We should ask ourselves, ‘Why did The Buddha teach meditation?’ or, ‘What is the purpose of meditation?’
Meditation Purpose
The purpose of Buddhist meditation is to attain Nibbāna. Nibbāna is the cessation of mentality (nāma) and materiality (rūpa). To reach Nibbāna, therefore, we must completely destroy both wholesome volitional formations, rooted in non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion, and unwholesome mental formations, rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion, all of which produce new birth, ageing, sickness and death. If we destroy them totally with the Path Knowledge (Ariya-magga), the we will have realized Nibbāna. In other words, Nibbāna is release and freedom from the suffering of the round of rebirths (saṃsāra), and is the cessation of rebirth, ageing, sickness, and death. We are all subject to the suffering of rebirth, ageing, sickness, and death, and so to free ourselves from the many forms of suffering we need to meditate. Since we wish to be free from all suffering, we must learn how to meditate in order to attain Nibbāna.
Knowing and Seeing – Pa Auk Sayadaw
