Gong Xi Fa Cai

I have had an enjoyable break over the CNY holiday that started last Saturday.

In this fast-paced world of endless to-do lists and an unending stream of messages competing for our attention, I sometimes ask myself – why do I still bother to meditate? It can feel like the last thing one “needs” to do. Why sit and do nothing when there are so many interesting things to experience?

People often say they “find their meditation” in sports, fitness, family time, or even playing with their dog.

Over this holiday, I spent time in a Puja chanting, went for a run at MacRitchie, motor-cycled to JB, watched Bodyguard on Netflix, and wandered through Chinatown under the glittering CNY lights. All of it was refreshing. I’m even looking forward to an evening walk at ECP with a friend – another pleasant prospect.

So where does meditation fit in?

The truth is – life is not an unending stream of pleasant events.

Challenges – With years behind me, I’ve had my share of professional setbacks, relationship challenges, physical discomfort, and mental turbulence. The pleasant experiences are easy. It is the unpleasant ones that have tested me. I have needed strength for those.

Wisdom – I have also noticed something else. Most pleasures are consumption-based. They excite the senses, but they often extract a price – from my money, my health, my focus, or my calm. They refresh, yes. But they do not fulfil. I recollect no pleasurable experiences from the past as my most fulfilling experience.

Purpose – And then there is the deeper question of meaning. Without meaning, life begins to feel like Groundhog Day. If my mind is constantly chasing the next high or worrying about accumulating enough to secure future pleasures, it never truly rests.

Meditation is what restores balance for me.

It builds equanimity and resilience for the harder days.

It moderates the grip of consumption.

It reveals that deep joy can exist in simply being.

It reduces the pull of greed and fear, and opens the space to be useful.

Meditation is the middle path.

Without it, we are often driven only by instinct – impulses that may not serve us well in the long run.

That is why I never tire of encouraging people to meditate – in the right way.