Why Meditate?
The main objective of meditation is to bring steadiness to the mind, which being
very sensitive, usually remains disturbed. A disturbed mind is not capable of
finding a solution to any problem. On the contrary, it may even confuse the
problem further. A person with a disturbed mind makes little or no sense of his
situation and embraces failure everywhere.
Whether one is male or female, young or old, rich or poor, learned or foolish,
devotee or atheist, ascetic or undisciplined, righteous or sinful, he is invariably in
need of mental peace. That is why one always makes every possible effort to
attain it. A person who does not have mental peace knows full well that the main
cause for their unrest is his desires. These desires, however, are usually so
strong that in spite of such awareness on his part, he is unable to give them up.
The four principal ends of human life are: dharma (living according to the ways of
truth; practice of religion), artha (acquisition of wealth), kāma (fulfillment of
desires) and mokśa (attainment of liberation). One who strives for the first three
ends is an ordinary seeker; one who endeavours for final liberation is the true
seeker. The former takes to meditation simply to reduce mental unrest, while the
latter undertakes it for eradicating all mental vacillations.