All posts tagged “purpose”

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davidbhayes — 12 years ago — permalink

It's interesting. I think that eating, hydrating, and other bodily functions are obviously more important. I don't know about bathing — I think because of its value to others I'd put it before meditation. And I suppose, practically, I also put my job — making money, helping team mates, etc — above meditation. The way in which it contributes to the others — the ability to eat, etc — is the logic there, though I'm not sure it's strictly that simple.
But I would rank meditation as more important to me than exercise, though not by a large margin. I really enjoying finding time to read, and write various things, but those are certainly less important to me than meditation. As are watching TV or movies, listening to music, etc.
Spending time with family and friends is an interesting and hard one for me. Practically I do my best to not have to make that specific trade-off, but if I did I can't say confidently which way I'd decide. I know that I'm better with my family and friends — better able to enjoy their company, better able to deal with potentially hard situations, etc — when I meditate. But I also know that to many of them, in many situations, my bodily presence is more important than my psychological one, and they mostly gloss over the difference. Practically I'd probably have to weigh the importance of my presence to others in a particular situation against how much value I perceive I would get from meditating for that time.

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NEBULABUFF — 7 years ago — permalink

There may be no end to the answers to this question.  Those things more important than meditation?  Certainly eating and bathing oneself.  Then there's keeping a clean home environment.  And, of course, sleeping.  Finally I would add reading; particularly spiritually oriented books and at least one other area of one's personal interest.  Meditation would follow on the tail of all of these and then whatever it is that must be done after these.  Hope I'm not the only one to answer!

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NEBULABUFF — 7 years ago — permalink

Oh; with regard to the last part of this question, the 'Why' part; cleanliness and orderliness of one's environment reflects directly back to the orderliness of one's mind.  I think, though I may be wrong, that if one surrounds oneself with disorder and uncleanliness, then one's thinking may well become disordered, sloppy and haphazard too.  Just a thought.

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NEBULABUFF — 7 years ago — permalink

     Well, that's kind of a trick question.  Why?  Because one of the most basic understandings one must have is the 'purposelessness' of practice.  If there be a purpose at all, it is to just sit.  Expectations of benefits or 'why I do it' will undermine one's intent.  Especially for new meditators, expectations of  benefits or rewards will lead to disappointment as benefits of consequence only begin to appear after at least many months if not years.
     But for the patient one, there are these:  increased patience, more easily directed intense focus, less affected by stress, increased ability to actively listen to others, a greater ability to empathize with others' problems, a larger ability to be compassionate toward our fellow human beings, and indeed, "All sentient beings", as well as the physiological benefits which are many,  to name just a few.  The list goes on.  Still, the most important thing is to just sit.  Blessings.

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