I began meditating in my late teens after I was exposed to the work and research of Herbert Benson who wrote the book The Relaxation Response. It was a wonderful work into how people meditate and the benefits of meditation. It was very basic but very helpful. It got me interested in both practicing and studying meditation.
Though it was relaxing it wasn’t always easy to do and I wasn’t always motivated and excited. I did it often, but not regularly. I did it because I understood the medical benefits. I knew it was good for me, good for my heart. Dr. Benson talks a lot about the research and the medical benefits of meditation.
Over the years I studied different forms of meditation, tried different practices and really began to enjoy the affects of meditation. Although I didn’t do it regularly, I meditated periodically. I would sometimes take breaks from it but I’d always come back to it. After a while it became relaxing for me. I kept studying different forms, different traditions and really developed my interest and love of meditation.
I think the tipping point was when someone came to me for help. They were struggling and came to me for advice. They were very spiritual and they shared with me the fact that mediation really was one of the foundational works of growth. They told me, “If you really want to grow, meditation is really the key both spiritually and psychologically.” So I started to really study this concept and found that it was true. Because I was passionate about growth, I decided to truly dive into meditation. Although I had spent years, decades, academically, professionally and in my own private endeavors studying my own psychological ways of growth I hadn’t truly studied in depth the more spiritual, more meditative ways of growth. I really felt that psychology had taken me a great way in my own personal growth but it could only take me so far. Mediation could take me to my goal of truly being a happy, whole person on a regular basis. So I had actually learned from someone I was helping, that meditation was really the main way to grow in all aspects of my life.
Although I had all these degrees and training which helped me develop excellent skills in dealing with my stresses, anxiety and emotional issues, I still hadn’t achieved the goal of reaching my full potential of being a whole, healthy human being. I needed to find meditation to actually reach this goal in life. We used to call this “enlightenment” in the West; psychologically and academically we call it “self actualization”.
What meditation did for me and I hope it will do for you, is it really helps you to grow and get in touch with who you are, why you’re here and being at one with everything around you on a consistent basis. Psychology and the medical world had taught me good tools for functional living but it hadn’t taught me how to live. Meditation has taught me how to live fully, live in the present and live for each and every moment and savor it.
There was one final lesson I needed to learn. Although I had become quite good at meditating and was very relaxed and peaceful on the meditative mat, when I left the mat my mind continued to chatter. I learned that I didn’t have to leave that meditative state when I left the mat. I could go through my day, continuing in my meditative state of being at peace, being at one with my mind. While that egoic chatter is still there I’ve learned how to acknowledge it, witness it and I’ve learned how to be present with what is.
Some of the changes that have come along through my meditating have been that I require less sleep. I generally go on three to six hours a day normally. While, like most people, I used to require six to eight hours of sleep to function now I easily function fully on three to six. Also, during my meditations sometimes I have very “mystical” experiences where it’s incredibly magical and I’m one with the universe. I’ve learned not to attach to them, I don’t expect them but sometimes they come and are very intense beyond words. I’ve become one with myself and at peace.
If you want to be the most fully, functional human being you can be, meditation is the way to achieve this. If growth and spirituality is important to you, meditation is your tool to getting there. You too can experience the joys, the wonders and the incredible peace that truly surpasses all understanding, with meditation.
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Dr. Robert Puff, Ph.D. is a meditation expert, international speaker and the creator of the weekly Meditation For Health Podcast, available at http://www.MeditationForHealthPodcast.com He also creates a weekly podcast that explores the world of Enlightenment available at http://www.EnlightenmentPodcast.com If you would like to contact Dr. Puff, his e-mail address is DrPuff@cox.net
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