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Wikipedia

Meditation

January 18, 2023

This article is about the induction of specific modes or states of consciousness. For other uses, see Meditation (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with mediation or medication.

Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.[1][2][3][4][web 1][web 2]

Various depictions of meditation (clockwise starting at the top left): the Hindu Swami Vivekananda, the Buddhist monk Hsuan Hua, Taoist Baduanjin Qigong, the Christian St Francis, Muslim Sufis in Dhikr, and social reformer Narayana Guru

Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions. The earliest records of meditation (dhyana) are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.[5] Since the 19th century, Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have also found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business and health.

Meditation may significantly reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain,[6] and enhance peace, perception,[7] self-concept, and well-being.[8][9][10] Research is ongoing to better understand the effects of meditation on health (psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular) and other areas.

Etymology

The English meditation is derived from Old French meditacioun, in turn from Latin meditatio from a verb meditari, meaning "to think, contemplate, devise, ponder".[11][12] In the Catholic tradition, the use of the term meditatio as part of a formal, stepwise process of meditation goes back to at least the 12th century monk Guigo II,[12][13] before which the Greek word Theoria was used for the same purpose.

Apart from its historical usage, the term meditation was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices, referred to as dhyāna in Hinduism and Buddhism and which comes from the Sanskrit root dhyai, meaning to contemplate or meditate.[14][15][16] The term "meditation" in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism,[17] or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm.[18]

Definitions

Difficulties in defining meditation

No universally accepted definition

Meditation has proven difficult to define as it covers a wide range of dissimilar practices in different traditions. In popular usage, the word "meditation" and the phrase "meditative practice" are often used imprecisely to designate practices found across many cultures.[18][19] These can include almost anything that is claimed to train the attention of mind or to teach calm or compassion.[20] There remains no definition of necessary and sufficient criteria for meditation that has achieved universal or widespread acceptance within the modern scientific community. In 1971, Claudio Naranjo noted that "The word 'meditation' has been used to designate a variety of practices that differ enough from one another so that we may find trouble in defining what meditation is."[21]: 6  A 2009 study noted a "persistent lack of consensus in the literature" and a "seeming intractability of defining meditation".[22]

Separation of technique from tradition

Some of the difficulty in precisely defining meditation has been in recognizing the particularities of the many various traditions;[23] and theories and practice can differ within a tradition.[24] Taylor noted that even within a faith such as "Hindu" or "Buddhist", schools and individual teachers may teach distinct types of meditation.[25]: 2  Ornstein noted that "Most techniques of meditation do not exist as solitary practices but are only artificially separable from an entire system of practice and belief."[26]: 143  For instance, while monks meditate as part of their everyday lives, they also engage the codified rules and live together in monasteries in specific cultural settings that go along with their meditative practices.

Dictionary definitions

Dictionaries give both the original Latin meaning of "think[ing] deeply about (something)";[web 2] as well as the popular usage of "focusing one's mind for a period of time",[web 2] "the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed",[web 3] and "to engage in mental exercise (such as concentrating on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness."[web 1]

Scholarly definitions

In modern psychological research, meditation has been defined and characterized in various ways. Many of these emphasize the role of attention[18][27][28][29] and characterize the practice of meditation as attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "discursive thinking"[note 1] or "logic"[note 2] mind[note 3] to achieve a deeper, more devout, or more relaxed state.

Bond et al. (2009) identified criteria for defining a practice as meditation "for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation", using "a 5-round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research" who were also trained in diverse but empirically highly studied (Eastern-derived or clinical) forms of meditation[note 4]:

three main criteria ... as essential to any meditation practice: the use of a defined technique, logic relaxation,[note 5] and a self-induced state/mode.

Other criteria deemed important [but not essential] involve a state of psychophysical relaxation, the use of a self-focus skill or anchor, the presence of a state of suspension of logical thought processes, a religious/spiritual/philosophical context, or a state of mental silence.[22]

... It is plausible that meditation is best thought of as a natural category of techniques best captured by 'family resemblances' ... or by the related 'prototype' model of concepts."[31]

Several other definitions of meditation have been used by influential modern reviews of research on meditation across multiple traditions:[note 6]

  • Walsh & Shapiro (2006): "Meditation refers to a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration"[1]
  • Cahn & Polich (2006): "Meditation is used to describe practices that self-regulate the body and mind, thereby affecting mental events by engaging a specific attentional set.... regulation of attention is the central commonality across the many divergent methods"[2]
  • Jevning et al. (1992): "We define meditation... as a stylized mental technique... repetitively practiced for the purpose of attaining a subjective experience that is frequently described as very restful, silent, and of heightened alertness, often characterized as blissful"[3]
  • Goleman (1988): "the need for the meditator to retrain his attention, whether through concentration or mindfulness, is the single invariant ingredient in... every meditation system"[4]

Classifications

Focused and open methods

In the West, meditation techniques have often been classified in two broad categories, which in actual practice are often combined: focused (or concentrative) meditation and open monitoring (or mindfulness) meditation:[34]

Direction of mental attention... A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object (so-called concentrative meditation), on all mental events that enter the field of awareness (so-called mindfulness meditation), or both specific focal points and the field of awareness.[35]

Focused methods include paying attention to the breath, to an idea or feeling (such as mettā (loving-kindness)), to a kōan, or to a mantra (such as in transcendental meditation), and single point meditation.[36][37] Open monitoring methods include mindfulness, shikantaza and other awareness states.[38]

Other possible typologies

Another typology divides meditation approaches into concentrative, generative, receptive and reflective practices:[39][40]

  • concentrative: focused attention, including breath meditation, TM, and visualizations;
  • generative: developing qualities like loving kindness and compassion;
  • receptive: open monitoring;
  • reflective: systematic investigation, contemplation.

The Buddhist tradition often divides meditative practice into samatha, or calm abiding,[41][42] and vipassana, insight. Mindfulness of breathing, a form of focused attention, calms down the mind; this calmed mind can then investigate the nature of reality,[43][44][45] by monitoring the fleeting and ever-changing constituents of experience, by reflective investigation, or by "turning back the radiance," focusing awareness on awareness itself and discerning the true nature of mind as awareness itself.

Matko and Sedlmeier (2019) "call into question the common division into “focused attention” and “open-monitoring” practices." They argue for "two orthogonal dimensions along which meditation techniques could be classified," namely "activation" and "amount of body orientation," proposing seven clusters of techniques: "mindful observation, body-centered meditation, visual concentration, contemplation, affect-centered meditation, mantra meditation, and meditation with movement."[46]

Jonathan Shear argues that transcendental meditation is an "automatic self-transcending" technique, different from focused attention and open monitoring.[47] In this kind of practice, "there is no attempt to sustain any particular condition at all. Practices of this kind, once started, are reported to automatically “transcend” their own activity and disappear, to be started up again later if appropriate."[47][note 7] Yet, Shear also states that "automatic self-transcending" also applies to the way other techniques such as from Zen and Qigong are practiced by experienced meditators "once they had become effortless and automatic through years of practice."[47]

Technique

Posture

 
Young children practicing meditation in a Peruvian school
Main article: Asana

Asanas and positions such as the full-lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, Seiza, and kneeling positions are popular in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism,[48] although other postures such as sitting, supine (lying), and standing are also used. Meditation is also sometimes done while walking, known as kinhin, while doing a simple task mindfully, known as samu, or while lying down, known as savasana.[49][50] Postures involve focus attention and move body coordinately or hold still with rhythmic inhalation and exhalation.[51]

Frequency

The Transcendental Meditation technique recommends practice of 20 minutes twice per day.[52] Some techniques suggest less time,[43] especially when starting meditation,[53] and Richard Davidson has quoted research saying benefits can be achieved with a practice of only 8 minutes per day.[54] Research shows improvement in meditation time with simple oral and video training.[55] Some meditators practice for much longer,[56][57] particularly when on a course or retreat.[58] Some meditators find practice best in the hours before dawn.[59]

Supporting aids

Use of prayer beads

Some religions have traditions of using prayer beads as tools in devotional meditation.[60][61][62] Most prayer beads and Christian rosaries consist of pearls or beads linked together by a thread.[60][61] The Roman Catholic rosary is a string of beads containing five sets with ten small beads. The Hindu japa mala has 108 beads (the figure 108 in itself having spiritual significance), as well as those used in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the Hare Krishna tradition, Jainism and Buddhist prayer beads.[63][64] Each bead is counted once as a person recites a mantra until the person has gone all the way around the mala.[64] The Muslim misbaha has 99 beads. There is also quite a variance when it comes to materials used for beads. Beads made from seeds of rudraksha trees are considered sacred by devotees of Shiva, while followers of Vishnu revere the wood that comes from the tulsi plant.[65]

Striking the meditator

The Buddhist literature has many stories of Enlightenment being attained through disciples being struck by their masters. According to T. Griffith Foulk, the encouragement stick was an integral part of the Zen practice:

In the Rinzai monastery where I trained in the mid-1970s, according to an unspoken etiquette, monks who were sitting earnestly and well were shown respect by being hit vigorously and often; those known as laggards were ignored by the hall monitor or given little taps if they requested to be hit. Nobody asked about the 'meaning' of the stick, nobody explained, and nobody ever complained about its use.[66]

Using a narrative

Neuroscientist and long-time meditator Richard Davidson has expressed the view that having a narrative can help the maintenance of daily practice.[54] For instance he himself prostrates to the teachings, and meditates "not primarily for my benefit, but for the benefit of others".[54]

Meditation traditions

 
Man Meditating in a Garden Setting

Origins

The history of meditation is intimately bound up with the religious context within which it was practiced.[67] Rossano has suggested that the emergence of the capacity for focused attention, an element of many methods of meditation, may have contributed to the latest phases of human biological evolution.[68] Some of the earliest references to meditation, as well as proto-Samkhya, are found in the Upanishads of India.[69][70] The earliest clear references to meditation are in the middle Upanishads and the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita).[71][72] According to Gavin Flood, the earlier Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is describing meditation when it states that "having become calm and concentrated, one perceives the self (ātman) within oneself" (BU 4.4.23).[73]

Indian religions

Jainism

Main article: Jain meditation
 
The āsana in which Mahavira is said to have attained omniscience

Jain meditation and spiritual practices system were referred to as salvation-path. It has three parts called the Ratnatraya "Three Jewels": right perception and faith, right knowledge and right conduct.[74] Meditation in Jainism aims at realizing the self, attaining salvation, and taking the soul to complete freedom.[75] It aims to reach and to remain in the pure state of soul which is believed to be pure consciousness, beyond any attachment or aversion. The practitioner strives to be just a knower-seer (Gyata-Drashta). Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to Dharma Dhyana and Shukla Dhyana.[clarification needed]

Jainism uses meditation techniques such as pindāstha-dhyāna, padāstha-dhyāna, rūpāstha-dhyāna, rūpātita-dhyāna, and savīrya-dhyāna. In padāstha dhyāna one focuses on a mantra.[76] A mantra could be either a combination of core letters or words on deity or themes. There is a rich tradition of Mantra in Jainism. All Jain followers irrespective of their sect, whether Digambara or Svetambara, practice mantra. Mantra chanting is an important part of daily lives of Jain monks and followers. Mantra chanting can be done either loudly or silently in mind.[76]

Contemplation is a very old and important meditation technique. The practitioner meditates deeply on subtle facts. In agnya vichāya, one contemplates on seven facts – life and non-life, the inflow, bondage, stoppage and removal of karmas, and the final accomplishment of liberation. In apaya vichāya, one contemplates on the incorrect insights one indulges, which eventually develops right insight. In vipaka vichāya, one reflects on the eight causes or basic types of karma. In sansathan vichāya, one thinks about the vastness of the universe and the loneliness of the soul.[76]

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist meditation
 
Bodhidharma practicing zazen

Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward awakening and nirvana.[note 8] The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā ("development"), and the core practices of body contemplations (repulsiveness and cemetery contemplations) and anapanasati (mindfulness of in-&-out breathing)[note 9] culminating in jhāna/dhyāna or samādhi.[note 10]

While most classical and contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school-specific,[note 11] the root meditative practices of various body recollections and breath meditation have been preserved and transmitted in almost all Buddhist traditions, through Buddhist texts like the Satipatthana Sutta and the Dhyana sutras, and through oral teacher-student transmissions. These ancient practices are supplemented with various distinct interpretations of, and developments in, these practices.

