The Benefits of Meditation
“…if we want true, lasting happiness we need to develop and maintain a special experience of inner peace. The only way to do this is to train our mind through spiritual practice – gradually reducing and eliminating our negative, disturbed states of mind and replacing them with powerful, peaceful states.”
~Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso from How to Transform Your Life
Why meditate? The purpose of meditation is to cultivate positive states of mind, conducive to peace and well-being, and overcome negative habits of mind. If we examine our life, we can see that most of our time and energy is devoted to seeking material and emotional security. Although these things can make us happy for a short time, they are not able to provide the deep, lasting contentment that we long for.
Happiness is a state of mind; therefore the real source of happiness lies in the mind, not in external situations. If our mind is peaceful, we will experience happiness, regardless of our external circumstances. But if our mind is not peaceful, we will never find happiness, no matter how successful we are in improving our external conditions. When we meditate we are making our mind peaceful. We can carry this peaceful mind into our daily life.
Enjoy the benefits of meditation yourself by engaging in this simple breathing meditation to experience peace of mind.
Find more information how to meditate and meditation materials at Tharpa.com/ca.
Or join one of the many meditation classes we offer at Avalokiteshvara KBC.
special breathing meditation
A Special Breathing Meditation
For this special breathing meditation and more meditations taught by Buddha, join us online or onsite at one of the many classes we hold at AKBC.
In general, the definition of meditation is a mind that is single-pointedly focused on a virtuous object and whose function is to make the mind peaceful and calm.
~ Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso from The Mirror of Dharma With Additions
