How to Meditate. And, Why.

We don’t meditate to get enlightened. We don’t meditate to achieve any state. We meditate to come back to the present moment. It’s simple: in training our “wild horse” mind again and again to synchronize with right here, right now, in joining body and mind and heaven and earth, we become ourselves. We become more sane, more clear, the world itself seems to shine in through our eyes more vividly. You could call it a glimpse of enlightenment, actually. But, really, as a meditation instructor of mine explained, enlightenment is no more than not being caught up in self-concern, but rather being awake to reality. He said, “When you’re driving your car, and you see a red light, and you stop—that’s enlightenment.”

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, son of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (click that link for old school wow) and my teacher for many years, who I haven’t seen much for a few years, gives this pithy explanation of how-to meditate:

Bonus:

Bonus bonus, via Gesar Mukpo, son of Chogyam Trungpa, a video with spoken word by Sakyong Mipham: