Meditation
"To
meditate is to purge the mind of its self-centered activity. And if you
have come this far in meditation, you will find there is silence, a
total emptiness. The mind is uncontaminated by society; it is no longer
subject to any influence, to the pressure of any desire. It is
completely alone, and being alone, untouched it is innocent. Therefore
there is a possibility for that which is timeless, eternal, to come
into being. This whole process is meditation." -- Jiddu KrishnamurtiThe English word meditation comes from the Latin meditatio, which originally indicated every type of physical or intellectual exercise, then later evolved into the more specific meaning "contemplation". In the late nineteenth century, Theosophists adopted the word "meditation" to refer to various spiritual practices drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions. Thus the English word "meditation" does not exclusively translate any single term or concept, and can be used to translate words such as the Sanskrit dhyana, samadhi, or pranayama.
What is Meditation?
A state that is experienced when the mind dissolves and is free of all thoughtsfocusing the mind on a single object (such as a religious statue, or one's breath, or a mantra)
A mental "opening up" to the divine, invoking the guidance of a higher power
reasoned analysis of religious teachings (such as impermanence, for Buddhists).
Meditation today is often religious activity, but even before being brought to the West it was used in secular contexts, such as the martial arts. Beginning with the Theosophists, though, meditation has been employed by a number of religious and spiritual movements, such as Yoga and the New Age movement, as well as in some forms of Christianity.
From the point of view of psychology, meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness. However, many religious people would challenge the assumption that such mental states (or any other visible result) are the "goal" of meditation. The goals of meditation are varied, and range from spiritual enlightenment, to the transformation of attitudes, to better cardiovascular health.
Meditation in Context
Most traditions address the integration of mind, body, and spirit, or that of spiritual practice with family life, work, and so on. Often, meditation is said to be incomplete if it doesn't lead to positive changes in one's daily life and attitudes.Meditation is often presented not as a "free-standing" activity, but as one part of a wider spiritual tradition. Nevertheless, many meditators today do not follow an organized religion, or do not consider themselves to do so faithfully. Religious authorities typically insist that spiritual practices such as meditation belong in the context of a well-rounded religious life that may include ritual or liturgy, scriptural study, and the observance of religious laws or regulations.
Perhaps the most widely-cited spiritual prerequisite for meditation is an ethical lifestyle. Many martial arts teachers urge their students to respect parents and teachers, and follow other positive values.
A number of meditative traditions requires permission from a teacher or elder, who in turn has received permission from another teacher, and so on, in a lineage. Most Chinese traditions rely on the Confucian concept of a Sifu. Hinduism and Buddhism stress the importance of a spiritual teacher (Sanskrit guru, Tibetan lama). Orthodox Christianity has "spiritual elders" (Greek gerontas, Russian starets); Catholic religious have spiritual directors.
The immediate meditative environment is often held to be important. Several traditions incorporate cleansing rituals for the place where one meditates, and others offer instructions for an altar or other accessories.
How To Meditate - The Best Postures
Different spiritual traditions, and different teachers within those traditions, prescribe or suggest different physical postures for meditation. Most famous are the several cross-legged postures, including the Lotus Position. For example, the Dalai Lama recommends the Seven Points of Vairocana in which:- the legs are crossed in either the Lotus Position (here called the vajra position) or the other way, "Indian" or "tailor" fashion (here called the bodhisattva position)
- the eyes are kept open (thus affirming the world)
- the back is kept straight (like "an arrow" or "a stack of coins")
- the shoulders are kept even and relaxed
- the gaze is kept at a medium level—too low and one becomes drowsy; too high and one becomes restless
- the mouth is kept slightly open
- the tongue touches the roof of the mouth
Various hand-gestures or mudras may be prescribed. These can carry theological meaning or according to Yogic philosophy can actually affect consciousness. For example, a common Buddhist hand-position is with the right hand resting atop the left (like the Buddha's begging bowl), with the thumbs touching.
Silence is often held to be desirable, and some people use repetitive activities such as deep breathing, humming or chanting to help induce a meditative state. The Tibetan tradition described above is probably in the minority for recommending that the eyes remain open. Practitioners of the Soto Zen tradition also meditate with their eyes open, facing a wall, but most schools of meditation assume that the eyes will be closed or only half-open.
Often such details are shared by more than one religion, even in cases where mutual influence seems unlikely. One example would be "navel-gazing," which is apparently attested within Eastern Orthodoxy as well as Chinese qigong practice. Another would be the practice of focusing on the breath, which is found in Orthodox Christianity, Sufism, and numerous Indic traditions.
Sitting cross-legged (or upon one's knees) for extended periods when one is not sufficiently limber, can result in a range of ergonomic complaints called "meditator's knee".
Common Postures
Seated posture
Person can use any chair, stool, bench, anything that has a horizontal top, so that he or she may sit on it. The person sits up, with their back straight, and holds their head and spine in alignment. They rest their hands comfortably on their knees or arms of chair. Their thighs should be parallel to the floor while the person's back does not lean against the back of the chair.Cross legged posture
Person crosses legs while seated on the floor (and on a cushion, if it is more comfortable) and unless skilled at yoga, does not attempt to rest feet on their thighs (like Indian yogis do). The person sits upright, back straight, and with their head and spine in alignment. Hands may rest in any position.Kneeling posture
Person kneels on the floor with their knees together, buttocks resting on their heels and toes almost touching. They keep their back straight, head and spine in alignment, and rest their hands on their thighs.Lying down posture
This is the savasna, or the corpse posture in yoga. Person lies down on a carpet, and makes sure legs are straight but relaxed. Normally, it is seldom used because it mimics natural sleeping postures, making it very easy to fall asleep while trying to meditiate. It is often regarded as more effective as a stress reducer rather than in the meditation process.Frequency and duration
These vary so greatly that it is difficult to venture any general comments. On one extreme there exist monks and nuns whose whole lives are ordered around meditation; on the other hand, one-minute meditations are not out of the question.Twenty or thirty minutes is broadly accepted as being a typical duration. Experienced meditators often find their sessions growing in length of their own accord. Observing the advice and instructions of one's spiritual teacher is generally held to be most beneficial.
Many traditions stress regular practice. Accordingly, many meditators experience guilt or frustration upon failing to do so. Possible responses range from perseverance to acceptance. Also, many meditators stress the importance of continual practice in order to strengthen concentration for prolonged meditation sessions as well as increased focus during their daily lives.
Purposes and effects of meditation
The purposes for which people meditate vary almost as widely as practices. Meditation may serve simply as a means of relaxation from a busy daily routine; as a technique for cultivating mental discipline; or as a means of gaining insight into the nature of reality, or of communing with one's God. Many report improved concentration, awareness, self-discipline and equanimity through meditation.Many authorities avoid emphasizing the effects of meditation — sometimes out of modesty, sometimes for fear that the expectation of results might interfere with one's meditation. For theists, the effects of meditation are considered a gift of God or from the Holy Spirit/Ghost, and not something that is "achieved" by the meditator alone, just as some say that a person will not convert to Christianity without the influence of the Holy Spirit/Ghost's presence.
At the same time, many effects (or perhaps side-effects) have been experienced during, or claimed for, various types of meditation. These include:
- Greater faith in, or understanding of, one's religion or beliefs
- An increase in patience, compassion, and other virtues and morals or the understanding of them
- Feelings of calm or peace, and/or moments of great joy
- Consciousness of sin, temptation, and remorse, and a spirit of contrition.
- Sensitivity to certain forms of lighting, such as fluorescent lights or computer screens, and sometimes heightened sense-perception.
- Surfacing of buried memories.
- Experience of spiritual phenomena such as kundalini, extra-sensory perception, or visions of deities, saints, demons, etc.
- "Miraculous" abilities such as levitation (cf. yogic flying)
- Psychotic episodes (see medical section below)
Health applications and clinical studies of meditation
In the recent years there has been a growing interest within the medical community to study the physiological effects of meditation. Many concepts of meditation have been applied to clinical settings in order to measure its effect on somatic motor function as well as cardiovascular and respiratory function. Meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. Transcendental meditation was shown to affect the human metabolism by lowering the biochemical byproducts of stress, such as lactate, decreasing heart rate and blood pressure and inducing favorable brain waves.As a method of stress reduction, meditation is often used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress including a depressed immune system. There is a growing consensus in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund research in this area (e.g. the establishment by the NIH in the U.S. of 5 research centers to research the mind-body aspects of disease.) Zen meditation can rewire the circuitry of the brain. This has been confirmed using functional MRI imaging which examine the electrical activity of the brain.
Meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response". The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains.
Other studies within this field include the research of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts who have studied the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress (Kabat-Zinn et.al, 1985; Davidson et.al, 2003).
Meditation and the Brain
Mindfulness meditation and related techniques are intended to train attention for the sake of provoking insight. Think of it as the opposite of attention deficit disorder. A wider, more flexible attention span makes it easier to be aware of a situation, easier to be objective in emotionally or morally difficult situations, and easier to achieve a state of responsive, creative awareness or "flow".Meditation works because of the relationship between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. In very simple terms, the amygdala is the part of the brain that decides if we should get angry or anxious (among other things), and the pre-frontal cortex is the part that makes us stop and think about things (it is also known as the inhibitory centre).
So, the prefrontal cortex is very good at analyzing and planning, but it takes a long time to make decisions. The amygdala, on the other hand, is simpler (and older in evolutionary terms). It makes rapid judgments about a situation and has a powerful effect on our emotions and behaviour, linked to survival needs. For example, if a human sees a lion leaping out at them, the amygdala will trigger a fight or flight response long before the prefrontal cortex responds.
But in making snap judgments, our amygdalas are prone to error, such as seeing danger where there is none. This is particularly true in contemporary society where social conflicts are far more common than encounters with predators, and a basically harmless but emotionally charged situation can trigger uncontrollable fear or anger — leading to conflict, anxiety, and stress.
Because there is roughly a quarter of a second gap between the time an event occurs and the time it takes the amygdala to react, a skilled meditator may be able to intervene before a fight or flight response takes over, and perhaps even redirect it into more constructive or positive feelings.
The different roles of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex can be easily observed under the influence of various drugs. Alcohol depresses the brain generally, but the sophisticated prefrontal cortex is more affected than less complex areas, resulting in lowered inhibitions, decreased attention span, and increased influence of emotions over behaviour. Likewise, the controversial drug Ritalin has the opposite effect, because it stimulates activity in the prefrontal cortex.
Some studies of meditation have linked the practice to increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex, which is associated with concentration, planning, meta-cognition (thinking about thinking), and positive affect (good feelings). There are similar studies linking depression and anxiety with decreased activity in the same region, and/or with dominant activity in the right prefrontal cortex. Meditation increases activity in the left prefrontal cortex, and the changes are stable over time — even if you stop meditating for a while, the effect lingers.
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