The Value of Meditation

I am not a deeply contemplative or religious person. I have no answers. Nonetheless, I have been convinced for quite some time life's questions cannot be resolved with reason alone. Although a great many western thinkers will disagree with this statement (reason is paramount in the western world), I feel in its simplest, most sacred sense, the most important questions can be best answered with thought and feeling. Further, I believe meditation--and all it embodies--is another way to illustrate to myself some things experienced will remain beyond rational explanation.

Unfortunately, our failure to recognize the possibility of a perennial truth (a truth which might be known through the meditative experience) is undoubtedly one of the greatest plagues of our modern society. I realize this is a bold statement, but too much skepticism can be just as limiting as not having enough. Sometimes, in the mindset of the culture in which I live, it is maddening to observe myself as I run ragged in circles--chasing one cause/effect after another--and, in turn, arrive at the same, discontinuous place I started. It is frightening to watch the tremendous lengths people go to escape a wisdom they think is forever out of reach. In the name of science and objectivity, we pull ourselves away from the fruitfulness of divine insight and understanding. We become indignant and culture-bound and begin to think religion is an archaic tool still used by fanatics. Perhaps, we should blame our predecessors or those around us. Perhaps, we should blame ourselves and our lack of curiosity. At any rate, in most western eyes, truth is never here or now. It is distant and undiscovered, and a truthful life exists only on tomorrow's horizon. To many, the irrational connectedness found in a religious experience is inferior because it cannot be expressed with cold, hard reason. Even so, simply because it cannot be explained, or written down, does it mean it does not exist?

"Man is composed of such elements as vital breath, deeds, thought, and the senses--all of them deriving their being from the Self. They have come out of the self, and in the Self they ultimately disappear--even as the waters of a river disappear in the sea" (The Upanishads 34).

I enjoyed writing this short article because it exemplifies some western thinkers are still willing to take a chance. Some are still willing to take yet another step into possibility. I am one of these thinkers. And, as it stands today, I continue to believe--through the rational and the irrational--we may find truth's common ground.

Works Cited
The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal. Trans. Swami Prabhavavavda and Fredrick Manchester. New York: Mentor, 1975.