Feeling a sense of danger during an election season is nothing new to me, or probably anyone else. I wrote one of my first essays about how the Democratic fervor was so zealous in my family that it was not until high school that I realized there were ideological differences between Republicans and Nazis. And it would be ridiculous to suggest that politics today is any uglier than it ever was—just look to Jefferson and Adams to dispel that notion. Yet I am worried about the near absence of space for civil dialogue between political parties. 

It’s not uncommon for people to ask Joseph Goldstein for the secret teachings. As one of the great meditation masters of our time and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), fielding such questions comes with the job. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard friends talking in the IMS staff dining room about the time they asked Joseph for the secret. Here’s the most frequent answer he gave: 

Looking for a cure for stress, anxiety, gastrointestinal problems, PTSD, high blood pressure, and any number of the other things? There are plenty of articles, researchers, and possibly even friends who are quick to tell you: Meditation is the answer. It seems that every week a new study suggests meditation is the key to treating some condition or illness.

Speaking from my experience, meditation is the best thing I’ve ever done, probably in general, but definitely for my health. Yet amidst this evangelical fervor in praise of meditation, it’s more important than ever to keep one thing in mind: Meditation is NOT a cure for illness.