What is the purpose of meditation? (it is not what you think)

Yes, meditation makes you relaxed and calm. But that is not the goal of meditating.

Discover the surprising goal of meditation.

Meditation is not just relaxation!
Recently I am more and more engaged in meditation. The more I meditate and learn about meditation, the better I will find it.

Not only do I notice more and more benefits from my daily meditations. I also see more and more how many misunderstandings exist around meditation, and how much these misunderstandings prevent us from making our lives fantastic.

One of those misunderstandings is about the purpose of meditation. Because why do people meditate? Why do I meditate?

Many people see meditating as a caricature
Just sit cross-legged, with your hands next to you in the air, shake your fingers against each other and with closed eyes "OOOHHHMM".

That is how people portray meditation. And that is exactly what it is all about.

health.com

Now I must say - there are a lot of forms of meditation. And not every form of meditation has the same goal. But basically we can state that all known, traditional forms of meditation have one important goal.

And that goal is not relaxed.

Relaxation is only a condition to be able to meet the goal. A bit like a cup is a condition for drinking coffee. The cup is not the goal, it is a means.

And meditation is about as magical and mystical as drinking that cup of coffee. In other words, meditation is fairly basic and about as normal as the chair you are currently sitting on.

And it is precisely the art to realize this. That is what you do during meditation - seeing your consciousness in this world for what it is.

A new view of reality

The goal of meditation is not to clear your head. The ultimate goal of meditation is to become fully aware of the nature of reality. Including all your thoughts, all your feelings and all your fears.

That sounds complicated. But see it like this: for a baby who has to take his first steps, making a mountain walk sounds very complicated.

If you have little experience with meditation, everything sounds complicated. Until it does not sound complicated anymore. What you need is experience. Because once you get started with meditating, you will increasingly understand what this is about.

Slowly reduce your ego

To see and experience reality as it is, it is important that you learn to come behind your thoughts. To see that you think thoughts, but that behind them there is a consciousness that perceives the thoughts.

new-successways.blogspot.com

You are not your thoughts. You 'are' that consciousness behind it.

Your thoughts always revolve around the future or the past. Memories and expectations. But here is the problem: the past no longer exists and the future does not exist yet. So these things are not the reality.

In this way we constantly live in a place that does not exist. A self-created illusion in our heads. These accumulations of stories, illusions, fears, expectations, disappointments and emotions is what the ego is called.

And meditation is a tool to let go of your ego (temporarily). You train your ability to live in the moment so that you can be happier, more loving, calmer and more aware. You train your mindfulness, so that you can live more in the moment outside your meditations.

A bit like doing strength training to be stronger, healthier, fitter and energetic for the rest of the year.

I found the inspiration for this blog on beterleven.nl
and other sources I used : health.com