The Theravāda tradition stresses the development of samatha and vipassana, postulating over fifty methods for developing mindfulness based on the Satipatthana Sutta,[note 12] and forty for developing concentration based on the Visuddhimagga.

The Tibetan tradition incorporated Sarvastivada and Tantric practices, wedded with Madhyamaka philosophy, and developed thousands of visualization meditations.[note 13]

Via the Dhyana sutras, which are based on the Sarvastivada-tradition, the Zen-tradition incorporated mindfulness and breath-meditation. Downplaying the "petty complexities" of satipatthana and the body-recollections[78][79] (but maintaining the awareness of immanent death), the early Chan-tradition developed the notions or practices of wu nian ("no thought, no "fixation on thought, such as one's own views, experiences, and knowledge")[80][81] and fēi sīliàng (非思量, Japanese: hishiryō, "nonthinking");[82] and kanxin ("observing the mind")[83] and shou-i pu i (守一不移, "maintaining the one without wavering,"[84] turning the attention from the objects of experience, to the nature of mind, the perceiving subject itself, which is equated with Buddha-nature.[85]

The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism introduced meditation to other Asian countries, reaching China in the 2nd century CE,[86] and Japan in the 6th century CE.[87] In the modern era, Buddhist meditation techniques have become popular in the wider world, due to the influence of Buddhist modernism on Asian Buddhism, and western lay interest in Zen and the Vipassana movement, with many non-Buddhists taking-up meditative practices. The modernized concept of mindfulness (based on the Buddhist term sati) and related meditative practices have in turn led to mindfulness based therapies.[88]

Dhyana

Dhyana may have been an original contribution of Gautama Buddha (5th cent. BCE), the founder of Buddhism.[89] While often presented as a form of focused attention or concentration, as in Buddhagosa's Theravada classic the Visuddhimagga ("Path of purification, 5th c. CE), according to a number contemporary scholars and scholar-practitioners, it is actually a description of the development of perfected equanimity and mindfulness, apparently induced by satipatthana, an open monitoring of the breath, without trying to regulate it. The same description, in a different formula, can be found in the bojjhanga, the "seven factors of awakening," and may therefor refer to the core program of early Buddhist bhavana.[90] According to Vetter, dhyana seems to be a natural development from the sense-restraint and moral constrictions prescribed by the Buddhist tradition.[91][92]

Samatha and vipassana

The Buddha identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice or bhavana, namely samatha ("calm," "serenity" "tranquility") and vipassana (insight). As the developing tradition started to emphasize the value of liberating insight, and dhyana came to be understood as concentration,[93][94] samatha and vipassana were understood as two distinct meditative techniques. In this understanding, samatha steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates the mind, while vipassana enables one to see, explore and discern "formations" (conditioned phenomena based on the five aggregates).[note 14]

According to this understanding, which is central to Theravada orthodoxy but also plays a role in Tibetan Buddhism, through the meditative development of serenity, one is able to weaken the obscuring hindrances and bring the mind to a collected, pliant, and still state (samadhi). This quality of mind then supports the development of insight and wisdom (Prajñā) which is the quality of mind that can "clearly see" (vi-passana) the nature of phenomena. What exactly is to be seen varies within the Buddhist traditions. In Theravada, all phenomena are to be seen as impermanent, suffering, not-self and empty. When this happens, one develops dispassion (viraga) for all phenomena, including all negative qualities and hindrances and lets them go. It is through the release of the hindrances and ending of craving through the meditative development of insight that one gains liberation.[95]

Hinduism

Main article: Hindu meditation
See also: Yoga
 
A statue of Patañjali practicing dhyana in the Padma-asana at Patanjali Yogpeeth.

There are many schools and styles of meditation within Hinduism.[73] In pre-modern and traditional Hinduism, Yoga and Dhyana are practised to recognize 'pure awareness', or 'pure consciousness', undisturbed by the workings of the mind, as one's eternal self. In Advaita Vedanta jivatman, individual self, is recognized as illusory, and in Reality identical with the omnipresent and non-dual Ātman-Brahman. In the dualistic Yoga school and Samkhya, the Self is called Purusha, a pure consciousness undisturbed by Prakriti, 'nature'. Depending on the tradition, the liberative event is named moksha, vimukti or kaivalya.

One of the most influential texts of classical Hindu Yoga is Patañjali's Yoga sutras (c. 400 CE), a text associated with Yoga and Samkhya, which outlines eight limbs leading to kaivalya ("aloneness"). These are ethical discipline (yamas), rules (niyamas), physical postures (āsanas), breath control (prāṇāyama), withdrawal from the senses (pratyāhāra), one-pointedness of mind (dhāraṇā), meditation (dhyāna), and finally samādhi.

Later developments in Hindu meditation include the compilation of Hatha Yoga (forceful yoga) compendiums like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the development of Bhakti yoga as a major form of meditation, and Tantra. Another important Hindu yoga text is the Yoga Yajnavalkya, which makes use of Hatha Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy.

Sikhism

Main article: Nām Japō

In Sikhism, simran (meditation) and good deeds are both necessary to achieve the devotee's Spiritual goals;[96] without good deeds meditation is futile. When Sikhs meditate, they aim to feel God's presence and emerge in the divine light.[citation needed] It is only God's divine will or order that allows a devotee to desire to begin to meditate.[97] Nām Japnā involves focusing one's attention on the names or great attributes of God.[98]

Taoism

Main article: Taoist meditation
 
"Gathering the Light", Taoist meditation from The Secret of the Golden Flower

Taoist meditation has developed techniques including concentration, visualization, qi cultivation, contemplation, and mindfulness meditations in its long history. Traditional Daoist meditative practices were influenced by Chinese Buddhism from around the 5th century and influenced Traditional Chinese medicine and the Chinese martial arts.

