Is Meditation Practical?
We say that somebody is practical when he does the right thing at the right moment in his outer life. He thinks and acts in a specific way so that others will not deceive him and his outer life will run smoothly. But no matter how clever, how sincere or how conscious we are, at times we are at a loss in the outer life. We do not know what to say. We do not know what to do. We do not know how to behave. Or, despite our saying and doing the right thing, everything goes wrong. We do not know how to cope with our outer existence; we cannot manage our lives. We sincerely want to do something or become something, but we cannot do it.
Why does this happen? It happens because our outer capacity is always limited by our limited inner awareness. But if we are practical in the inner life-that is to say, if we pray and meditate-then we will have boundless inner awareness. One who has inner awareness has free access to infinite truth and everlasting joy, and he can easily control his outer life. The inner life constantly carries the message of truth and God. Where truth is, there is a seed. Let us allow the seed to germinate and become a tree. When the tree bears fruit, we will see the capacity of the inner world being manifested in the outer world. We always grow from within, not from without.
No matter what we do or what we say in our outer life, we are not nearing the truth-light. But if we meditate first, and afterwards act and speak, then we are doing and becoming the right thing. The inner life and inner reality must guide the outer life-not the other way around. The life-breath of the outer life has to come from the inner life. The inner reality must enter into the outer life; only then can we be really practical in the outer life.
by: Sri Chinmoy