The purpose is not as obvious as one might think. For many people, including Buddhists, meditation is about quieting the mind and experiencing the calming effect of that quieting as well as the clarity that comes from being free of the intervention of the mind.
If one can achieve this through meditation, that is a major accomplishment. We all have had the experience of our mind bombarding us with thoughts – one monk called it, "our unfinished business" – when we first started meditating. But we learned through various techniques to not give those thoughts any focus and just let them pass.
But there is more. I once read a story about a woman who, after 40 years of meditating, complained to a monk that nothing had changed in her life. My take on that was that her meditating was probably divorced from the Buddha dharma. She did not take the opportunity of the quiet and freedom from the mind's intervention to sit with aspects of the Buddha's teaching. To me, that is the real purpose of meditation. To absorb the teachings and ultimately find those truths from within yourself.
And for me, the ultimate truth contained in the Buddha dharma is the truth about your true self, who you are. As I've explained in my books, posts, and videos, your true self is your true Buddha nature, your unborn Buddha mind, your heart. You were born with this and it remains part of you throughout your life.
Not only is it a challenge to discover your true self because the power of your ego-mind is so strong. but most Buddhist teachers teach the doctrine of "no self." As I explained in my book, The Self in No Self, and in my post, "The Misleading Teaching of No Self," the Buddha never taught that there is no self. What he did teach was the things that are "not self" – all the attributes that cause suffering and make up the ego. Read the post.
While the Buddha's teaching of "not self" implies that there is a self, he never spoke to that subject. But I and others have written that discovering your true self is a very important part of the process of walking the path and freeing yourself from the control of your mind. See my video in the "Coming Home" series, "Your True Self = Your Heart."
As always, when we negate something we have to have something positive to put in its place, otherwise the old just rushes back in, as nature abhors a vacuum. By coming to know your true self, you will have an anchor that will help you free yourself and remain free from your mind. Without that, there is no end to suffering.
If one can achieve this through meditation, that is a major accomplishment. We all have had the experience of our mind bombarding us with thoughts – one monk called it, "our unfinished business" – when we first started meditating. But we learned through various techniques to not give those thoughts any focus and just let them pass.
But there is more. I once read a story about a woman who, after 40 years of meditating, complained to a monk that nothing had changed in her life. My take on that was that her meditating was probably divorced from the Buddha dharma. She did not take the opportunity of the quiet and freedom from the mind's intervention to sit with aspects of the Buddha's teaching. To me, that is the real purpose of meditation. To absorb the teachings and ultimately find those truths from within yourself.
And for me, the ultimate truth contained in the Buddha dharma is the truth about your true self, who you are. As I've explained in my books, posts, and videos, your true self is your true Buddha nature, your unborn Buddha mind, your heart. You were born with this and it remains part of you throughout your life.
Not only is it a challenge to discover your true self because the power of your ego-mind is so strong. but most Buddhist teachers teach the doctrine of "no self." As I explained in my book, The Self in No Self, and in my post, "The Misleading Teaching of No Self," the Buddha never taught that there is no self. What he did teach was the things that are "not self" – all the attributes that cause suffering and make up the ego. Read the post.
While the Buddha's teaching of "not self" implies that there is a self, he never spoke to that subject. But I and others have written that discovering your true self is a very important part of the process of walking the path and freeing yourself from the control of your mind. See my video in the "Coming Home" series, "Your True Self = Your Heart."
As always, when we negate something we have to have something positive to put in its place, otherwise the old just rushes back in, as nature abhors a vacuum. By coming to know your true self, you will have an anchor that will help you free yourself and remain free from your mind. Without that, there is no end to suffering.
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