Meditation & Society

MEDITATION & SOCIETY

All indications and logical deductions point to the belief that meditation on the part of large numbers of people in our society will have a very positive effect. Let us consider in the light of what we have already learned about the benefits of meditation , how meditation may affect some of the main sources of chaos, disruption and unhappiness in our society today.

1. CONFUSION - Few people today are not confused. Very few know what they want; what is right; what is wrong; what to do with their lives. Most are bombarded by so many opinions, desires, activities and responsibilities that they cannot think clearly. Sitting quietly for 20 minutes by himself everyday will help each individual to clear his mind, free himself from the haze of thoughts and emotions and become clearer about his life. He will be a more efficient member of society.

2. LACK OF INNER DIRECTION - People today are like sheep following the dictates of political leaders, religious leaders, TV commercials and in general the established view of what is success and failure, what is important in life and what is not. Thus people are like unconscious machines who are operated by the forces around them. They have no inner directions, no inner guide, even concerning the basic aspects of life such as: how to eat, how to communicate, how to live happily in harmony. Meditation will help people to reawaken to their inner sense of what is important and of value to them, and how to live harmoniously. They will become stronger, more satisfied from within. They will offer society a higher quality of human being.

3. LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE - When someone lacks self-confidence, he is not likely to perform any of his life functions effectively or well. He will not be a good worker, businessman, scientist, artist, politician or teacher. Neither will he be a high quality mother or father, or spouse. Self-confidence is essential for being effective at whatever task one has to do. Meditation increases one’s self-confidence by putting one in contact with inner energies that were previously latent and undeveloped. Thus, as people meditate more, they will become more efficient members of society, in whatever role they play.

4. LACK OF INNER MORALS - Society today suffers from a serious lack of contact with inner values and moral behavior . There is a complete breakdown in the moral structure of society. People cheat, lie and use each other as if it was perfectly normal to do so. But they would not like others to do the same to them.

Thus there is a lack of consistency between what a man believes, thinks, says and does. His word has little truth, and thus little power. Neither do his actions.

The result is a society of people who are looking out only for themselves, often at the others’ expense. There is little cooperation and harmony, and thus the whole system is falling apart economically and politically.

The harmonious functioning of any group of people depends on the basic law of doing to others as we would like others to do to us. When this is not followed, only disintegration and unhappiness can result - for all.

Meditation puts an individual in contact with his inner sense of morality. This inner sense of morality has always been, and will always be, in us, but we have lost contact with it. With meditation we become more sensitive and start to realize our oneness with the others and eventually become incapable of cheating, lying or doing harm to others. Meditation can help restore the natural moral foundation on which the success and harmony of society are based.

5. LACK OF LOVE - We all suffer from lack of love. We all want more love than we are getting. The lack of love in modern society is responsible for the outrageous increase in divorce , mental asylums, cancer, psychosomatic illnesses, inner city crime such as theft, rape and murder and in general, the feeling of loneliness and isolation which runs deep in our society today.

If people had enough love in their lives there would be none of the above. It requires great inner strength, inner peace and inner contentment, and also love for ourselves, in order to be able to love others steadily. Otherwise our love will change to disappointment or anger the moment the other does something we do not like. Only a person with great inner strength and inner resources can love unconditionally. He must have no fear, no feeling of vulnerability.

Meditation helps one to begin the process of knowing his inner self, and of developing an inner peace that is not so vulnerable to the external events. One begins to learn to love oneself and feel greater acceptance for himself and others. Meditation helps to remove the blockages to love, the ego-defense mechanisms of the personality. Regular meditation by the members of our society will make it a more loving and peaceful place to live.

6. NERVOUS TENSION - Nervous tension is the main "dis-ease» of our present society. It leads to all types of other diseases and emotional problems as well as conflicts in relationships, at work and at home. The problem with nervous tension is that it grows rapidly in a vicious circle. The more tension we have, the more easily we accumulate more of it. The more tense we are, the greater the probability that every little thing will bother us. On the other hand, the more relaxed we are, the less likely we are to get tense about events and issues. Also the more tension we have, the more likely we are to absorb the tension of others around us. When we are relaxed we can let their tension pass through us and remain unaffected.

Thus what we have today is a society of tense human beings walking around, each building on the others’ tension, each releasing his tension on the other, spreading it around everywhere he goes.

This is, of course, very unpleasant, especially when you walk into an office and ask for some information and the employee bites your head off, because he has just been chewed out by his boss, who is upset about his daughter who disagrees with him about everything, and who is unhappy because her boyfriend is not interested in her anymore.Meditation is a way of releasing on a daily basis the tension building up in us. In this way we can return daily to our natural peaceful state of body and mind, rather than build up tension from day to day. Thus we avoid many illnesses, problems and conflicts with others. Meditation offers society more relaxed, healthy, peaceful and clear- minded human beings.

7. LACK OF SELF-CONTROL - There is very little will-power or self-control left in people today. They can seldom manage to carry out their inner decisions such as to lose weight, stop smoking, control their emotions or develop a daily discipline. Gone are the days when people had the self-control to fast before the various spiritual holidays.

People have become slaves to their desires, and thus slaves to their senses and the distractions. We are not free to make a decision and carry it out. We have many voices in us. One part of us makes a decision to improve our lives and the various other parts of our selves distract us into following their own desires. There is no master voice to put order to our inner house. Without self-control, an individual can do nothing in his life. He will be a robot, a slave controlled by his various momentary impulses. He will never achieve his goals. His word means nothing. He may say that he will be there at a certain time, or that his product will be ready on a certain date, but because he cannot control his energies, he fails to do so. You cannot believe or trust a man with no self-control. He is neither a good soldier, nor a good employee and, of course, a very dangerous employer or leader or any kind. He is also not a very good parent.

Meditation is the process of learning to control the mind - the most difficult task on earth. We have gone to the moon and penetrated deep into the mysteries of subatomic particles, but we have made zero progress in understanding and controlling our minds. A man with self-control is the most precious gem that one can offer to society. He is like a diamond among pieces of carbon. But those pieces of carbon also can be formed into diamonds through various techniques of self-control such as fasting, prayer, vows and meditation.
A FEW CAN HELP MANY THROUGH MEDITATION

Thus it seems likely, from this short hypothetical analysis of the question, that meditation has much to offer society. And, in fact, in one study done in the small state of Rhode Island in America, they found that divorce , the incidence of cancer and crime rates dropped considerably when the percentage of the population, which meditated, reached 1%. It would be a wonderful service to society if those in power would start to make meditation more available to the members of society through TV and Radio documentaries, and programs in schools, and government and private agencies.

From the book "The Art of Meditation"by Robert Elias Najemy