I get this question a lot. What is the purpose of meditation practice? Is it to find that 15 minutes of peace? This is such a great question, so let’s talk about the purpose of meditation practice right at the beginning. Surely, we want to find that peace within us on a daily basis, for however long we can find it. But the purpose of practice is never the practice.
What do I mean by that? Let’s say you decide to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Now unless you are used to climbing fourteeners, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is no small feat, especially the last day. The first few days are relatively easy, but on the last day you are supposed to start climbing around 9 or 10 pm, reaching the peak just around dawn. You take a few pictures and then continue with the descent for about four hours, before getting to a camp. This is not an easy day for anybody. You are essentially on your feet for 10 hours or so. Because of this, you start conditioning your body before you head out to Tanzania. You begin a daily exercise routine and probably a weekly climbing practice. The purpose of this conditioning is not to get good at conditioning but to prepare yourself for the climb on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Our daily meditation practice is intended to condition us for our daily worldly activities. For example, let’s say you buy a 10,000-piece Lego puzzle. That’s a lot of pieces and would take you a few days to complete for sure. You begin to organize your pieces in different piles first. Then you begin to build the puzzle. You spend, say, 30 minutes doing this. If you then spend the next 23 ½ hours mixing together all the pieces you had separated, what is the result? The next day, you will have an even bigger challenge on your hands. In other words, if you spend 30 minutes a day being mindful but spend the next 23 ½ hours in mindless activities, your meditation is not going to be that useful.
When we meditate, we are trying to find that peace within us for sure. The bigger purpose, however, is to make sure that we carry that peace with us throughout the rest of our day. We want to be centered, no matter what life throws at us. The real purpose of our meditation practice is to get grounded within ourselves. If you had a rough time concentrating during your meditation practice on a particular day, but after meditation is complete you are able to be kind and loving toward everyone you come across, that is a successful meditation session. On the other hand, if you had a peaceful meditation where you came close to enlightenment but after the meditation session you have difficulty showing compassion toward anyone, that was an unsuccessful meditation session.
Let’s begin with a simple breathing meditation practice today. Before you begin, please review the different meditation postures outlined in Appendix 2 and find the one that best meets your needs. Please follow the instructions for Breathing Meditation in Appendix 1. It’s amazing what a simple breathing exercise can do for our physiology.