Why Meditate?

[RedLantern]

Meditation can transform your life.It can change your brain and can reduce stress and anxiety and help you to
sleep better.Energize you and make you more patient.Get in touch with how you feel both emotionally and physically,provide a quiet space in your day and much more.
Buddha used meditation to reach his own awakening,to cut through the veils of illusion to find unconditioned existence.Mindful meditation provides three benefits.
* Sensory clarity
* Concentration
* Equanimity
Meditation helps to cultivate equanimity along with sensory clarity and concentration.

[jessicajameson]

There are many non-Buddhists that meditates on a daily basis. They take it as an exercise to destress, rather than to contemplate.

Scientists have proven that meditation helps to refocus the mind, and to increase the ability to keep out distractions. They have done test where test subjects (those who meditate and those who don't) are asked to navigate through a computer game. Whilst playing there will be many distractions both on screen and off. Those who meditated faired better in the game!

In UCLA, scientists even took MRI scans of 100 people (50 meditators, and 50 none). They found that meditators showed higher levels of ability to process information fast.

There are even evidence that it can improve health. Take for example Bill Clinton. Former President of the United States now does meditations daily before the start of his day. There is a related correlation to reduction of coronary heart disease and meditation. In a test of 201 people, researchers followed up with participants for the next five years and found that those who took the meditation class had a 48% reduction in their overall risk of heart attack, stroke and death.

Lots of benefits. No disbenefits!

[bambi]

I like doing meditation as they calm my mind whenever I am stressed. In this modern times, there are so many types of meditatins and we can choose whichever type that suits our daily needs. It is so convenient.

Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism. Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward Enlightenment and Nirvana.

Buddhist meditation techniques have become increasingly popular in the wider world, with many non-Buddhists taking them up for a variety of reasons. There is considerable homogeneity across meditative practices — such as breath meditation and various recollections — that are used across Buddhist schools, as well as significant diversity. In the Theravada tradition alone, there are over fifty methods for developing mindfulness and forty for developing concentration, while in the Tibetan tradition there are thousands of visualization meditations.Most classical and contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school-specific.

The Buddha is said to have identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice:
"serenity" or "tranquillity" which steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates the mind;
"insight" which enables one to see, explore and discern "formations" (conditioned phenomena based on the five aggregates).

Through the meditative development of serenity, one is able to release obscuring hindrances; and it is, with the release of the hindrances, through the meditative development of insight that one gains liberating wisdom.

[Midakpa]

The main reason one meditates is to train the mind. The Buddha said that it is easier to go into battle single handed against a thousand enemies armed to the teeth and to conquer them a thousand times than it is to conquer one's own mind.

According to the Buddha,  a well-trained mind is the most useful thing and the untrained mind is the most dangerous thing to have. An untrained mind causes a lot of trouble to oneself and others. This is why we need to dedicate a lot of time to the cultivation of concentration or meditation. One's mind seems like a jungle of thoughts, ideas, perceptions and memories. We must train the mind to be still, focus on the present moment and not get lost in thinking one thought after another.

 We can do this by practising anapanasati or the cultivation of mindfulness of the in and out breath. We practise samatha meditation to bring the mind to a state of calmness and stillness. We practise insight meditation (vipassana) to have an alert, clear state of mind that reflects its presence to see the beginning and the end, the arising and the passing away of the present object of experience, and to see its impermanence. With an alert mind, we watch the changing phenomena. When we see all conditioned phenomena as impermanent, then the mind becomes peaceful, empty, concentrated and still, no longer clinging to any mortal condition. (from Ajahn Jagaro, "Calm and Insight")

[Tenzin K]

In Buddhism the person meditating is not trying to get into a hypnotic state or contact angels or any other supernatural entity.

Meditation involves the body and the mind. For Buddhists this is particularly important as they want to avoid what they call 'duality' and so their way of meditating must involve the body and the mind as a single entity.

In the most general definition, meditation is a way of taking control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused, and the meditator becomes more aware.

The purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless (or even a purposeful) stream of thoughts. People often say that the aim of meditation is to still the mind.

There are a number of methods of meditating - methods which have been used for a long time and have been shown to work. People can meditate on their own or in groups.

Meditating in a group - perhaps at a retreat called a sesshin or in a meditation room or zendo - has the benefit of reminding a person that they are both part of a larger Buddhist community, and part of the larger community of beings of every species.

[Q]

I have tried meditating many times and I find it terribly difficult to keep a still mind even for 5 minutes! I feel like there's a monkey in my head jumping around!

But what is for sure is that things get better with time and practice. Of course one has to do meditation correctly to progress. Take for example, a car is usually safe to drive, but when done without mindfulness or drunk, then it becomes a recipe of disaster!

First of all, we must understand the types of meditations we can engage in. There are two types of meditation which is 'Analytical' and 'Concentration'. So what's the difference between these two meditation?

In Analytical meditation, we use our logical reasoning to examine the teachings to determine ourselves whether or not they are true, to remove any form of doubt, and to come to a clear understanding and unshakable conclusion on the topic in question.

In Concentration meditation, we learn to focus our mind single pointedly on a mental object until our mind can rest effortlessly on that object for hours or even days at one single time.

Although they are quite different in nature, these two meditation, they both share a sameness and support each other. An example of analytical meditation is when Phabongkha Rinpoche meditated on the headings of the Lamrim that His holy Guru gave him, until he came to an unshakable conclusion of the truth.

So why put ourselves through this "excruciating" practice? Because it is without a doubt that all of us wish only for happiness... and it is through meditation do we get indepth, unshakable understanding in Dharma. After all, Dharma is the only thing in this world that brings pure, untainted happiness just as proven by all the great Mahasiddhas and Buddha himself.

[fruven]

Yes! I fully agreed meditation has many benefits ie health and mental happiness especially the mental part where it is said that all physical illness is caused by mental illness. Meditation is very good for stress especially for this modern age with a lot of distractions. Meditation is another method of collecting merits because the end result is a change of mental attitude. When we meditate we need to have a goal. Set our motivation correctly in the beginning before the meditation begins. We should not do meditation without much understanding of the subject matter, joining classes without research first. It is even better if we can find a master to learn from because of his motivation and experience.

[icy]

There are stories about people who have been struggling with life's problems for a very long time without resolution. Once they sat down in meditation and asked, "Who is struggling?" they realized that from the beginning there was never really any problem. In a true sense this is the only solution that helps us. Everything else is just a band-aid that gives us a false sense of liberation for a short while. How many times have we tried these temporary fixes and solutions? Are we exhausted yet? If everybody on the planet, including the politicians, businessmen, and religious leaders, started working toward this realization, then the world would immediately be a peaceful place. People would be much more generous and kinder toward each other.

When all the layers of false identity have been stripped off, there is no longer any version of that old self. What is left behind is pure consciousness. That is our original being. That is our true identity. Our true nature is indestructible. No matter whether we are sick or healthy, poor or wealthy, it always remains divine and perfect as it is. When we realize our true nature, our life is transformed in a way we could not have imagined before. We realize the very meaning of our life and it puts an end to all searching right there.