One of the most fundamental questions we can ask ourselves is, why? There's a good chance it was the first question about meditation that you wanted an answer to, why meditate? Whether we are aware of it we are all essentially looking for is a sense of happiness and fulfillment.
Many of us, in our everyday lives, have come to believe that happiness, joy and inner peace, are the outcome of becoming successful, creating wealth, maintaining good health and having loving relationships.
And as we strive to accomplish these goals in the 'real' world, and yet, increasingly it seems as though we are being consumed by our endless activities.
So we continually fill our lives with more and more stimulation, in a race to stay ahead of this self-perpetuating cycle.
One of the great paradox's, in life, is that we believe happiness only comes from getting and doing, only to discover, that it comes instead from simply being.
Success in life is the by-product of happiness, not the other way around.
Through meditation, we learn to focus our awareness and develop concentration.
And when we have the ability for greater concentration and focus we get more accomplished, and so make decisions quicker and more effectively.
Through meditation, we come more present to our senses.
Once again there is a paradox because, through meditation, we not only learn to control our senses, but we also develop greater awareness, creating heightened sensual experiences.
Eating mindfully, being fully present, we can taste our food and listening to music with full awareness, we hear each note sounding.
Anything our senses perceive is enhanced, from the scent of a rose to lovemaking, because of our greater degree of attention.
Why meditation, because through meditation, we become conscious of our higher self, a place of expanded awareness, where we are the thinker of the thoughts, not the thoughts themselves.
Through meditation, we become increasingly self-aware and with that experience we intuitively begin to make choices that bring love, peace, happiness, health and purpose to our life.
In meditation the stillness and silence we experience brings a deep inner sense of peace, joy and well-being.
This experience is the birth place of creativity, intuition and inspiration; this is the place of being, of natural transformation.
This transformation, this lasting peace, may lead you to the direct transcendent experience of the interconnectedness of all things, a place where we "know" Infinity, Eternity and Immortality.
Meditation is not an intellectual process; it's the experience of the process.
Moving forward you will develop an understanding of the techniques and benefits of a meditation practice, but the greatest realization will be the experience of being.
Meditation offers us the opportunity to affect change at the most fundamental level, to interrupt habitual negative patterns.
Through meditation, we learn to focus our awareness, develop concentration, and we come more present to our senses.
Through meditation, we can develop and cultivate the qualities we wish to grow in our lives and weed out those we don't, a skill that is cultivated through practice.
For now, we have begun to discover the answer to the question, why meditate?