Why Meditate?

“With our thoughts we make our world.” – Buddha
“Life is all about...”
 – “Success.”
 – “Happiness.”
– “Wealth.”
 “To make the world a better place we need...”
 – “Peace.”
 – “Social security for all.”
 – “An improved environment.”

This is a summary of typical Q&A's with students in my meditation classes. Some of the answers are fairly tangible: we can envision 'wealth' perhaps as income or property. 'An improved environment' may conjure images of verdant forests, clean rivers and clear skies. However, answers, such as 'success', 'happiness', 'peace' are not easy to measure.But both the tangible and intangible ideas have something in common: they emanate from the mind, from our ideas and attitudes.

For example, does success come from money, fame or social position? Or all of these things? Actually, one may have all these things and still not enjoy them: that’s because success isn't an absolute state. It's all in the mind. For example, there is a wonderful saying I like: “The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything, but they make the most of everything." Then there's peace. Calling for “world peace” is a mantra of many public figures. But what is peace? Here’s an example: I'm in a country where I don't know the language. I go out for the day and my hosts ask me to bring back some mangos from the marketplace. I've never heard of mangos, don't know what they look like and think maybe it's a fruit, but it could be a vegetable, a drink, a type of bread. So, what are the chances that I'll bring back mangos? Just so, if I call for peace in the world, but I have no sense of peace in my life and in my mind, can I find peace and 'bring it back home'?

Meditation is an excellent tool to help us find inner peace. Yogic philosophy notes that the essential nature of humans is to be happy. We all want to be happy so that we can feel inner peace or harmony. Yogic meditation brings inner peace through a gradual process, with results evident along the way. My school of meditation follows a system similar to Patanjali's original Astaunga Yoga (according to this philosophy, there are eight steps toward enlightenment). The early stages of this path deal primarily with meditating on a simple mantra, which has a sublime meaning. This first stage has various benefits, such as better concentration, less reaction to stress and improved health. In a second stage, one learns a deeper mantra and some techniques that help withdraw our attention from the distractions or attractions of the world during meditation. In both cases the mantra is one that is charged with a subtle but vital energy through a process that I explain my book Meditation: Searching for the Real You.

One essential quality of any mantra is its meaning. As your mind goes deeper into a quiet, aware state, you can identify with the positive, uplifting meaning of the mantra. It reminds us of one's true self, of the 'real you'. With that sense of true self, you can work for true peace because you can now identify it in yourself. Now, that's success. If you wish to learn meditation, join my free meditation classes. For more information, visit our website here or contact me at dadaj@londonandmeditation.org.uk