Transcript

There are many reasons to meditate, but they tend to fall into two basic categories. The first is psychological and ethical. One wants to live a better life. One wants to suffer less. 

This is the reason that's emphasized in Buddhism, and it's what motivates most contemplative traditions. In Buddhism, meditation is part of what's called the Eightfold Path that includes right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. And the last three—effort, mindfulness, and concentration—encapsulate the practice of meditation. The other aspects of the Buddha's path relate to one's worldview and one's ethics and one's behavior altogether.