Engaging in meditation

February 19, 2023

One of the optional challenges this month is to meditate daily; either for five or 15 minutes. I’ve tried meditation a few times, including once as a 30-day challenge, but never managed to do it consistently for more than a week. This time, by accepting greater accountability to others, I think I can do better.

The word meditate has two definitions. The purpose of the challenge is perhaps the more common usage today; to engage in a quieting of the mind as part of spiritual introspection. The other is almost the opposite; to concentrate thought and reflection around a specific idea, such as religious or inspirational texts, seeking the deeper meanings or application to one’s life or situation.

In preparation for today’s post, I searched through the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) to see what Gandhi said about meditation. The answer turned out to be: not as much as I might have expected. It was an important part of his daily routine, he would rise early every morning for prayers and meditation. One popular quote of Gandhi’s related to the value of meditation is, "I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one." Like many quotes that circulate on the internet and on bumper stickers, it doesn’t actually appear in the CWMG, but it certainly sounds like something that he might have said.

Gandhi often used the word’s second meaning, suggesting people meditate on sacred text like the Bhagavad Gita. These 700 verses were Gandhi’s favorite text for inspiration, and one of its 18 chapters was read each day in his ashrams. He described it as a work which “teaches nothing but ethics.”

I know many people who find tremendous value in meditation and speak highly of it. While quieting my mind doesn’t come naturally for me, I accept that like most skills, the more one practices, the easier it becomes. This is exactly the purpose of the 30-day challenge for me; an experiment to see if a month’s worth of daily practice can produce a noticeable difference in my ability.

Which type of meditation do you think brings more enlightenment; examining external sources for inspiration or looking quietly inward?