I struggle to agree with Chade-Meng Tan and Marc Lesser. Ultimately, their pitch is to make meditation widely accessible to the world. They compare meditation to medicine. I’m assuming they want “prescribed meditation,” but I’m unsure what that would look like. They’re pitch involves three “easy” steps for what they call world peace: “Step 1 is to start with me. Step 2 is to make meditation a field of science. Step 3 is to apply it to leadership and everyday life.” While I appreciate the sentiment and I know it was done for humorous effect, I find their plan to be grossly oversimplified.
While meditation might have its merit in some circles, I personally have found no use. I’m aware my argument is anecdotal and shouldn’t be grounds to dismiss Tan and Lesser’s point. Meditation might prove to be successful, but they’re argument also states meditation will create “conditions for world peace.” That would suggest meditation is universally beneficial for mental health.
I spent last year in Detroit, Michigan working for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps or JVC. I volunteered at an elementary school as a teacher along with many other jobs. I lived off a monthly stipend of $100 with 3 other wonderful Jesuit volunteers. While the experience was positive, the stress of my job and monthly budget was overwhelming at times. To deal with this stress, JVC has 4 essential values: community, simple living, spirituality, and social justice. While all 4 are important, I found spirituality to be the most effective for my mental health.
In JVC, the term spirituality isn’t strictly Catholic. I met many Jesuit volunteers around the country who were from a wide spectrum of faiths and beliefs, even some atheist volunteers. JVC offers many different forms of spirituality, one being a form of guided meditation involving reflection and self-analysis. I found no use in these reflections. I found more use in talking with my peers, discussing the issues we found at work and trying to come to resolution or conclusion. One might call this therapy.
Meditation isn’t the only answer. While I do agree science should be used to legitimize meditation, I believe mental health is more complicated than a couple breathing exercises. And I wouldn’t agree with Tan and Lesser if their argument were strictly Christian or Islamic either. I think mental health should encompass all traditions. Its that important.