Why Learn to Meditate
The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind
is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will
experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it
very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions.
If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful,
and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we will
be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems as if our mind is
like a balloon in the wind - blown here and there by external circumstances.
If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes
unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new possession or a
new partner, we become excited and cling to them tightly. However, since we
cannot have everything we want, and since we will inevitably be separated from
the friends and possessions we currently enjoy, this mental stickiness, or attachment,
serves only to cause us pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want,
or if we lose something that we like, we become despondent or irritated. For
example, if we are forced to work with a colleague whom we dislike, we will
probably become irritated and feel aggrieved, with the result that we will be
unable to work with him or her efficiently and our time at work will become
stressful and unrewarding.
Such fluctuations of mood arise because we are too closely involved in the external
situation. We are like a child making a sandcastle who is excited when it is
first made, but who becomes upset when it is destroyed by the incoming tide.
By training in meditation, we create an inner space and clarity that enables
us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Gradually we
develop mental equilibrium, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather
than an unbalanced mind that oscillates between the extremes of excitement and
despondency.
If we train in meditation systematically, eventually we will be able to eradicate
from our mind the delusions that are the causes of all our problems and suffering.
In this way, we will come to experience a permanent inner peace, known as "liberation"
or "nirvana". Then, day and night in life after life, we will experience
only peace and happiness.