WHY I MEDITATE

I meditate every day – sometimes more than once a day. My purpose in meditating is very different from what it was when I began. When I began the journey that led me to a spiritual practice and meditation, I thought meditation was about being still, quiet, not thinking, and being relaxed. Mostly it was supposed to be about staying calm, having an empty mind. Lots of luck on that last one.

My spiritual search began when I was still in school, and I asked myself the question, “Who am I? Who am I without my personality attributes and talents?” I asked a friend what she thought. She said, “Well, you’re Davina.” I said I didn’t think that was the answer.

After many years, joining groups, leaving groups, disappointments and disillusionments, I woke up to the realization that there were things I had to discover on my own, by learning and by experience.

I began to read books on ancient wisdom, written by a variety of people. I read physicists and cosmologists and esotericists, the old and new testaments, Hindu and Buddhist teachings.. The most important things I learned about meditation came from a variety of sources, and from my own experience.

I learned that there was a spiritual purpose behind meditation that was far beyond getting still and quiet. Meditation’s true purpose is so much more than simply feeling better so you can cope with life. (And I’m not saying that those are bad things, but they’re just a partial view of the entirety of the purpose and benefits of meditation.)

While at first meditation may seem to be something that “takes you away” from things for a while, I have come to see meditation as a way to bring me to my Self, in the highest sense. I now see myself as the observer of my thinking, and I know my thoughts are not me. I see each human as a spark from a much larger flame, and when we meditate we focus our tiny flame until it is united with the larger one. We become connected to that part of us that knows no boundaries, no limits, no insecurities, no opinions, no needs.

In its highest use, meditation is actually a service. It is a means for reaching higher levels of consciousness, for uniting ourselves with something beyond our small selves. In meditation we place ourselves in a position to receive higher energies, and function like tuning stations for these energies. Hopefully, we then pass them on in some way.

Though what is happening currently on planet Earth doesn’t look too pretty, the fact is that the human race is in the process of evolving. Raising consciousness to a higher level is part of that evolutionary process. So in meditating we are helping true evolution to occur. Imagine a time when humans can communicate without bullets or bombs, but with deep communication and understanding. Imagine a time when someone can say something offensive, and instead of striking back, you can simply observe it all, with no flashback reaction. You might respond, but you wouldn’t automatically react as an animal does when threatened. I believe that sane behavior will be the result of evolution, and I believe that through meditation we become more capable of such behavior.

So for many years now, each day I read, I study a bit, and I meditate. I am changed, and changing. Yet under all the change I am eternally the same. I have always been that still point, but now I am coming to know that. Now when I meditate, I am meditating not just for myself, but for everyone. One point of stillness aids the whole human family to rise.