What is Meditation?
What is meditation and its use in your life? Meditation is different things to many people, and serves different purposes for each of them. Let us explore a few of the differing forms.
One of the best forms of meditation is working to still your mind. Our minds are filled with a constant flood of thoughts and self-talk. Every action we take is filled with dialog to ourselves telling us how well we did something, or more commonly, telling ourselves how horribly we failed. Using meditation to clear your mind, allows you to take a time away from all of this barrage of mental argument, and to center your mind. To reach this state of meditation takes practice, and is usually accompanied by focusing either on your own breath, or an object like a candle flame.
You use your focus on your breath, or the candle flame, to help you quiet your mind away from the other thoughts. When you start off with meditation you may feel frustrated because the thoughts just keep flowing, and then you start talking to yourself about your need to stop the thoughts, which generates more thoughts, which generates more self-talk, and the circle continues. To break out of the circle, allow the thoughts to flow in, observe them briefly, and then let them flow away without comment, just turn your mind back gently to your breathing or focal point. Having the thoughts is neither good or bad, it just simply is. As you practice you will start being able to keep a clear mind at first for a few seconds, then a few minutes, and then for longer periods of time. You will discover after these brief interludes from your normal patterns of thinking you are able to think more clearly, and your life’s goals seem much more attainable.
Another common form of meditation could more accurately be called contemplative meditation. In this form of meditation you set aside a time to focus your thoughts on a particular problem, goal, or ambition. Once again you work to clear your mind of all thoughts, except in this case you allow the one thought, your goal, to remain in your mind. Do not struggle to come up with answers, but simply allow thoughts to roll through your mind and take notice of each one. When you start seeing and feeling those ideas generating excitement and a nudge to action, take a moment out of your meditation to write them down, then return to your contemplative state. Many times it is a good idea to go through a normal meditation period before starting on a time of contemplative meditation.
When you ask some people to explain, what is meditation, they are going to reply with a more religious answer. Meditation for them is going to be a time of deep prayer and contemplation of God. It is the time of the day where they escape from the world and contemplate the spirit, and listen for answers from the Divine. Their form of meditation is not greatly different from the above forms, but their focal point is greatly changed.
If you were to travel around the world, visiting all of the world’s different cultures, you would discover the answer to “What is meditation?” varies in almost every society. They all have similarities, but you will find the techniques, and focus can be greatly different. The most important thing, take some time to meditate, and discover the real power of your mind when it becomes quiet.
