I think there is a lot of misconception about what meditation is. First and foremost, the purpose of meditation is not to have a mystical experience. Already, we will lose half of the people who would normally try meditating, because the search for the most awesome spiritual experience seems to be one of people's many endeavors. While through meditation many people do, and it is possible, to have mystical experiences, that is not the inherent purpose of meditation.

The purpose of meditation is to get to know oneself. Because through getting to know oneself, one learns of all of the ego's attachments that contribute to its existence. How does the ego, your personality, survive? It survives through its fears, its likes and dislikes, its desires, etc. What kind of thoughts are you most likely to have, the kind in which you think about the past over and over again to make sense out of it? Or are you the type of person who tries to control your future by thinking about the future and enacting scenarios in your mind? The ego feeds off of trying to control the past and the future in order to contribute to its existence. When all control is released, all fears, attachments, desires released, what is left? What is left is Who you really are: the Self.

The ego does not want to die, and that is why you fear death, because you are afraid of not existing. However, no death is possible, because you are apart from your ego. Watch your mind, what does your ego like to think about? Become detached and surrender from whatever it is your ego fears and keeps bringing up in your mind, and you will take the ego out root by root, cutting it from its life source. That is essentially the crux of it: your ego drains your life force through its dramas.

So, if you think that just by sitting down and meditating and becoming peaceful you're going to raise your consciousness, you're in for a rude awakening. You must sit down, observe yourself, 'know thyself' as they say, so that you can dismantle your self to reveal your true Self. It is only through dismantling your ego that you gain energy, thus raising your consciousness. This is the only way to raise your consciousness permanently. Other methods may give you temporary "highs," but if you sink into meditation and release and surrender all the things that you desire, want, fear, etc., you'll be gaining more than you could ever imagine. And it is that Goal that is the purpose of meditation. To find out Who you really are. Namaste. I love you. 4:44