Meditation enriches and gives more meaning to life. Meditation is a specialised technique to improve the mind. It was the Buddha who first taught us that the mind could be developed. He developed his mind to the highest level and taught us the way to develop our minds. We call this technique of mind development, meditation. If you could practice this technique, you too could improve your mind rapidly. For this, you need the capacity to think and be able to analyse. If you are unable to do this, it is not possible to improve your mind. Only a few people in this world can train and improve their minds. You, too, could count yourself among the select few. Learn and practice this with much commitment and attention. We can show you how to enjoy a new depth in your life.

The initial qualification, for successful meditation, is your confidence in the Buddha’s knowledge. It is called “Saddhā”. We believe that Buddha is the greatest teacher who developed the mind fully. We can only improve our minds when we follow guidelines set by a teacher who himself has improved his mind. The Buddha is the ultimate teacher for this purpose. Therefore, if you have confidence in the Buddha, learn his instructions well, and conduct your life according to his guidelines. You too can develop your mind through meditation.
When a person who has the capacity to think, meets the “Dhamma”, (the Buddha’s teachings) and is impressed by the Dhamma, it is called “Khano” or momentous opportunity. This is very rare. The Buddha and his followers often said those who do not take advantage of this momentous opportunity, suffer in hell. This life passes very quickly. We have a life that is subject to sickness. We have a life that is limited by death. Therefore, before we die, before we become terminally ill, before our faculties deteriorate, while we have mental alertness, while we have good hearing, while we still have the capacity to think and while we are able to understand, we must utilize this momentous opportunity. If you have confidence in the Buddha’s teachings and conviction in following his teachings, you have already obtained this momentous opportunity.
You have now been born into the human world. You have the ability to think. Along with this ability to think, you could improve your capacity to think as well. This means you listen to the Buddha’s teachings, the Dhamma; you are impressed by this Dhamma and you think, I must cultivate this Dhamma. From that moment, you have this momentous opportunity. Take advantage of this rare opportunity. However, be aware that it is the nature of the mind to not sustain anything for long. Whether we try to practice virtue, self-control, or mind improvement, it becomes almost impossible after a while and before we know it, we are back where we started. You must have the determination to internalize the Dhamma. Think through the Dhamma and improve your mind according to the Dhamma.
The greatest change you will notice when improving your mind is that your virtue will improve. As your mind improves, you develop a certain personality, which gives rise to a certain noble quality called “dignity”. This quality can only enhance your life. It leads you away from jealousy and envy, and away from anger and revenge. You can be happy for the well-being of others as well as for yourself. These are the indicators of an improving mind. As your mind improves, you become a person with noble qualities. This means that you take pleasure in the well-being and good fortune of others and do not envy them. You take pleasure in others’ successes. You are genuinely pleased with others’ skills. These are the characteristics of a mind on the way to improvement, and they become evident within you. When it starts happening to you, you should understand that inside you, there is a mind that is improving.
There are many methods of meditation by which such a mind can be improved. These are the methods the Buddha taught. Meditation is a cause of action conducting the mind. Conducting our minds in a certain orderly fashion is called mediation. This orderly fashion of conducting our mind leads to the purification of our inner lives. That alone can lead to our lives becoming gradually content. You become increasingly more courageous, as well as diligent. You prefer to be happy and content. All this will be a result of improving your mind.
We have lived a considerable time, but our minds have yet to be improved. This is a huge failure in our lives. This opportunity we have found to avoid such a failure and improve our mind is one we must nurture and protect.
The ability to think freely is a very special and precious skill. You must have confidence that the Buddha’s method is a tried and true way of achieving an improved mind. You must have the confidence that this method, is one you can do and that it will benefit you. Even if someone tries to discourage you from meditating; saying, “no… no… you don’t have to meditate, there’s nothing you can gain from it. You don’t need any realization of life. You are a lay person. Meditation doesn’t belong to you,” you will immediately identify it as “wrong view”. You should be convinced that you are doing the right thing. Therefore, do not let the opinion of an outsider, ruin your mind. You should have a strong conviction about the fact that you can learn and practice this Dhamma. This requires unwavering dedication, if you are to reap the benefits of the method. Based on this confidence, you will gradually arrive at the Gautama Buddha’s way.
As a result, your life will gradually become strong. You will be spiritually strong. You will develop a dignified character with the ability to investigate details with foresight, without being misled by misconceptions. Meditation will provide you with such a rare opportunity.

In the next section, we will present the methods of meditation and the hindrances to meditation, which a serious meditator must learn to recognize and overcome.