Meditating first thing in the morning is like putting money in the bank.

When we have money in the bank, we can withdraw it to spend whenever the need arises.

It is said: “Morning shows the day.” When we wake up we are relatively unconscious. What we do first thing after waking can hugely influence our state of consciousness for the remainder of the day.

When we meditate, we enter into and bring to the fore our inner peace, poise, light, love, joy and goodwill for the world. These qualities are our inner wealth, which we accumulate in our heart’s inner bank.

Then when we go out into the world, our account is in surplus; we are ready for whatever challenges might come. Let’s say our morning meditation has resulted in us earning $50 inner dollars worth of peace and bliss. Driving to work, someone cuts in front of us and nearly causes an accident: instead of stressing out and cursing the other driver, we draw on our inner poise to take the necessary evasive action and continue calmly on our way. If we had not meditated and accrued a reserve of peace and poise, we might have reacted aggressively and then carried that aggression with us the whole day. Worse still, we might not have had the composure to avoid an accident. This incident might result in a transfer of $10 inner dollars from our account. We’re ruffled but still under control.

When we get to work, our boss blames us for someone else’s mistake, rudely insulting us. Instead of shouting back, we draw another $10 from our inner account, smile and continue calmly.

By keeping our inner account in credit, morning meditation finances our smooth passage through all life’s challenges and obstacles.