Meditation: Purpose and Path. What is the Real Goal?

There are so many types of meditation, purposes that lead people to pursue meditation, and paths that tender feet set out on. Some of us are born into traditions that encourage meditation, mindful living, with mindfulness of an ultimate reality that intersects, mingles with, and transcends the seemingly relative ordinary world.

Whatever our individual reasons or motivating factors are for seeking out a meditation path and practice, it is good to broaden the breadth of the journey and heighten the rewards of the destination. In this sense, we can begin to use everyday experience as part of our practice, through mindfulness and present moment awareness, as well as through mindfulness of higher aspirations of progress.

In short, while we work at improving our individual life experience, we necessarily will improve the quality of life for all we come into contact with. From there, we may gain confidence in being able to actually, collectively, shift into "higher gear" and begin to explore the possibility of embodying Buddha. If Siddhartha had a theme song, it would go something like this: "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine all the time." Yes. It is really that basic.

So, what happens to our little light? Sometimes, in the course of stormy emotions and daily confusions that magnetize our attention away from tending our precious flame, the winds of disillusion blow through and attempt to snuff out the spark we have so dearly begun tending. That's how it is at the beginning.

Meditation is a practice in building your windbreak so securely around an awakened spark that even when powerful gusts of the winds of change blow through your life, the flame inside might flicker, but won't extinguish.

So, meditation like that of course takes practice. And in order to practice, we need a playing field. Guess what? We all have one. It's called life. Each and every day, each and every thought, person, experience, situation, emotion, perception, idea, belief, judgment. Yes, they are all part of the playing field, as the ground, umpires, referees, players, audience, crowd. And they are all part of your game. Each of us is the go to player who decides the rules, how to play by them as well as recognizing there are penalties for violations, who we choose for teammates, and how well we develop our talents and learn the techniques to excel.

Of course, this all takes practice, practice, practice.

 As with all disciplines, from the fine arts, to the boardroom, to the operating room, classroom, courtroom, and locker room, no professional, skillful practitioner ever arrives without practice and commitment. If you are a disciple of something in this world you know discipline.

To follow through on a successful path of meditation, we must start slowly. As a doctor first learns natural science in elementary school, we just begin by learning to follow breath to begin to get a glimpse into the nature of mind. There are more and more resources available to begin this practice. Try to find a good practitioner/teacher in your area in addition to learning meditation technique. She or he should be able to meet you where you are, and if you are a member of a faith based tradition can help put your practice into a spiritual context that will enhance your practice with personal meaning.

The real goal of meditation is to breathe into stillness, presence, and peace that are beyond ordinary experiences, to join with an Awakened Love or Clear Light which breathes and exists right in your own chest.

And then to expand that out to everyone and everything else.

Go Love,
Lisa