Livia Kohn distinguishes three basic types of Taoist meditation: "concentrative", "insight", and "visualization".[99] Ding 定 (literally means "decide; settle; stabilize") refers to "deep concentration", "intent contemplation", or "perfect absorption". Guan 觀 (lit. "watch; observe; view") meditation seeks to merge and attain unity with the Dao. It was developed by Tang Dynasty (618–907) Taoist masters based upon the Tiantai Buddhist practice of Vipassanā "insight" or "wisdom" meditation. Cun 存 (lit. "exist; be present; survive") has a sense of "to cause to exist; to make present" in the meditation techniques popularized by the Taoist Shangqing and Lingbao Schools. A meditator visualizes or actualizes solar and lunar essences, lights, and deities within their body, which supposedly results in health and longevity, even xian 仙/仚/僊, "immortality".

The (late 4th century BCE) Guanzi essay Neiye "Inward training" is the oldest received writing on the subject of qi cultivation and breath-control meditation techniques.[100] For instance, "When you enlarge your mind and let go of it, when you relax your vital breath and expand it, when your body is calm and unmoving: And you can maintain the One and discard the myriad disturbances. ... This is called "revolving the vital breath": Your thoughts and deeds seem heavenly."[101]

The (c. 3rd century BCE) Taoist Zhuangzi records zuowang or "sitting forgetting" meditation. Confucius asked his disciple Yan Hui to explain what "sit and forget" means: "I slough off my limbs and trunk, dim my intelligence, depart from my form, leave knowledge behind, and become identical with the Transformational Thoroughfare."[102]

Taoist meditation practices are central to Chinese martial arts (and some Japanese martial arts), especially the qi-related neijia "internal martial arts". Some well-known examples are daoyin "guiding and pulling", qigong "life-energy exercises", neigong "internal exercises", neidan "internal alchemy", and taijiquan "great ultimate boxing", which is thought of as moving meditation. One common explanation contrasts "movement in stillness" referring to energetic visualization of qi circulation in qigong and zuochan "seated meditation",[45] versus "stillness in movement" referring to a state of meditative calm in taijiquan forms. Also the unification or middle road forms such as Wuxingheqidao that seeks the unification of internal alchemical forms with more external forms.

Monotheistic religions

Judaism

Main article: Jewish meditation

Judaism has made use of meditative practices for thousands of years.[103][104] For instance, in the Torah, the patriarch Isaac is described as going "לשוח" (lasuach) in the field – a term understood by all commentators as some type of meditative practice (Genesis 24:63).[105] Similarly, there are indications throughout the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) that the prophets meditated.[106] In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words for meditation: hāgâ (Hebrew: הגה), to sigh or murmur, but also to meditate, and sîḥâ (Hebrew: שיחה), to muse, or rehearse in one's mind.[107]

Classical Jewish texts espouse a wide range of meditative practices, often associated with the cultivation of kavanah or intention. The first layer of rabbinic law, the Mishnah, describes ancient sages "waiting" for an hour before their prayers, "in order to direct their hearts to the Omnipresent One (Mishnah Berakhot 5:1). Other early rabbinic texts include instructions for visualizing the Divine Presence (B. Talmud Sanhedrin 22a) and breathing with conscious gratitude for every breath (Genesis Rabba 14:9).[108]

One of the best-known types of meditation in early Jewish mysticism was the work of the Merkabah, from the root /R-K-B/ meaning "chariot" (of God).[107] Some meditative traditions have been encouraged in Kabbalah, and some Jews have described Kabbalah as an inherently meditative field of study.[109][110][111] Kabbalistic meditation often involves the mental visualization of the supernal realms. Aryeh Kaplan has argued that the ultimate purpose of Kabbalistic meditation is to understand and cleave to the Divine.[107]

Meditation has been of interest to a wide variety of modern Jews. In modern Jewish practice, one of the best known meditative practices is called "hitbodedut" (התבודדות, alternatively transliterated as "hisbodedus"), and is explained in Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and Mussar writings, especially the Hasidic method of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav. The word derives from the Hebrew word "boded" (בודד), meaning the state of being alone.[112] Another Hasidic system is the Habad method of "hisbonenus", related to the Sephirah of "Binah", Hebrew for understanding.[113] This practice is the analytical reflective process of making oneself understand a mystical concept well, that follows and internalises its study in Hasidic writings. The Musar Movement, founded by Rabbi Israel Salanter in the middle of the nineteenth-century, emphasized meditative practices of introspection and visualization that could help to improve moral character.[114] Conservative rabbi Alan Lew has emphasized meditation playing an important role in the process of teshuvah (repentance).[115][116] Jewish Buddhists have adopted Buddhist styles of meditation.[117]

Christianity

 
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina stated: "Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds Him."[118]
Main article: Christian meditation

Christian meditation is a term for a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God.[119] In the Roman Empire, by 20 BCE Philo of Alexandria had written on some form of "spiritual exercises" involving attention (prosoche) and concentration[120] and by the 3rd century Plotinus had developed meditative techniques. The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditatum, which means to "concentrate" or "to ponder". Monk Guigo II introduced this terminology for the first time in the 12th century AD. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (e.g. a biblical scene involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God.[121] Christian meditation is sometimes taken to mean the middle level in a broad three-stage characterization of prayer: it then involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplation in Christianity.[122]

Between the 10th and 14th centuries, hesychasm was developed, particularly on Mount Athos in Greece, and involves the repetition of the Jesus prayer.[123] Interactions with Indians or the Sufis may have influenced the Eastern Christian meditation approach to hesychasm, but this is unproven.[124][125]

Western Christian meditation contrasts with most other approaches in that it does not involve the repetition of any phrase or action and requires no specific posture. Western Christian meditation progressed from the 6th century practice of Bible reading among Benedictine monks called Lectio Divina, i.e. divine reading. Its four formal steps as a "ladder" were defined by the monk Guigo II in the 12th century with the Latin terms lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio (i.e. read, ponder, pray, contemplate). Western Christian meditation was further developed by saints such as Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila in the 16th century.[126][127][128][129]

