Why Meditate?

When you choose a major for your college studies, would you choose a major that has no scope in getting a job? Most of us won’t. Similar to this, unless there is a real benefit to you, you will not be bothered to mediate. I am sure I will not. 

In the past when my relatives suggested mediating, I could not find a solid reason to do so. I already live in one of the richest prosperous countries in the world having an above average life style in it. I am in perfect health and I do not take any medication. Not even vitamin pills. I gave a great family with lots and lots of friends and relatives. 

So what more do I need? What more can mediation provides me? As I did not have a solid reason for this, I didn’t bother to do so for all these years.   Also to learn meditation I thought I needed a guru (teacher) and/or a temple like environment. I am not a regular visitor to any temple. I was not interested in seeing any gurus. 

I am sure most of you who read this would have similar reasons as I did. 

To understand what meditation can provide, first we have to define what we really need. Also for us to meditate at our own will, it has to be easy, fun and profitable. 

What do we need?

We all need one thing in our life. That is “To be Happy”. All other stuffs and things we collect or do is all for us to be happy. So what do we need to be happy? As per my googling, we need wealth, health and compassion for us to be happy.

Wealth
Suppose if you do not have any food, shelter, cloths or any other material stuff we have, we probably won’t be happy. But suppose if you have your basic needs of food, air, water, shelter and cloths are provided, more wealth is not going to make you proportionately happier. 

If you buy a new PS4 gaming system, sure it will make you happy. But as this is not a necessity, that happiness will not last too long. Likewise any other material stuff we possess would have made us happy at the moment we bought it or few days after it, but not for too long. Or like owning a car or cell phone, it will eventually be part of the needs of your life and would make you unhappy when you lose.  

So to a limit we do need wealth for us to be happy.

Health
Health is more important than wealth. Losing this would make you unhappy. But if you do not have any sickness, and you are in perfect health, there is nothing more health to gain. 

If you are having some sickness for a long time, you would have accepted this as part of your life and eventually you will not be unhappy because of your health.

So we do need health, but we could live without.

Love & Compassion
We having the feeling of others caring about us and the feelings we care about others is the most important factor in gaining happiness. If we think nobody cares about us, which thought itself would eventually make us sick. The importance of you having the feelings of love and compassion is hard to explain and it is factor that cannot be measured.

Compassion is the feeling that holds this universe together.  The happiness you gain by the feelings of compassion is limitless. 

So how to get what we need?

Thru mediation, we can attract more wealth, cure illness, and more importantly spread love and compassion. This is the first step in bringing more happiness. 

Secondly should be able to spread the feelings of love and compassion to your family, friends, strangers, and even to your enemies. Once you truly believe that your enemies also should be happy, eventually it will be too boring for them to be your enemy. (For this for me, I first need to find if I have any enemy. So if you know any of my enemy, tell them that I am looking for them.).

Finally, encourage the happy people around you to spread the feelings of love and compassion to the people around them. 

I truly believe this is the way to bring peace to this 3rd rock circling the sun which we call “Earth”.

The Habits of Happiness