How can you use meditation to resolve big problems, make important decisions, and find clarity in the muddy waters of the mind?  Get simple, practical tips in this short Q&A with Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda, a meditation expert and self realized yoga master.

How To Problem Solve With Meditation

Question: I often feel overwhelmed by my problems and uncertain about how to deal with them.

Jagad Guru: We all have problems in life—personal problems, financial problems, problems with family, friends, jobs, or co-workers. And we are all faced with making difficult decisions in life, including deciding which direction to take to resolve life’s problems.

Question: So how do we make the right decision? Can meditation help?

Jagad Guru: Yes. Although meditation alone won’t solve life’s problems, meditating upon Transcendental Sound has a purifying effect on our hearts and minds, helping us cultivate unconditional love and wisdom.

Question: But how can meditation help me make decisions on a practical level?

Jagad Guru: Let’s say you need to make a decision or come up with a solution to an especially difficult personal or work-related problem, and you’re in anxiety and frustrated because you can’t decide what to do.

Instead of thinking obsessively about a problem until our heads are about to burst, or tossing and turning all night long, just completely put it aside. We all need insights to solve our problems, but we can’t experience an insight just by the strength of our mind and intelligence.

Instead of struggling in the muddy waters of the mind, endeavoring to find a solution to a problem, take your mind and immerse it in Transcendental Sound. When your mind tries to go back onto the problem, then gently bring it back to the comforting sounds. Then from this rested condition, a solution or decision will arise from within, like a bubble of oxygen that naturally rises up from the mud on the bottom of a lake. And your problem, which previously seemed so insurmountable, will either burst into insignificance like that very same bubble, or at least you can see a clear path toward the solution.

The result of this practice will be something more than just a fleeting sense of happiness: It will be much deeper and long lasting. You’ll find yourself able to see things more clearly and soberly, and you’ll begin to make decisions based on this new clarity of vision rather than out of the older, darker feelings of anxiety, fear or anger.

Always wanted to learn meditation? Or perhaps you’ve tried and given up over and over again? Here’s your chance to learn a simple, enjoyable practice of meditation with Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda. Visit our Kirtan section for video and audio recordings of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda and Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad singing pure transcendental sound.