Why Meditate?

There are many benefits of meditation. Today I'm going to consider just one. To my mind, one of the biggest benefits of regular meditation is the ever increasing ability to bring what we learn during meditation out into our wider world. In many ways, this is our biggest challenge but also our greatest opportunity. I refer to this as "on the cushion, off the cushion". On the cushion is meditation in our "safe space"; off the cushion is out there in the thick of things, interacting with family, friends and colleagues, other car drivers and unpleasant customers or customer service staff, or both. Off the cushion is where our meditation practice is really tested. And it can be hard. Sometimes it can be extremely hard. But if we can access and develop serenity "on the cushion", then we can begin to access that serenity "off the cushion". And if we develop patience, or clarity, or other beneficial qualities in our meditation practice, we can bring more of that into our daily lives, improving our relationships and lived experience.