On April 28, 2021, Pope Francis, in an address to the General Audience, said that meditation is a need for everyone.[130][131] He noted that the term "meditation" has had many meanings throughout history, and that "the ancients used to say that the organ of prayer is the heart."[130]

In Catholic Christianity, the Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of Jesus and Mary.[132][133] “The gentle repetition of its prayers makes it an excellent means to moving into deeper meditation. It gives us an opportunity to open ourselves to God’s word, to refine our interior gaze by turning our minds to the life of Christ. The first principle is that meditation is learned through practice. Many people who practice rosary meditation begin very simply and gradually develop a more sophisticated meditation. The meditator learns to hear an interior voice, the voice of God.[134] Similarly, the chotki of the Eastern Orthodox denomination, the Wreath of Christ of the Lutheran faith, and the Anglican prayer beads of the Episcopalian tradition are used for Christian prayer and meditation.[135][136]

According to Edmund P. Clowney, Christian meditation contrasts with Eastern forms of meditation as radically as the portrayal of God the Father in the Bible contrasts with depictions of Krishna or Brahman in Indian teachings.[137] Unlike some Eastern styles, most styles of Christian meditation do not rely on the repeated use of mantras, and yet are also intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning. Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion.[138][139] In Aspects of Christian meditation, the Catholic Church warned of potential incompatibilities in mixing Christian and Eastern styles of meditation.[140] In 2003, in A Christian reflection on the New Age the Vatican announced that the "Church avoids any concept that is close to those of the New Age".[141][142][143]

Islam

Main article: Muraqabah
See also: Sufism, Sama (Sufism), and Dhikr § Sufi view
 
Whirling dervishes

Dhikr is a type of meditation within Islam, meaning remembering and mentioning God, which involves the repetition of the 99 Names of God since the 8th or 9th century.[144][145] It is interpreted in different meditative techniques in Sufism or Islamic mysticism.[144][145] This became one of the essential elements of Sufism as it was systematized traditionally. It is juxtaposed with fikr (thinking) which leads to knowledge.[146] By the 12th century, the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques, and its followers practiced breathing controls and the repetition of holy words.[147]

Sufism uses a meditative procedure like Buddhist concentration, involving high-intensity and sharply focused introspection. In the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi Sufi order, for example, muraqabah takes the form of tamarkoz, "concentration" in Persian.[148]

Tafakkur or tadabbur in Sufism literally means reflection upon the universe: this is considered to permit access to a form of cognitive and emotional development that can emanate only from the higher level, i.e. from God. The sensation of receiving divine inspiration awakens and liberates both heart and intellect, permitting such inner growth that the apparently mundane actually takes on the quality of the infinite. Muslim teachings embrace life as a test of one's submission to God.[149]

Dervishes of certain Sufi orders practice whirling, a form of physically active meditation.[150]

Baháʼí Faith

In the teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, meditation is a primary tool for spiritual development,[151] involving reflection on the words of God.[152] While prayer and meditation are linked, where meditation happens generally in a prayerful attitude, prayer is seen specifically as turning toward God,[153] and meditation is seen as a communion with one's self where one focuses on the divine.[152]

In Baháʼí teachings the purpose of meditation is to strengthen one's understanding of the words of God, and to make one's soul more susceptible to their potentially transformative power,[152] more receptive to the need for both prayer and meditation to bring about and maintain a spiritual communion with God.[154]

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, never specified any particular form of meditation, and thus each person is free to choose their own form.[151] However, he did state that Baháʼís should read a passage of the Baháʼí writings twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening, and meditate on it. He also encouraged people to reflect on one's actions and worth at the end of each day.[152] During the Nineteen Day Fast, a period of the year during which Baháʼís adhere to a sunrise-to-sunset fast, they meditate and pray to reinvigorate their spiritual forces.[155]

Modern spirituality

 
Meditation. Alexej von Jawlensky, 1918

Modern dissemination in the West

Meditation has spread in the West since the late 19th century, accompanying increased travel and communication among cultures worldwide. Most prominent has been the transmission of Asian-derived practices to the West. In addition, interest in some Western-based meditative practices has been revived,[156] and these have been disseminated to a limited extent to Asian countries.[157]

Ideas about Eastern meditation had begun "seeping into American popular culture even before the American Revolution through the various sects of European occult Christianity",[25]: 3  and such ideas "came pouring in [to America] during the era of the transcendentalists, especially between the 1840s and the 1880s."[25]: 3  The following decades saw further spread of these ideas to America:

The World Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, was the landmark event that increased Western awareness of meditation. This was the first time that Western audiences on American soil received Asian spiritual teachings from Asians themselves. Thereafter, Swami Vivekananda... [founded] various Vedanta ashrams... Anagarika Dharmapala lectured at Harvard on Theravada Buddhist meditation in 1904; Abdul Baha ... [toured] the US teaching the principles of Bahai [sic], and Soyen Shaku toured in 1907 teaching Zen...[25]: 4 

More recently, in the 1960s, another surge in Western interest in meditative practices began. The rise of communist political power in Asia led to many Asian spiritual teachers taking refuge in Western countries, oftentimes as refugees.[25]: 7  In addition to spiritual forms of meditation, secular forms of meditation have taken root. Rather than focusing on spiritual growth, secular meditation emphasizes stress reduction, relaxation and self-improvement.[158][159]

The 2012 US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (34,525 subjects) found 8% of US adults used meditation,[160] with lifetime and 12-month prevalence of meditation use of 5.2% and 4.1% respectively.[161] In the 2017 NHIS survey, meditation use among workers was 10% (up from 8% in 2002).[162]

Mantra meditation, with the use of a japa mala and especially with focus on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is a central practice of the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith tradition and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement. Other popular New Religious Movements include the Ramakrishna Mission, Vedanta Society, Divine Light Mission, Chinmaya Mission, Osho, Sahaja Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Oneness University, Brahma Kumaris, Vihangam Yoga and Heartfulness Meditation (Sahaj Marg).

