Why Meditate?
Fact: Meditation can change your life.
There's a reason it's been around for thousands of years and practiced by people from all walks of life. There are also some myths about what to expect and how to get started.
Myth: Meditation is supposed to calm the mind and stop your thoughts.
Fact: A feeling of calm and a quieter mind is sometimes a result of meditation but the goal is NOT to calm the mind or yourself.
Surprise!
You have not failed if your mind does not become a still pool of tranquility. It is the nature of the mind to keep generating thoughts, endlessly, whether meditating or not
The purpose of meditation is not to change the nature of your mind. The purpose is simply to observe and SEE what is happening within your mind.
That's it! Nothing mysterious but everything necessary.
Noticing the mind jumping about IS meditation. If the mind quiets as a result of being observed (which it often does), that's wonderful, but whether it does or not is of no consequence.
WHEW! Glad we got THAT out of the way!
What changes as a result of meditation is not necessarily the speed and frequency of your thoughts, but rather your relationship with those thoughts.
Through the practice of meditation, you become less identified with the ticker tape that runs through your head, less convinced that your thoughts hold some inherent truth or importance, and less committed to solving each problem/emergency that your thoughts generate. You could say that you lose a degree of interest in the 'mind drama'.
Sometimes the mind quiets as a result of your lack of interest, and sometimes it just spins faster. Again, neither outcome is a testament to the success or failure of meditation, just something else to notice.
So what is the big deal, then? Why all this talk about meditation when (possibly) nothing about the mind changes as a result of it?
What IS startling is that everything can change as a result of not trying to change anything. I know, a bit of a head scratcher.
What happens as a result of witnessing your mind (without judgment or commentary) is that, over time, you realize that you are actually NOT that mind, nor the thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and all else that it spews out.
You realize two things:
- The mind will happen all on its own, generating content, with or without your participation.
- You realize that who you are is actually 'the one' who is witnessing all that goes on.
Fact: The purpose of meditation is not to change our mind but to AWAKEN the Self that is aware of it!
Truth Bomb: You are successfully meditating if you meditate.
If you take the time to see what is unfolding in your mind, without engaging in the dialogue, just looking and noticing ... then you are on the correct path.
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