Why do you continue to meditate if you are already enlightened?
Why do you continue to meditate if you are already enlightened?
A very excellent question David.
We continue to meditate after enlightenment for the same reason we continue to breathe after we have filled our lungs or we continue to eat after we have had a meal.
As long as we are focused and playing the role of a human being we are still going to experience physical reality in its myriad forms. We are still going to experience emotions, physical ailments, the needs for sleep, nourishment and experiences. It is fairly easy to be distracted from Reality. After the enlightenment experience it becomes very easy to rise above all of this quickly whenever we wish but the human experiences continue.
For instance, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, surrender into nothingness and then open my eyes. It takes all of about 2 seconds. Then, no matter what has been going on I am again feeling and experiencing the world as the true Self. I make decisions from that perspective.
I choose to begin each day with a similar meditation but for a longer period of time. I choose to end each day with the same practice before going to sleep.
The purpose of life is not to experience enlightenment. The purpose of human life is to experience human life fully, honestly and openly. Enlightenment can enhance this experience but it is not a replacement for it and it is certainly not meant to be an escape from it.
Meditation facilitates remembering the Truth of who we are, the True Self. Meditation allows us to ‘rise above’ all the distractions and to see and experience Reality is it is. Enlightenment allows this to happen almost instantaneously whenever we wish.