The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness. But if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions.
source : Kelsang Gyatso
My teacher told me the purpose of meditation was to become enlightened, to see it any other way was a waste of time. However the Dali Lama is a very kind person and meditation does bring peace, but it won't last unless you become enlightened. I hope this helps and doesn't confuse your lovely message @machhour.
thank you so much for your comment , so true Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit:)
We are meditating all day! Right meditation shifts awarneness away from mundane happiness and grasping so one can see past the constant flux of phenomena, the grasping at what we "think" of as self and the stress this causes. Then we can see reality as it is...which isn't a thing. Things are made up of bits of other things....hehehe
I cannot comment on the soul because it is vague, the soul has a different meaning for everyone.
My teacher (a zen monk) had a slightly different way of putting it. He said the purpose of meditation was—then he rang a singing bowl and let that finish the thought for him.
I'm surprised he didn't slap me instead. Those zennies are unpredictable dudes.
@dbooster my Soen teacher would go Spock face on me and the force of that look would set me back like I was hit on the head with his sandal...hahaha
All communications on a subliminal level would stop...there would be nothing, sometimes the force of that ability to just stop the play of the mind and emotions took my breath away...I wanted to learn how to do that...hahah
Now there's a superpower!