The variety of reasons to meditate

 

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

Copyright 2005 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

 
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What one needs to understand about meditation is that, as a focusing of one’s attention and awareness, it is a creative state of being. That is, you will create an experience of that on which you meditate. As such, when one asks, “Why meditate?” you will probably hear a variety of different answers. Whether the individual realizes it or not, the answer they give ultimately depends on the intention they hold when they meditate for that is what they are creating with their meditation.

The following list is some of the reasons that have been given for mediation. All of these things are potentially obtainable through meditation although they are also obtainable in other ways. The questions is whether one is willing to do the work necessary to obtain any of these things whatever technique they choose to use.

Mediation can be used for:

  • To become aware of one’s thoughts

  • To become mindful of where one is placing the focus of their attention

  • It is to observe one’s self in relationship

  • It is to calm the mind

  • To silence the mind

  • To cause the endless chatter that normally fills our consciousness to be stilled.

  • To become still as a calm pool of water with no ripples and to realize that 1) all arises from within our own being only to ripple outward into an expression of oneself and that our body is only one such manifested ripple and 2) one is only an eddy or a place of stillness within a larger pool of vibrations.

  • To observe the energy you are experiencing by watching thoughts, feelings and sensations

  • It is to access the “Why?” behind what occurs, to see the cause effect chain of events you see and experience.

  • To become self observant internally and externally, reflective and insightful, as to why you have created the experience you have.

  • To break or form habits of the mind.

  • It is to find God or to experience God

  • To see the bigger picture and remember what is important in one’s life

  • It is to stop one’s thinking and moving beyond the mind

  • To decouple from the senses to become aware one is not one’s senses so that one can realize they are not their body and one can realize they can leave the body and experience death if they so choose.

  • To see the illusion of reality

  • It is to become a witness at all levels of your being so you can access any time and any place anywhere you are.

  • To be present to what is, as it is.

  • It is to observe the conditions of the body, mind, emotions or spirit and any part of one’s extended being or condition of reality external to the body.

  • To become detached.

  • It is to reach higher states of consciousness.

  • To pull ourselves out of rut of our every day awareness to remind us and bring us and to learn about higher spiritual values.

  • It is about becoming wise.

  • To achieve understanding

  • It is about visualizing and creating

  • It is about the direction of energy such that you can immerse yourself in water or cover yourself with wet blankets and cause steam to arise from you body because of the power of your ability to control and direct energy

  • It is to activate the energy of the body to heal itself.

  • To access and use our unused mind

  • It is to become a mystic and/or have mystical experiences.

  • It is to obtain one of the supernatural powers of the mystics such as the power to read minds, foretell the future, see the past, reduce one’s body to the size of an atom to explore the subtle levels of reality, to expand oneself to any size, to be able to full one’s wishes, to gain leadership over things and people, or to attract and control things.

  • To bring a concept or vision into a perception and/or manifest the concept or vision as a physical experience or manifestation.

  • To explore the depth and breath of one’s true nature.

What the author has found most interesting about all the answer to “Why meditate?” is that there is one response that he has never seen give or anywhere stated. That is, the author has never heard from any author, master, therapist, meditation practitioner or any individual the follow or equivalent statement - “I meditate because it is fun and I enjoy it. There is no other reason that simply I enjoy it.” The author has heard such a statement about sleep, about play and activities associated with play. But he as never heard it said about meditation. Many will talk about the joy and pleasure created thought mediation or by meditation. Few talk about the pleasures of meditating itself. The author knows of no one who has said it is the most thrilling experience they have ever encountered.

The author has also never met or heard of anyone who has said, “I incarnated to have the experience of meditation.” He doubt he will meet anyone who has such an intention for their life. Meditation is not an end in itself. It is simply a tool to get somewhere or get something.

The author has come to believe there is a very profound reason for why it is not said meditation is fun. It is simply because of the work involved in disciplining the mind through meditation. Disciplining the mind, whatever technique that is used, is usually not fun. Meditation is not done for the joy of the experience itself. Until meditation becomes a habit like any other habit, it is work and it is often hard work.

It always takes work to discipline and focus and undisciplined mind. Once mind is disciplined, it usually no longer struggles and mind will do whatever needs to be done. It is then, with a disciplined mind, that mediation becomes an extremely powerful tool and can even be considered fun. In many ways, it is an acquired taste. But even with a disciplined mind, there is again some work associated with the concept to get any of ends one desires by using meditation. One has to sit and meditate until they create what they desire. Few find joy in the meditation itself unless they acquire a taste for it.
In any case, there are many reasons given for meditation. But in all those cases, meditation is a means to an end. The above list is a list of some of those ends. Meditation is an extremely powerful tool and there is some work associated with the concept to get any end one desires.

From a creativity perspective, if one realizes meditation is a creative tool, to state the purpose of meditation is for any of the above reasons is a very incomplete answer. Any of the above reasons by themselves do not address why you wish to achieve that objective. For example, if you state, “Meditation is to calm the mind,,” you will then have to ask, “Why do you wish to clam the mind - what is wrong with a restless mind?” In your attempt to answer this question, you will then be faced with “pulling the string” on a long series of “why’s.” At some point you will be faced with the simple realization that “I chose to .... or I want ....” and that is the real purpose for your meditating.

There is something you are seeking. There is an intention that is driving your meditation The same is true for all the reasons for meditation given above. Simply said, meditation is a creative tool to get something. It frequently becomes an end itself and/or a habit that can interfere with taking what one has found back into the every day world The goal is not sit and meditate. The goal is to take meditation into one’s every day life. The goal is to make our life a meditation to create what we desire to experience. That is the goal. It is to become mindful and awareness of our thoughts to chose those thoughts such that when we act to manifest those thought we are creating what we desire to experience.

Meditation is a way to achieve any understanding that is primarily directed inward. In the approach used within the material on this site and the Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity Technology, the view of meditation is that it is a tool to focus one’s attention and awareness to discover and explore one’s true nature. Then armed with that in awareness, meditation becomes a tool to assist one in creating whatever they choose.

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