Why do we meditate?

Why do we meditate?

People meditate for different reasons. The reason I meditate (or at least attempt to) is to perceive reality in a more objective way. Human perception is subjective since it does not give a particularly accurate picture of the world around us, or the world within us, for that matter. For instance, the human eye is capable of detecting a very narrow range, namely the visible spectrum, of the electromagnetic spectrum. That’s why doctors use x-ray to see our bones and internal organs.

If our eyes were capable of x-ray and infrared vision, which themselves are but small ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, objects would appear entirely different from they do normally; our perception of the world would change fundamentally. As all of our perceptual organs are similarly limited, what we perceive is a really only a conceptualization of the world around us, not what it really is. So, there’s more to the world than meets the eye, so to speak.

For instance, the computer screen you’re looking may appear to be a solid object. But in reality all objects, no matter how “solid” they appear, are made up mostly of empty space– of atoms whose tiny electrons hover around nuclei of protons and neutrons, separated by vast expanses of emptiness.

Meditation is predicated on the idea that despite our perceptual limitations, we might be able to use our mind-body to perceive the world in a more accurate, veridical way. It’s a way of transcending the mind with the mind. Through meditation we can see the universe without by looking at the universe within. After all, we are part of the universal continuum that makes up all of reality.

When we bow at the feet of a Buddhist monk whom we do not know, how do we know if he’s an enlightened individual or just a senile old man? We don’t. And it shouldn’t matter. In reality, we don’t bow to the monk or the stone Buddha statue, but to ourselves. The stone statue and monks are but cues to awaken the Buddha that lies within each of us. Awakening the Buddha opens the gate to the divine continuum that allows us to perceive things in a more objective way, to see things as they really are, as opposed to the illusory mental conceptualizations stemming from our perceptual limitations.