You may have heard all the popular ideas of why meditation is important, such as how it helps a person to achieve mental clarity, better health and spiritual insights. Meditation is a tool that is used by people from a wide variety of spiritual beliefs and is even used for the achievement of goals such as relief from addictions and better work performance. But all of these outer goals and reasons are only a small part of what meditation is about. In fact, these goals and reasons can actually become a stumbling block when it comes to meditation.
Too often people see the process of meditating as some type of to-do list and the driven, goal-achieving thought process that is common in Western thinking ends up defeating the core of what meditation is all about. The core, the essence of meditation is not about achieving goals. It is not about striving to find the answers to life's problems. Sure, these things can happen through the process of meditation but they are just small parts of the greater picturThe true essence of meditation, no matter which method of meditation you may use, is quieting the mind and becoming fully present in the moment. There are some people who describe meditation as becoming an empty vessel, which is a wonderful analogy. When you let your mind become clear and empty of distractions and free from the limits of linear thought, your mind, body and spirit are allowed to go more deeply into the intuitive world of clear insight and inspiration. Meditation is not so much a process or a technique, but is the pure state of being in the here and now.
When you are in this state of meditation your consciousness is that of a clear sighted observer who is receptive and willing to learn. That is not to say that distractions and emotions will not come to mind during meditation, for its very common for this to happen. But when you are in a meditative state these distractions and emotions are viewed with neutral objectivity rather than being analyzed.Meditation is also a discovery of yourself and is your own unique experience. People can give you guidance on how to meditate but the journey is ultimately your own. This process of discovering yourself is, in part, learning to relax and let the layers of distractions, emotions, judgments and thoughts slip away, for these are not what make up your true self. Your true self is that clear and empty vessel mentioned previously, that is ready to be filled with wisdom, clarityand inner peace.
