First we should ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Buddha teach meditation?’ or, ‘What is the purpose of meditation?’
The purpose of Buddhist Meditation is to attain Nibbana. Nibbana is the cessation of mentality (nama) and materiality (rupa). To reach Nibbana, therefore, we must completely destroy both wholesome mental states, rooted in non-greed, non-anger, and non-delusion, and unwholesome mental states, rooted in greed, anger, and delusion, and which produce new birth, aging, sickness and death. If we destroy them totally with the insight knowledge and path knowledge (ariyanagga), then we will reach Nibbana. In other words, Nibbana is release and freedom from the suffering of the round of rebirths (samsara), and the cessation of rebirth, ageing, sickness, and death, and so to free ourselves from the many forms of suffering we need to meditate. Since we wish to be free from all suffering, we must learn how to meditate in order to attain Nibbana.
Meditation consists of Samatha and Vipassana meditation, which must both be based upon virtuous conduct of body and speech. In other words, meditation is the development and perfection of the Noble Eightfold Path.
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