In Buddhist meditation, we calm the mind in order to develop beyond-personal awareness. And we use this awareness in life to benefit others.
Here, Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, explains what Buddhist meditation is and how we can practice it.
Karmapa explains that calming the mind is a necessary part of meditation, but is not the end. We use this calm mind to develop awareness.
And developing awareness of fundamental aspects of the mind such as compassion is also not the end. When we finish the meditation and go into the world, we try to apply what we learned to benefit others as much as we can. We learn which areas we need to strengthen, and again apply the method of meditation.
