Dharma practitioners don't just meditate.

The Buddha's teachings get a lot of press about meditation. A lot of people may even equate the Buddha's teachings with meditation. That's what the Buddha did, right?

The Buddha did not just teach about meditation.

Meditation is a critical step in a much larger process of developing insight and wisdom. The development of wisdom evolves through three phases- study, contemplation and meditation.

When we study, we learn key concepts and principles. We are exposed to ideas and use reason and logic to determine their validity.

Contemplation is the process of building connections, coming at the material from different angles and reflecting on our experience of the teachings we have been studying. Contemplation involves deeper aspects of our mind and heart, often within the sphere of contemplation we will experience flashes of insight or meaning that seem to come from outside our own conjecture.

Meditation is the process of moving beyond concepts and into direct experience. We can talk about what chocolate tastes like, we can compare it to other regional varieties, but at some point we need to actually taste the chocolate. Meditation is a direct experience of the teachings.

We gain a certain type of knowledge and wisdom through study. We gain a different type of knowledge and wisdom through contemplation. The wisdom of meditation is the wisdom of direct experience.

The fundamental problem that all dharma practitioners are trying to resolve is the human condition complete with all of its negative and positive aspects. We as humans experience a lot of pain and suffering. Mental illness runs rampant through our communities affecting both young and old. But we also see great examples of virtues like compassion, generosity and wisdom. As dharma practitioners work to solve this problem, they rely on the process of study, contemplation and meditation. Over and over again, they cycle through these processes, continuously trying to resolve the nature of their own human life, and sharing that wisdom with others.

Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to work with suffering and practice virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to live with suffering and share virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they discover freedom in the midst of suffering and learn how to embody virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they learn how to embody virtue and discover freedom in the midst of suffering.