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Archive for the ‘Meditation’ Category

“Meditation is merely hypnosis without suggestion..” -is what most hypno-therapists will tell you.

And whilst this in some (very few) instances may well be true, it is unfortunate that this view is promulgated, as this only describes a very limited aspect of meditation, and does not consider the phenomenal number of forms of meditation that are in fact out there. It also does not consider the true nature of most forms of meditation.

To illustrate this I would suggest that one consider the incredible number of guided meditations that are offered, sold, and promoted by various profit and not-for-profit organizations. Of course to fully understand the impact of this one has to consider the makeup of most of these guided meditations, which include a few primary elements :

1. Usually designed to create an alternate state of consciousness.

2. Usually designed with a specific life / meditative objective in mind.

3. These objectives are even sometimes pursued in some form of metaphor, visualized or otherwise.

4. Can be administered by oneself, or by another, or in a group context, with great success.

When this is reviewed, it is clear that there is almost always an objective which is pursued in guided meditations. One then also has to acknowledge that no objectives can be reached without some form of suggestion to prod the practitioner in the right direction. Of course there are various other forms of meditation in which suggestion, in itself, plays a lesser role. It should be remembered though, that meditation without objective is usually fairly pointless, and as such most forms of meditation is practiced with some objective in mind. And not surprising is also then the fairly obvious deduction that there has to be some suggestion, even in these.

People from all walks of life, in all the countries of the world belonging to all the possible religions, meditate for a wide variety of reasons. The same technique offers something different to each according to his needs and motives. Some of the motives for which people meditate today are:

1. To relax the body, mind and rejuvenate one’s flow of energy in order to more effectively face the responsibilities of one’s demanding and active life.

2. To heal illnesses (especially psychosomatic ones).

3. To overcome emotional problems.

4. To develop a more relaxed and positive view towards life.

5. To develop a peaceful and more clearly functioning mind.

6. For greater ability to penetrate into the core of problems and find inspirational solutions. This has been found especially useful by scientists and businessmen.

7. To tune into a creative inspirations for artistic expression.

8. For freeing oneself from addictions such as cigarettes, alcohol, narcotics and tranquilizers.

9. To purify one’s character.

10. To develop will-power.

11. As a method of self-observation and self-discovery.

12. To develop the latent powers of the mind.

13. To create a relationship with God.

14. To develop an inner relationship with the Divine.

15. For spiritual growth, self-knowledge or enlightenment.

16. To transcend the identification with the body and mind, and experience spiritual realities.

17. For the ecstasy of union with the Universal Spirit, which is the essential reality of the universe.

Scientific Research on the Effects of Meditation
on the Body and Personality

There are as many types of meditation techniques as there are wonderful flavors of ice cream. This allow each person to find a flavor that is delicious to them. In this article series I will provide an overview of many of the different meditation techniques that exist and hopefully this will help you find the style that is sweetest to you.

Some meditation styles suit those of an intellectual disposition, while others are more attractive to those who prefer the path of love and surrender. Still others, with an active approach to life, may like the meditation techniques involving movement, while those with a strong mind would enjoy the approach of visualization and concentration. Overall, there are several broad categories under which we can capture most of these various meditation practices and in Part 1 I will explore Insight Meditation Techniques and Sound (Mantra) and Intention Meditation Techniques.

1. Insight Meditation Techniques: These are the meditations of choice for the Gyan Yogis or those drawn to the intellectual path. It incorporates the advanced meditation techniques from the Zen school of Buddhism, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism, certain schools of Western Religions among others.

A. WHO AM I Meditation Technique: This techniques comes from the school of Advaita Vedanta (Non-Dualism / End of Knowledge). The meditation was popularized by Shri Ramana Maharishi and is based on negation of the false self in order to realize one’s True Nature. Here is an example of my experience with WHO AM I Meditation Practice.

Meditation techniques give peace and calmness in a spiritual way. It enlightens the human life. Meditation techniques nurtures and transforms the qualities of an individual by relieving him from stress of daily life. Meditation technique changes the negative thoughts into positive and it is done just by focusing within a one’s self and not outside.

Here are some popular forms of Meditation Techniques –

Concentrative Meditation Technique is performed by focusing the attention on an image, a sound (mantra chanting) or on the breath. Concentrative Meditation technique stills the mind and results in a better clarity and awareness. Concentrative meditation technique can be done simply by focusing on the breath; it is a very basic step. It is believed that there is a direct connection between the state of mind and the breath. When an individual gets agitated, frightened, and anxious or distracted, the breath shallows. But, when the mind is focused and calm, then the breath is deep, regular and slow. If an individual focuses on the rhythm of the process of breath intake and out, it gives an object for meditation. When the breath is focused, the mind gets absorbed in the process of breath intake and out. In result, the breathing becomes deep and slow. It makes the mind more alert.

Zen Meditation – Zen Meditation technique is performed by focusing the attention on the feelings and sensations, sounds, thoughts, images and so forth without thinking about these elements. While meditating, there should be no thinking about the worries, images, thoughts, and memories. Zen meditation technique results in a better state of mind that is clear, calm and non-reactive. Zen meditation technique is done by observing sensations and breathes non-judgmentally and very keenly. Zen meditation technique gradually takes an individual to emptiness & stillness, but it takes some time to master this technique. Zen Meditation technique is the easiest and most effective technique.

Meditation requires an individual to sit in a particular position for longer period of time. This process has a lot of health and mental benefits on the meditator. However, there are also certain problems one faces while engaging in meditation. These include strain in Back, back pain, distraction, pain in the neck and the like.

If you want to meditate, don’t worry about these problems striking you at any time. There is a solution available for all the problems one faces while meditating.

Meditation cushions have been invented to provide prefect meditation posture, proper alignment and comfort to the meditator. A meditation cushion can help deepen your meditation practice. It will facilitate you to enjoy deeper state of inner awareness.

Most people do not understand why they require a meditation cushion.

Here are some reasons to convince you why a meditation cushion is so important to you when meditating:

a) Proper support

When meditating, one requires adequate support. Without this the body will succumb to the shape of the surface on it rests. This usually results in a lot of damage to hips, shoulders, spine and head to misalign. This ultimately results in a lot of discomfort. Meditation cushions are used to enhance the posture and level of comfort while meditating.

b) Posture

Some of the common meditation postures include the half-lotus, traditional full-lotus, chair sitting, kneeling and lying postures. Meditators usually use more than one posture for meditation. This requires the ability to meditate in any of the sitting or kneeling postures. Meditation cushions help in improving great postures and engaging in various meditation postures.

There was a time when meditation or no meditation was a serious question for me. I come from a Protestant background where in my view (which is admittedly biased) prayer was a practice of reciting important-sounding words. I struggled for years with the concept of prayer. It did not make sense to me that in church other people should pray on my behalf, but then I thought that was just me being the rebel again, and I kept quiet about it.

Outside of church I read books about prayer, and the prayers of other people. Still, there was this feeling inside of me that it is not quite right. Eventually I gave up on figuring out what prayer is about and just got on with life.

Of course I had conversations with God in my head, but none of the books that I read described these conversations as prayer. The conversations were also quite one-sided, because I told God what he/she needed to know about my life. Listening to God did not even cross my mind, because at the time I thought “If I cannot see God, then I also cannot hear God”. I intuitively knew that there must be something or someone out there, but the thought that this someone or something was able to actually speak to me was too far-fetched for me to accept.

You will agree with me that having a one-sided conversation is quite lonely, especially when you want reassurance in times of need and encouragement in challenging times. All the time I felt a need to confirm that there is someone on the “other side” that was hearing me.