Meditation is thought of as a way to help with anxiety, to relax, to get relief from stress. It is very true that meditation, the practice, will give these benefits, but what more can be said about its purpose and benefits.
Deep within each person is the source of everything we could want as human beings — the source of calm, the source of inspiration, the source of love. This is the first great truth about why meditation actually helps us. Normally, though, we do not try to get to know that source in a conscious way. However, if we were to embark on this particular discovery — with patience and with a teacher who can be a catalyst to the experience of meditation — it is doubtless that the treasure within would be tapped.
1) Meditation is a relationship. Does it make sense that we must make friends with ourselves? We need that relationship more than anything. But we cannot get to know ourselves without taking that time to do so. With structured guidance, meditation becomes the most ideal avenue to forging that relationship.
2) Meditation is the means by which our mind makes the journey, over time, from feeling controlled to being in control. It is not through force, but through self-discipline and practice that our minds surely but steadily do come under our control.
3) Meditation is the path to inner freedom. At the center of our beings, the place of within is free from worry. This is because the spiritual part of us has no worries. Since that spiritual part is always one with God, there is no fear there. As we come to know that place more and more, our freedom grows more and more.
4) Meditation is the source of inspiration. It is not only artists or business people who need inspiration; it is the birthright of all of us to be intuitive and inspired and to live our life according to that impulse.
5) Meditation is about forgiveness. Because we judge ourselves, we also judge others. But as we understand that we are both complex and simple by nature, forgiveness of ourselves and others begins to dawn. Meditation gives us that insight.
6) Meditation needs no special equipment. Once we start this path, we carry meditation wherever we go. Meditation is not about retreating from the outside world but we have the ability to carry the stillness from our meditation practice into the world and make that power grow through the various pursuits and duties we are engaged in.
7) Meditation is about love. By the process of calming down the mind, not just for a few minutes in meditation but over the course of an awakened meditation life, very naturally love is experienced. This is the real reward.
