Why meditate?

For example, a man passes a bakery and sees a chocolate eclair in the window. The vritti arises in his mind, ” How delicious; I will buy that eclair”. If he ignores that vritti, and turns his mind to something else, then no pattern is formed. But, if he identifies with the thought, he gives life to it. He buys the eclair, looking forward to enjoying it as dessert that evening. Now, suppose he finds he must pass that same bakery every Tuesday and Thursday. Each time he goes by, he recalls that wonderful eclair, and purchases another. Now what was originally just a flash in the mind has become a force in his life, and a samskara has been formed. Samskaras are not necessarily negative. There can be grooves in the mind which are uplifting and those which bring one down. It is the express purpose of meditation to create new, positive channels in the mind, and to eradicate those which are destructive. It is an absolutely scientific process, but at the same time, the goal is spiritual. It is not sufficient to eliminate the negative. There must be a striving to develop love, compassion, a sense of service, cheerfulness, kindness, and the many other qualities which not only make one’s own life happy, but which radiate to others.
Everyone wants to be his best. Each person would like to think that he is perfect. Yet despite repeated resolutions, every person finds himself so many times being less than what he would like to be. The cause of this predicament is the ahamkara, or ego. Sri Sankara, one of the wisest men of all history, stated in the Vivekachudamani, “Calamity is due to being subject to ego, bad agonies are due to ego, desire is due to subjection to ego; there is no greater enemy than ego.” This ahamkara is the cause of all bondage and is the chief barrier to the experience of inner Reality. Ego is the self-arrogating aspect of the mind. It is the ego which separates the individual from unity with others and within himself, for the ego asserts “I-ness”. Ahamkara is the greatest obstacle to tranquility, for it is that which occupies the mind with whether we are better or worse, possess more or less, and have greater or lesser power than others. It is attended by desire, pride, anger, delusion, greed, jealousy, lust and hatred. The ego is the most difficult aspect of the mind to control, for its nature is such that it deludes even while one is striving to overcome it. It is that very part of the being that would not be controlled. Through meditation, the play of the mind is witnessed. In the early stages nothing more can be done than to gain understanding as the ego is observed constantly asserting itself. But in time its games become familiar, and one begins to prefer the peace of contentment. When the ego is subdued, energies can then be utilized constructively for personal growth and the service of others.