What is Meditation?

Meditation means 'to familiarize', 'to cultivate' or to train the mind.  What is it that we are trying to familiarize ourselves with?  The answer to that question varies widely between traditions and personal beliefs.  In the Buddhist tradition, meditation is listed amongst the triad of view, meditation and result.  The view in this case is the correct understanding of the nature of reality, and more specifically the nature of the mind.  Meditation is the process of familiarizing ourselves with the way things actually are, rather than our habitual mode of projecting qualities or characteristics onto the people, places and objects around us.  Meditation seeks to establish the practitioner within the abiding nature of the mind, in which we can be more content and peaceful in our own lives, but also be open to sharing love and compassion with those around us. 

The benefits of meditation are both short and long term.  Health sciences have documented the benefits of meditation for the management of stress, pain, hypertension, migraines, anxiety, depression and more.  The benefits of meditation in our daily life are also invaluable; benefiting parents, health care professional and business management amongst others.