicting emotions, giving direct experience of the nature of one´s mind (also called Buddha nature or awakened mind).

Learning to Meditate

When starting the meditation practice it is really crucial to have genuine instructions on how to meditate, since if we don’t understand the essence of meditation, we might sit for decades and nothing much happens other than we are developing our sitting muscles.

Reading about meditation is one thing, but having a living teacher introducing you to the essence of it helps to correct misunderstandings that otherwise might develop.

Once we know what is meditation and have a wish to make it a regular practice, it is our inner discipline that will keep it going. Sometimes it might take some time to develop our discipline, and it may not be an easy task to make meditation a habit in a busy world, so meditation groups and communities can support you in this. Coming together as a community to practice strengthens our own practice and gives us inspiration to carry on practicing in our daily life.

When we experience the benefits, our inner discipline will be continuously nurtured by our own practice. Like with anything in life, only through steady and regular practice can we develop and reap the invaluable fruits of meditation.