Meditation Benefits

Meditation relaxes the body, calms the mind, and minimizes tension.

After a period of time of practice, the racing and rushing of thoughts in the mind slow down, not only during meditation, but in daily life.
Happiness increases along the way.
Tolerance, love, understanding, inner power and fearlessness increase too.
The concentration ability gets sharpened and the mind become stronger, and under control.
The ability to enjoy the present moment increases.
Criticizing and blaming others ceases, or at least decreases.
Practicality, strength, happiness and satisfaction increase.

All meditation techniques are means to the same final target.
Most of them are ways to develop concentration, which is the ability to pay attention to one object or subject, and withholding the mind from running around.
The final goal of meditation is to reach our real "I", to empty the mind from thoughts, and to be conscious of the residue, which is Pure Awareness.
Along the way there are many benefits that have already been mentioned on the introduction page about meditation.

Nowadays there are many books about meditation.
There are lectures and workshops too, so it is quite easy to find information about meditation, and someone to guide you along the first steps.

To meditate we need at least some ability to concentrate. It does not mean that without proper training in concentration we will not be able to meditate.
Even if concentration is foreign to us, we can start practicing meditation.
The practice itself strengthens the powers of concentration.
But a prior ability of concentration is a great asset that speeds up our progress.

According to the teaching of the Indian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, there is no separate self, all is One.
It is only illusion, Maya, that clouds our vision. If we accept this premise, then we can say that the Absolute Self, the One, or whatever name you give to Absolute principle, "creates" bodies and looks at its "creations" through the body's eyes.
This causes the illusion of many selves. The Absolute may be described as One, homogenous whole, but through illusion, delusion, ignorance, and wrong thinking there is the belief in separation, of multitudes of units. Everyone is very much engrossed in this illusion.
There is " I", "You", "She", "They", etc.
We believe in separate selves, and identify with a body, a family, a nation, or a race.

The purpose of meditation is to "unlearn" all the wrong concepts and come to realize who we really are.
This realization may be mental at first, until we really KNOW.
We are not the physical body, the ego, our thoughts or our feelings, but something else.
By delving inside ourselves, into the feeling or sensation, which can be termed as "I am", we come to know ourselves.
It is nothing external or new that we get.
This feeling of "I am" is always with us.
We simply let the mind flow outside, to sense objects, and so "lose" this feeling.
It is something that has always been, always is, and will always be. Nothing new is to be gained.

This Real "something" is like a bulb of light that is always lit, but is covered by many sheets.
What we have to do is to strip away the sheets.
These sheets are our thoughts, feelings, ideas, and mental habits.
By stripping them away, we see the internal Light.

Look inside yourself and try to examine and be conscious of the feeling or sensation you have of yourself.
I mean just the feeling that you are alive and existing. Concentrate on what you feel is your essence.
This feeling that you are, is actually always with you, no matter what you are doing, or where you are.
It is an invariable and continuous factor, but it is clouded by the five senses and by thoughts.
It is not something theoretical, metaphorical, or mystical.
It is a fact. It is the common experience of everybody.
Yet it is ignored because of the outward flow of the senses and the mind.
Do not expect trumpets and a red carpet when you become conscious of this feeling,
because it is always there, only at the back of your head.

It is also important not to attempt working at too many techniques at the same time,
and to jump from one to the other.
There is no sense in practicing many techniques.
Practicing one at a time is quite enough.

If you want some more information on Meditation, don't hesitate to email me at info@dezwarte.nl.