New Age

New Age meditations are often influenced by Eastern philosophy, mysticism, yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism, yet may contain some degree of Western influence. In the West, meditation found its mainstream roots through the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, when many of the youth of the day rebelled against traditional religion as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity to provide spiritual and ethical guidance.[163] New Age meditation as practised by the early hippies is regarded for its techniques of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on an object.[164] New Age meditation evolved into a range of purposes and practices, from serenity and balance to access to other realms of consciousness to the concentration of energy in group meditation to the supreme goal of samadhi, as in the ancient yogic practice of meditation.[165]

Guided meditation

Further information: Yoga nidra

Guided meditation is a form of meditation which uses a number of different techniques to achieve or enhance the meditative state. It may simply be meditation done under the guidance of a trained practitioner or teacher, or it may be through the use of imagery, music, and other techniques.[166] The session can be either in person, via media[167] comprising music or verbal instruction, or a combination of both.[168][169] The most common form is a combination of meditation music and receptive music therapy, guided imagery, relaxation, mindfulness, and journaling.[170][171][172]

Because of the different combinations used under the one term, it can be difficult to attribute positive or negative outcomes to any of the various techniques. Furthermore, the term is frequently used interchangeably with "guided imagery" and sometimes with "creative visualization" in popular psychology and self-help literature. It is less commonly used in scholarly and scientific publications. Consequently, guided meditation cannot be understood as a single technique but rather multiple techniques that are integral to its practice.[173][174][175][176]

Guided meditation as an aggregate or synthesis of techniques includes meditation music, receptive music therapy, guided imagery, relaxation, meditative praxis, and self-reflective diary-keeping or journaling. All of which have been shown to have therapeutic benefits when employed as an adjunct to primary strategies. Benefits include lower levels of stress,[177] reducing asthmatic episodes,[178] physical pain,[179] insomnia,[180] episodic anger,[181] negative or irrational thinking,[182] and anxiety, as well as improving coping skills,[183] focus,[184] and a general feeling of well-being.[185][186]

Secular applications

Psychotherapy

See also: Analytic psychology and Psychoanalysis

Carl Jung (1875–1961) was an early western explorer of eastern religious practices.[187][188] He clearly advocated ways to increase the conscious awareness of an individual. Yet he expressed some caution concerning a westerner's direct immersion in eastern practices without some prior appreciation of the differing spiritual and cultural contexts.[189][190] Also Erich Fromm (1900–1980) later explored spiritual practices of the east.[191]

Clinical applications

See also: Mindfulness applications, Mindfulness-based stress reduction, Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and Mindfulness-based pain management

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states that "Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being."[192][10] A 2014 review found that practice of mindfulness meditation for two to six months by people undergoing long-term psychiatric or medical therapy could produce small improvements in anxiety, pain, or depression.[193] In 2017, the American Heart Association issued a scientific statement that meditation may be a reasonable adjunct practice to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, with the qualification that meditation needs to be better defined in higher-quality clinical research of these disorders.[194] Recent findings have also found evidence of meditation affecting migraines in adults. Mindfulness meditation may allow for a decrease in migraine episodes, and a drop in migraine medication usage.[195]

Low-quality evidence indicates that meditation may help with irritable bowel syndrome,[192] insomnia,[192] cognitive decline in the elderly,[196] and post-traumatic stress disorder.[197][198] Researchers have found that participating in mindfulness meditation can aid insomnia patients by improving sleep quality and total wake time.[199] Mindfulness meditation is not a treatment for insomnia patients, but it can provide support in addition to their treatment options.[199]

Meditation in the workplace

A 2010 review of the literature on spirituality and performance in organizations found an increase in corporate meditation programs.[200]

As of 2016 around a quarter of U.S. employers were using stress reduction initiatives.[201][202] The goal was to help reduce stress and improve reactions to stress. Aetna now offers its program to its customers. Google also implements mindfulness, offering more than a dozen meditation courses, with the most prominent one, "Search Inside Yourself", having been implemented since 2007.[202] General Mills offers the Mindful Leadership Program Series, a course which uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, yoga and dialogue with the intention of developing the mind's capacity to pay attention.[202]

Relaxation response and biofeedback

Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School conducted a series of clinical tests on meditators from various disciplines, including the Transcendental Meditation technique and Tibetan Buddhism. In 1975, Benson published a book titled The Relaxation Response where he outlined his own version of meditation for relaxation.[203] Also in the 1970s, the American psychologist Patricia Carrington developed a similar technique called Clinically Standardized Meditation (CSM).[204] In Norway, another sound-based method called Acem Meditation developed a psychology of meditation and has been the subject of several scientific studies.[205]

Biofeedback has been used by many researchers since the 1950s in an effort to enter deeper states of mind.[206][207]

Effects

Main article: Effects of meditation

Research on the processes and effects of meditation is a subfield of neurological research.[9] Modern scientific techniques, such as fMRI and EEG, were used to observe neurological responses during meditation.[208] Concerns have been raised on the quality of meditation research,[9][209][210] including the particular characteristics of individuals who tend to participate.[211]

Meditation lowers heart rate, oxygen consumption, breathing frequency, stress hormones, lactate levels, and sympathetic nervous system activity (associated with the fight-or-flight response), along with a modest decline in blood pressure.[212][213] However, those who have meditated for two or three years were found to already have low blood pressure. During meditation, the oxygen consumption decrease averages 10 to 20 percent over the first three minutes. During sleep for example, oxygen consumption decreases around 8 percent over four or five hours.[214] For meditators who have practiced for years, breath rate can drop to three or four breaths per minute and brain waves slow from alpha waves seen in normal relaxation to much slower delta and theta waves.[215]

Since the 1970s, clinical psychology and psychiatry have developed meditation techniques for numerous psychological conditions.[216] Mindfulness practice is employed in psychology to alleviate mental and physical conditions, such as reducing depression, stress, and anxiety.[9][217][218] Mindfulness is also used in the treatment of drug addiction, although the quality of research has been poor.[210][219] Studies demonstrate that meditation has a moderate effect to reduce pain.[9] There is insufficient evidence for any effect of meditation on positive mood, attention, eating habits, sleep, or body weight.[9] A 2015 study, including subjective and objective reports and brain scans, has shown that meditation can improve controlling attention, as well as self-awareness.[220]

A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of meditation on empathy, compassion, and prosocial behaviors found that meditation practices had small to medium effects on self-reported and observable outcomes, concluding that such practices can "improve positive prosocial emotions and behaviors".[221][unreliable medical source?] However, a meta-review published on Scientific Reports showed that the evidence is very weak and "that the effects of meditation on compassion were only significant when compared to passive control groups suggests that other forms of active interventions (like watching a nature video) might produce similar outcomes to meditation".[222]

Potential adverse effects

See also: Effects of meditation § Potential adverse effects and limits of meditation

Meditation has been correlated with unpleasant experiences in some people.[223][224][225][226] In some cases, it has also been linked to psychosis in a few individuals.[227]

In one study, published in 2019, of 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience, about a quarter reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences (such as anxiety, fear, distorted emotions or thoughts, altered sense of self or the world), which they thought may have been caused by their meditation practice. Meditators with high levels of repetitive negative thinking and those who only engage in deconstructive meditation were more likely to report unpleasant side effects. Adverse effects were less frequently reported in women and religious meditators.[228]

Difficult experiences encountered in meditation are mentioned in traditional sources; and some may be considered to be just an expected part of the process: for example: seven stages of purification mentioned in Theravāda Buddhism, or possible “unwholesome or frightening visions” mentioned in a practical manual on vipassanā meditation.[229]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ An influential definition by Shapiro (1982) states that "meditation refers to a family of techniques which have in common a conscious attempt to focus attention in a nonanalytical way and an attempt not to dwell on discursive, ruminating thought" (p. 6, italics in original). The term "discursive thought" has long been used in Western philosophy, and is often viewed as a synonym to logical thought.[30]
  2. ^ Bond et al. (2009) report that 7 expert scholars who had studied different traditions of meditation agreed that an "essential" component of meditation "Involves logic relaxation: not 'to intend' to analyze the possible psychophysical effects, not 'to intend' to judge the possible results, not 'to intend' to create any type of expectation regarding the process" (p. 134, Table 4). In their final consideration, all 7 experts regarded this feature as an "essential" component of meditation; none of them regarded it as merely "important but not essential" (p. 234, Table 4). (This same result is presented in Table B1 in Ospina et al. 2007, p. 281)
  3. ^ This does not mean that all meditation seeks to take a person beyond all thought processes, only those processes that are sometimes referred to as "discursive" or "logical" (see Shapiro 1982/1984; Bond et al. 2009; Appendix B, pp. 279–82 in Ospina et al. (2007)).
  4. ^ "members were chosen on the basis of their publication record of research on the therapeutic use of meditation, their knowledge of and training in traditional or clinically developed meditation techniques, and their affiliation with universities and research centers. Each member had specific expertise and training in at least one of the following meditation practices: kundalini yoga, Transcendental Meditation, relaxation response, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and vipassana meditation" (Bond et al. 2009, p. 131); their views were combined using "the Delphi technique ... a method of eliciting and refining group judgments to address complex problems with a high level of uncertainty" (Bond et al. 2009, p. 131).
  5. ^ Bond et al. 2009: "Logic relaxation is defined by the authors as “not ‘to intend’ to analyzing (not trying to explain) the possible psychophysical effects,” “not ‘to intend’ to judging (good, bad, right, wrong) the possible psychophysical [effects],” and “not ‘to intend’ to creating any type of expectation regarding the process. (Cardoso et al., 2004, p. 59)"
  6. ^ Regarding influential reviews encompassing multiple methods of meditation: Walsh & Shapiro (2006), Cahn & Polich (2006), and Jevning, Wallace & Beidebach (1992), are cited >80 times in PsycINFO. Number of citations in PsycINFO: 254 for Walsh & Shapiro, 2006 (26 August 2018); 561 for Cahn & Polich, 2006 (26 August 2018); 83 for Jevning et al. (1992) (26 August 2018). Goleman's book has 33 editions listed in WorldCat: 17 editions as The meditative mind: The varieties of meditative experience[32] and 16 editions as The varieties of meditative experience.[33] Citation and edition counts are as of August 2018 and September 2018 respectively.
  7. ^ According to Shear, "Focused Attention, Open Monitoring and Automatic Self-Transcending were likely to be associated with (γ and β)13, θ, and α1 EEG bands, respectively."[47]
  8. ^ For instance, Kamalashila (2003, p. 4), states that Buddhist meditation "includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim." Likewise, Bodhi (1999) writes: "To arrive at the experiential realization of the truths it is necessary to take up the practice of meditation.... At the climax of such contemplation the mental eye ... shifts its focus to the unconditioned state, Nibbana...." A similar although in some ways slightly broader definition is provided by:[77] "Meditation – general term for a multitude of religious practices, often quite different in method, but all having the same goal: to bring the consciousness of the practitioner to a state in which he can come to an experience of 'awakening,' 'liberation,' 'enlightenment.'" Kamalashila (2003) further allows that some Buddhist meditations are "of a more preparatory nature" (p. 4).
  9. ^ The Pāli and Sanskrit word bhāvanā literally means "development" as in "mental development." For the association of this term with "meditation," see Epstein (1995, p. 105); and Fischer-Schreiber, Ehrhard & Diener (1991, p. 20). As an example from a well-known discourse of the Pali Canon, in "The Greater Exhortation to Rahula" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62), Ven. Sariputta tells Ven. Rahula (in Pali, based on VRI, n.d.): ānāpānassatiṃ, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvehi. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (2006). "Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: The Greater Exhortation to Rahula (MN 62)". translates this as: "Rahula, develop the meditation [bhāvana] of mindfulness of in-&-out breathing." (Square-bracketed Pali word included based on Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, 2006, end note
  10. ^ See, for example, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (1997). "One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice".; as well as Kapleau (1989, p. 385) for the derivation of the word "zen" from Sanskrit "dhyāna". Pāli Text Society Secretary Rupert Gethin, in describing the activities of wandering ascetics contemporaneous with the Buddha, wrote:
    There is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technical term in English, be referred to as "altered states of consciousness". In the technical vocabulary of Indian religious texts such states come to be termed "meditations" ([Skt.:] dhyāna / [Pali:] jhāna) or "concentrations" (samādhi); the attainment of such states of consciousness was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper knowledge and experience of the nature of the world. (Gethin 1998, p. 10)
  11. ^ Examples of contemporary school-specific classics include:
    • from the Theravada tradition, Nyanaponika (Thera) (1996). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: Satipaṭṭhāna: a Handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha's Way of Mindfulness, with an Anthology of Relevant Texts Translated from the Pali and Sanskrit. Buddhist Publication Society..
    • from the Zen tradition, Kapleau (1989).
  12. ^ Goldstein (2003) writes that, in regard to the Satipatthana Sutta, "there are more than fifty different practices outlined in this Sutta. The meditations that derive from these foundations of mindfulness are called vipassana..., and in one form or another – and by whatever name – are found in all the major Buddhist traditions" (p. 92).
  13. ^ Regarding Tibetan visualizations, Kamalashila (2003), writes: "The Tara meditation ... is one example out of thousands of subjects for visualization meditation, each one arising out of some meditator's visionary experience of enlightened qualities, seen in the form of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas" (p. 227).
  14. ^ These definitions of samatha and vipassana are based on the "Four Kinds of Persons Sutta" (AN 4.94). This article's text is primarily based on Bodhi (2005, pp. 269–70, 440 n. 13). See also Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (1998d). "Samadhi Sutta: Concentration (Tranquillity and Insight) (AN 4.94)"..

