A comment on "15 Reasons Why Meditation Will Make You Successful"

Where meditation was previously seen as a kook’s endeavour, something that only drug-taking hippies engage in, this perception has been changing with time. Not only have corporations like Google introduced meditation to their employees’ well-being programmes, but more forward-thinking schools have started implementing meditation into their schools’ curriculum. They are reporting an improvement in attendance rates and a decline in behavioural issues among their students. This of course is something many Eastern cultures have known for centuries.

Rinpoche highlighted 15 benefits of meditation in a simple, easy-to-understand blog post which both first-time and seasoned meditators will find helpful. Clearly there are benefits to meditation which extend beyond religion.

Blog post:

http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/15-reasons-why-meditation-will-make-you-successful.html

Comment:

Meditation has been applied in schools to improve attention span and attendance rates. In schools where meditation has become a part of the children’s daily routine, school administrations have seen a drop in behavioural issues (for example http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/nov/24/san-franciscos-toughest-schools-transformed-meditation).

Meditation has also been applied in prisons where the administration has seen a decline in violent behaviour inside the prisons (for example http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/external-article/doing-time-doing-vipassana).

Meditation has become a booming multi-million dollar industry and large companies like Google have started to make meditation programmes available for their employees, in a bid to help them cope with stress, develop a wholesome attitude to life, and increase their alertness and awareness. Happier employees means better employee retention, lower staff turnover rates and fewer employees calling in sick days.

Meditation has been coopted by health food brands, by yoga clothing chains, by juice companies to sell a healthier lifestyle.

Throughout all of this, there’s not one single mention of religion and yet, meditation just works for everyone. Meditation as a method works for everyone because it addresses a universal phenomena which is the mind, and the mind is the same for all sentient beings. All sentient beings want to be happy and all of us have the same mind and capacity which is up to us to harness.

If people approach such a technique with such a mundane / secular motivation, can you imagine the power of meditation to unlock the potential in our minds if we approach it with a higher motivation i.e. to become enlightened?

Reflections and Teachings