Why meditate?

Why meditate?

Or, why do spiritual practice at all?

One interesting reason is, to evolve one's mind to subtler levels, to expand its capabilities. A different perspective, somewhat complementary, is to prevent one's mind from atrophying, from losing its ability to sustain subtle, but simple, thoughts. The dynamic nature of the mind means it either progresses or regresses.

Let me try to explain with a simple model of a human being [1]

 

I           E

N    D

SI

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M    D

IN

--------

BODY

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OUTSIDE

Humans are primarily distinguished by their ability to think, to use, more than other species, that part of themselves which is not physical, the non-body. But, like other species, humans also naturally learn and share their knowledge with their own species.

So, thinking is natural to the mind, the non-physical part of a human being.

What kind of thinking does the mind do? Consider these four types of increasingly subtle thoughts, about what is outside the physical body, about the physical body itself, about what is inside the body - the mind - itself, and lastly, about other mental concepts inside the mind. [2]

The mind is constantly thinking. But it may or may not be aware of its own activity. If one observes one's thoughts, the vast majority of them - in frequency, duration, and intensity - are about the outside. Fewer are about the body, and even fewer about the mind. Very rarely are our thoughts about the inside. Conceptual thoughts, yes, but again about the outside - the world and other people. And, if at all about oneself, thoughts about oneself in relation (and usually negative at that) to others.

Consider this analogy. A diver can sink naturally to a certain depth just by body weight. Using momentum - by diving - one can go deeper. Once the buoyant force of water matches the body weight, the diver stays, or is held, at that depth. Greater depths can be reached by increasing one's weight, by holding a boulder, as done by pearl divers, for example.

Imagine the opposite situation, floating or diving up into the sky. Instead of increasing weight, one has to reduce weight to counteract gravity. One can  float up to even greater heights naturally by converting the solid matter of one's body to gaseous matter.

Now, consider thoughts in the mind.

Thoughts about the body are heavier or grosser than the lighter or subtler thoughts about the mind itself. Thoughts about concrete material things outside the body are similarly grosser. Thoughts about ideas and concepts, and about the inside of the mind, are subtler.

Think about energy.

How much energy is needed by mentally to contemplate changing the position of a window in a room? How much energy is needed by one's mind and body to physically make the change?

Obviously, thinking is subtler than physical action.

Extend the idea of reduction in energy to subtlety of thoughts. A subtler thought should require less energy than a grosser thought. Or, if that may be tough to swallow, a simpler idea should require less energy than a complex one. As one's thoughts go to subtler and subtler levels [3] inside, less and less energy is needed. Not less time, but less energy.

But, like one's physical solidity having to become physical vapour to float higher in the sky, one's thoughts have to become lighter to reach more subtle levels. It is easy to understand or imagine that more and more relaxation of one's mind is needed to have subtler and subtler thoughts. So, the opposite and generally-accepted idea, that spiritual practice - or subtle thinking - must be mentally strenuous is axiomatically wrong. Research [4] has validated this assumption.

Reaching simpler or subtler levels of thought requires not just a relaxed mind, but also time. And thus patience. [5]

Finally, habit. If one has never or rarely thought at a subtle level, what are the chances one will do so? Once habituated to thinking only at a particular gross level, or to particular types of thought, one's mind continues that type of activity. Habits, after all, can comfort and give emotional support. But, the nice thing about the mind is its plasticity - it gets used to thinking at simpler and subtler levels also very easily. It just needs time to relax without nagging!

NOTES

[1] A sad attempt (!) at showing arcs of concentric circles, from smaller to larger:

inside -> mind -> body -> outside.

[2] The concept of something beyond the mind, which the mind cannot and will never be able to grasp, is not considered here.

[3] At subtler and subtler or deeper and deeper levels inside, attributes and concepts become simpler, with minimal details. E.g., at the subtlest conceptual level of a principle common to everything is simple be-ing, or existence, in philosophical terms. Another example - in Advaita, Brahman is described using only three words - existence, consciousness, bliss.

[4] See brief note on Krishna and Buddha in Spiritual Illiteracy

[5] Imagine a wildlife photographer. She may have to wait for days or weeks in the jungle for the animal to show up, be visible long enough, and also when there is sufficient light to get a decent shot! Fortunately, such external circumstances are not needed in meditation.