Aims of meditation

I was playing around today, using meditation to build energy. I was using the technique I mentioned to @haideralmosawi where I visualize directing energy from my temples to my forehead, only I didn’t stop after my drowsiness dissipated. I also used a verbal fabrication, “I’m here to work.” It’s just a start, but I feel like I’m developing an energy meditation practice. I’ll have to try it out tomorrow morning before my first cup of coffee.

I had a chat with my NotebookLM “Dhamma Talk Collections” which collects fifteen books of dhamma talks by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. It had a really good answer to my question: “I often find that popular culture sees meditation primarily as a relaxation technique. What are the aims of meditation according to the sources?”

You’re right, popular culture often simplifies meditation to primarily being a relaxation technique. However, according to the sources, the aims of meditation are far more comprehensive and profound, extending well beyond mere relaxation.

One of the fundamental aims of meditation, as pointed out in the sources, is the transformation of the mind. It’s not just about finding a “nice place for the mind to hang out”. The Buddha’s teachings emphasize that the mind doesn’t have to stay at its “normal” human level, characterized by distraction and craving. Meditation is the tool to actively work on and reshape the mind. Many people might come to meditation seeking temporary peace, but the deeper aim is to bring about a lasting change in how the mind functions.

Closely related to transformation is the aim of strengthening the mind. Meditation requires “endurance, determination, and persistence”. This sustained effort acts as a form of mental exercise, building inner strength. Concentration, placed at the center of the path by the Buddha, serves precisely this purpose – to make the heart and mind strong enough to undertake the work demanded by the rest of the path. This strength helps in carrying through with good intentions and facing life’s challenges. Recollections that are encouraging and strengthening, such as reflection on one’s generosity or the dedication of past practitioners, also contribute to building mental fortitude.

A crucial aim of meditation is to gain insight and understanding. Meditation provides a space to “understand what’s going on deep down inside the mind, and why the mind is so often fooled by its cravings”. By quieting the mind, we can observe it in action and develop sensitivity to the subtle ways it creates suffering. This involves “dethinking your thinking,” taking apart the concepts that cause suffering. The practice helps us become more aware of our intentions and the consequences of our thoughts. It’s about looking inward to understand the real problems that lie in the mind, rather than just reading about them in books. The whole purpose of meditation is to watch oneself in action and perfect it from there.

Meditation is also fundamentally aimed at dealing with suffering. The Buddha recognized greed, aversion, and delusion as “diseases, illnesses of the mind”. Meditation is presented as a “therapy for the mind” that treats these fundamental causes of suffering, going beyond mere symptom management. It helps us to see how our own minds create unnecessary suffering and how we can ultimately go beyond causing any suffering for ourselves or others. By gaining sensitivity to what causes stress in our minds, we can learn to let go of those causes.

Developing various mental skills is another key aim of meditation. This includes cultivating mindfulness (keeping the mind present), alertness (awareness of what’s happening), concentration (focusing the mind), and discernment (the ability to see things clearly). Getting the mind into concentration provides a place where we can sort things out with full awareness, and as we continue, our discernment grows. Meditation helps us gain “hands-on experience in how you shape a state of mind”. The practice involves repeatedly pulling the mind away from distraction and keeping it with its object, thus strengthening these skills.

Furthermore, meditation encourages questioning societal values and seeking personal happiness. The Buddha’s path calls everything into question, particularly our relationship with society and the extent to which personal happiness must conflict with societal needs. Meditation provides the time and space to step back and ask, “Is that really normal?” regarding societal behaviors and values. Many societal values are not designed to relieve suffering, making it essential to re-think things and re-cast our narratives. The Buddha’s example shows that it is possible to find genuine happiness that doesn’t harm anyone. Thus, a central aim is to discover our own “true happiness” and well-being, rather than blindly following others.

The sources emphasize that meditation aims to help us find genuine, harmless happiness. The Buddha’s awakening never harmed anyone and brought him ultimate happiness. We look to his example, asking, “If he can do it, why can’t we?”. The happiness sought through meditation is dependable and lasting, not contingent on external factors. The ultimate happiness is described as peace itself.

Meditation also aims to provide mental seclusion. Just as physical seclusion helps us get away from external distractions, mental seclusion allows us to step out of the jumble of voices and thoughts we’ve picked up from others. This internal space is crucial for sorting things out with clarity.

The sources also present meditation as a proactive practice where we take charge of shaping our mental environment. Unlike some methods that emphasize simply accepting things as they are, this approach encourages us to use our power to influence our state of mind.

It’s important to understand that meditation is a doing, a skillful activity, rather than just passively waiting for an experience. The focus is on being mindful, alert, and applying the right amount of effort. We are actively working to cultivate beneficial qualities and abandon unskillful ones.

A significant aim of meditation is to change our sense of normal. What we perceive as normal is often shaped by the distracting and craving-driven behaviors of the world around us. Meditation allows us to step outside of that and question whether that’s truly the way we want to live.

Concentration itself is not just a technique but a central aim that provides nourishment and stability to the mind. It fosters a sense of ease, rapture, and well-being, which are essential for sustained practice and deeper insight.

Furthermore, the sources highlight the role of thinking and reflection in meditation. It’s not about stopping thoughts entirely, but about learning to observe our thinking, identify skillful and unskillful patterns, and re-think issues from the Buddha’s perspective. This “thinking cure” helps us to understand the assumptions behind our thoughts and beliefs.

Finally, meditation aims to cultivate intention and responsibility. As we meditate, we become more aware of our intentions and how they can cause suffering. The goal is to take responsibility for these intentions and learn to shape them into something more harmless and beneficial.

In conclusion, while relaxation might be a pleasant byproduct of meditation and can serve as an initial motivation, the aims of meditation according to these sources are far more profound. They encompass mental transformation, the development of inner strength and skills, the gaining of deep insight into the nature of the mind and suffering, the questioning of societal norms, and the attainment of genuine and lasting happiness through the cultivation of wisdom and compassion.