Why on earth would we want to meditate? - Venerable Mudu - Armadale Meditation Group

It was Venerable Mudu's first of, hopefully, many, visits to the Armadale Meditation Group's Tuesday evening session. Venerable opened the evening by introducing himself to us all and relating a shortened version of his life as a monastic. After his introduction he posed the question of "Why on earth would we want to meditate". Is it because it's cool, hip and popular? Well, yes it is cool, hip and popular, but that isn't enough of a reason to do it. Venerable related a story of a visit Ajahn Chah had from an American scientist. The scientist, wishing to know what, if anything, was going on when we meditate, brought along all manner of instruments to try to measure any results he might find. Before he commenced, he asked Ajahn Chah “Why do you meditate”. To which Ajahn Chah responded "To have a healthy body, you must eat right and exercise". "To have a healthy mind, you must meditate".

With that in mind, Venerable then gave an explanation easily understood by inexperienced and experienced meditators alike on the simplest way to start meditating and gently gaining experience with practice. Venerable then led us through meditation beginning with a body sweep and progressing to breath meditation.

After meditation Venerable opened to Q&A before continuing his talk on monastic life and life in general.

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