Sometimes when I bring up the question of the "benefits of meditation," or the goal of meditation, I'm met with an interesting response:

"It's not about the goal, it's about the process."

Oh? Really? Well, then, what's the point of going through the process?" I ask.

And then I'm met with silence when the person realizes that they have *some* goal in mind.

It might be relaxation, it might be a "daily cleaning of the mind," it might be attaining some imagined state of being in the future (I call it an "imagined state of being" since they aren't experiencing it now, but are imagining what it'll be like when/if they get there).

Suffice it to say, it's a rare person who practices meditation without a goal in mind, without a specific idea about the benefits of meditation that they want to achieve.

And, if that's true, then, why don't we look at the goal itself, the benefits themselves, and ask, "Is there some better way to get there than by sitting on a meditation cushion for hours and hours?"

Sometimes people say, "Ah, but the benefit can only be gotten by long practice?"

Oh? Really?

"What benefit are you referring to?" I ask.

"Like, being able to simply sit and not react to unpleasant thoughts," is one reply I often get.

And, again, let me ask, "What if it were possible to get that understanding, that experiential knowledge in some faster, easier way?"

I mean, if you could take a pill, and get ALL the benefits of meditation that people say require years of practice, how would it be different? (other than having a lot of free time to look forward to instead of a lot of time meditating to remember)

Next Post: Mindfulness Meditation Instructions

Please help. Bookmark, share, email or favorite this page. Use this button to begin: