Why Meditation?

One chief sign of good health is that one should keep one’s feet warm and brain cool. But in the modern material scenario almost reverse is the case where people have heated brains and develop cold feet. It is everyone’s common experience that cooler the brain the wholesome would be one’s life. Indeed, a cool brain is the essential pre-requisite for a wholesome, constructive and balanced thinking. One’s thinking should be based on facts and practicability and not just on one’s whims. But when thinking is dominated by emotions, the facts and practicability become secondary.
However for the thinking to be balanced and based on facts, one should learn and practice the art of meditation. A person whose mind is not tranquil and balanced, his thinking is likely to be abrupt and emotional. Such a person may have fits of anger and pride, which may even border on the verge of insanity. A man ordered his servant to irrigate the plants in the garden, but the servant said that it was raining. The man shouted, “You idiot, why can’t you carry an umbrella?” Now should the servant obey the master? Is it always obligatory to obey the master? To obey is good, but sometimes not to obey is better.
First the master’s order to irrigate the plants in the rain is utterly pointless and the result of a turbulent and imbalanced mind, which could be damaging to his own interests. Why should the servant obey such a foolish command? In our general life, don’t we find such commands being given and even obeyed on a daily basis? However that would be a different matter how should (in which manner) such a command be ignored.
Secondly, these days the mutual human relations are fast deteriorating owing to the vested material interests. Naturally this also leads to the deterioration of relations. No wonder therefore that we find recently married couples standing in courts for divorce, or sons suing their father for their share in the property and so on. In all such cases the main reason is a lack of balanced and objective thinking which could be attained with the help of meditation. A consistent practice of meditation helps one develop the quality of non-attachment in one’s thinking as well as practice. It is with this approach to persons and objects that one learns the golden rule ‘Every man is capable of change’ i.e. his nature, habits, emotions and even priorities can undergo a change.
But one, who is under the influence of wrath, pride, cunning, deception, greed, hatred, fear envy etc., can never attain the quality of objectivity. It is practice of meditation that can help one overcome all these vicious barriers. Meditation is instrumental in helping one realize one’s true self. It awakens our conscious awareness of our true nature as also about the role of mind where man harbours all evils and vices. It is in the mind where all sins and wickedness find their breeding ground.
However, meditation is a process which slowly but surely washes away all the accumulated dirt from the mind and makes it clean pure and healthy for positive, creative and humane thinking.