Introduction to Meditation
By
Bhante Pemaratana
Pittsburgh Buddhist Center
In our life we all need to maintain physical health. We need to build healthy relationships. We need to achieve personal satisfaction and inner happiness. We need to realize the deep sense of meaning of our life. What is essential for all the above things is a healthy mind. The ancient Greeks glorified the body, its wellbeing and health, as well as the mind. The Romans famously said that man’s ideal should be ‘mens sana in corpore sano”! Healthy mind in a healthy body. And in China Lao- Tse spoke of harmony achieved by equilibrium of the mind. And the Buddha said that good health was the greatest profit, and contentment is the greatest wealth one could accumulate.
Though many of us are aware of the value of a healthy mind, we rarely know the way to achieve it. Meditation is a systematic method to develop a healthy mind. Achieving a healthy mind is not only about eradicating viruses that make the mind sick but also about developing positive qualities of the mind. It is a mental culture, which has three phases: knowing the mind, shaping the mind and freeing the mind.
Let us systematically examine these ancient voices, which a few of us hear like the soothing rustling of the mountain winds, when we practice meditation. It is then and only then, that we begin to hear the voice of silence promising each of us peace, harmony, and insight.
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