Wes Nisker: Why I Meditate

Why I Meditate
(After Allen Ginsberg)

I meditate because I suffer
I suffer, therefore, I am
I am, therefore, I meditate
I meditate because there are so many other things to do
I meditate because, when I was young, it was all the rage
I meditate because of Siddhartha Gautama, Bodhiharma, Marco Polo, the
British Raj, Carl Jung, Alan Watts, Allen Ginsberg, Alfred E. Newman, et al
I meditate because evolution gave me a big brain, but it didn't come with
an instruction manual
I meditate because I have all the information I need
I meditate because I want to touch deep time, where the history of humanity
can be seen as just an evolutionary adjustment period
I meditate because life is too short, and sitting slows it down
I meditate because life is too long, and I need an occasional break
I meditate because I want to experience the world as Rumi does,
or Walt Whitman or Mary Oliver
I meditate because now I know that enlightenment doesn't exist,
So I can relax
I meditate because of the Dalai's Lama's laugh
I meditate because there are too many advertisements in my head
And I'm erasing all but the very best of them
I meditate because I have discovered that my mind is a great toy
and fun to play with
I meditate because I want to remember that I'm perfectly human
Sometimes I meditate because my heart is breaking
Sometimes I meditate so that my heart will break
I meditate because an Vedanta master once told me that in Hindi my
name "niskar" means non-doer
I meditate because I'm growing old and want to become comfortable
with emptiness
I meditate because Robert Thurman calls it an evolutionary sport
And I want to be on the home team
I meditate because I'm composed of a hundred trillion cells, and
from time to time
I need to reassure them that we're all in this together
I meditate because it's such a relief to spend time ignoring myself
I meditate because my country spends more money on weapons than all the
other nations in the world combined
If I had more courage, I'd probably immolate myself
I meditate because I want to discover the fifth Brahma Vihara, the
divine abode of Ah
And then I'll go down in history as a great spiritual abbot
I meditate because I'm building myself a bigger and better perspective
And occasionally I need to add a new window.

Wes Nisker