A question that I get asked quite often is, "Do you need a goal in meditation or can you just sit down and pretty much go for it?"
Well, meditation is a process just like a lot of other things that we do in our life and having a goal is extremely helpful. And with a goal comes a process as well.
Over the years I've come to know of a lot of different meditation practices and have met a lot of different meditation teachers. I was extremely surprised to find out that most of these meditation practices and teachers do not specify the need to establish a goal in meditation. Therefore most people meditate without having a clear, specified goal. They just sit down, close their eyes, breathe or try and empty their mind, which I don't believe is possible.
Not having a goal in meditation results in you not having direction and a point of focus in your practice. The common thing I hear is that meditation is about just being. We are not trying to get to something but rather just be so a goal is not necessary. In addition to this, most people simply don't associate having a goal with meditation.
The way I was taught by my guru is that it is really important to have a goal when you meditate. If you look at the mundane things that we do in everyday life most of them have a goal. Now you may not be conscious of the goal each time you do those things but there is a goal. And because there is a goal there is also a process to get to that goal.
Take having a shower, for example. The goal is to clean ourselves. The process to get to this goal is for most people, I assume, similar to this. We turn on the shower. We make sure the water is the right temperature. We take our clothes off, we go in, we get wet. We put soap on, we wash the soap off. We turn off the shower. We dry ourselves and put our clothes on. That’s the process and goal most people have, I assume, for taking a shower.
We would never mix that process up, would we? We just simply wouldn't. We wouldn't turn the water on and then walk in the shower, get wet, put soap on, then take our clothes off, then try and wash the soap off, and then dry ourselves and put fresh clothes on. We simply wouldn't do that. We'd never mix the process. Because if we mix the process we may not get to our goal.
There's a clear, systematic step-by-step process to get to a well-defined goal even in taking a shower.
Your meditation should have a step-by-step systematic process to get to a clearly defined goal. If you’re observant you will realize that we take this systematic step-by-step process to get to a clearly defined goal is so many of the mundane things we do each day in our lives. Driving a car...we open the door, get in, close the door, put the seat belt on, start the car and drive. Cooking, putting on our shoes, brushing our teeth, etc. The list is endless.
It should be the same way with meditation as well. Well, it should be if you want to make progress with your meditation. Having a process and a goal allows you to use meditation to achieve what you want meditation to help you achieve.