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Further reading

External links

  • Meditation at Curlie
  • portrait and article from The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News August 28, 1880

January 18, 2023
meditation, this, article, about, induction, specific, modes, states, consciousness, other, uses, disambiguation, confused, with, mediation, medication, practice, which, individual, uses, technique, such, mindfulness, focusing, mind, particular, object, though. This article is about the induction of specific modes or states of consciousness For other uses see Meditation disambiguation Not to be confused with mediation or medication Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique such as mindfulness or focusing the mind on a particular object thought or activity to train attention and awareness and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state 1 2 3 4 web 1 web 2 Various depictions of meditation clockwise starting at the top left the Hindu Swami Vivekananda the Buddhist monk Hsuan Hua Taoist Baduanjin Qigong the Christian St Francis Muslim Sufis in Dhikr and social reformer Narayana Guru Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions The earliest records of meditation dhyana are found in the Upanishads and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism Buddhism and Hinduism 5 Since the 19th century Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have also found application in non spiritual contexts such as business and health Meditation may significantly reduce stress anxiety depression and pain 6 and enhance peace perception 7 self concept and well being 8 9 10 Research is ongoing to better understand the effects of meditation on health psychological neurological and cardiovascular and other areas Contents 1 Etymology 2 Definitions 2 1 Difficulties in defining meditation 2 1 1 No universally accepted definition 2 1 2 Separation of technique from tradition 2 2 Dictionary definitions 2 3 Scholarly definitions 2 4 Classifications 2 4 1 Focused and open methods 2 4 2 Other possible typologies 3 Technique 3 1 Posture 3 2 Frequency 3 3 Supporting aids 3 3 1 Use of prayer beads 3 3 2 Striking the meditator 3 3 3 Using a narrative 4 Meditation traditions 4 1 Origins 4 2 Indian religions 4 2 1 Jainism 4 2 2 Buddhism 4 2 2 1 Dhyana 4 2 2 2 Samatha and vipassana 4 2 3 Hinduism 4 2 4 Sikhism 4 3 Taoism 4 4 Monotheistic religions 4 4 1 Judaism 4 4 2 Christianity 4 4 3 Islam 4 4 4 Bahaʼi Faith 4 5 Modern spirituality 4 5 1 Modern dissemination in the West 4 5 2 New Age 4 5 3 Guided meditation 5 Secular applications 5 1 Psychotherapy 5 2 Clinical applications 5 3 Meditation in the workplace 5 4 Relaxation response and biofeedback 6 Effects 6 1 Potential adverse effects 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External linksEtymology EditThe English meditation is derived from Old French meditacioun in turn from Latin meditatio from a verb meditari meaning to think contemplate devise ponder 11 12 In the Catholic tradition the use of the term meditatio as part of a formal stepwise process of meditation goes back to at least the 12th century monk Guigo II 12 13 before which the Greek word Theoria was used for the same purpose Apart from its historical usage the term meditation was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices referred to as dhyana in Hinduism and Buddhism and which comes from the Sanskrit root dhyai meaning to contemplate or meditate 14 15 16 The term meditation in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism 17 or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm 18 Definitions EditDifficulties in defining meditation Edit No universally accepted definition Edit Meditation has proven difficult to define as it covers a wide range of dissimilar practices in different traditions In popular usage the word meditation and the phrase meditative practice are often used imprecisely to designate practices found across many cultures 18 19 These can include almost anything that is claimed to train the attention of mind or to teach calm or compassion 20 There remains no definition of necessary and sufficient criteria for meditation that has achieved universal or widespread acceptance within the modern scientific community In 1971 Claudio Naranjo noted that The word meditation has been used to designate a variety of practices that differ enough from one another so that we may find trouble in defining what meditation is 21 6 A 2009 study noted a persistent lack of consensus in the literature and a seeming intractability of defining meditation 22 Separation of technique from tradition Edit Some of the difficulty in precisely defining meditation has been in recognizing the particularities of the many various traditions 23 and theories and practice can differ within a tradition 24 Taylor noted that even within a faith such as Hindu or Buddhist schools and individual teachers may teach distinct types of meditation 25 2 Ornstein noted that Most techniques of meditation do not exist as solitary practices but are only artificially separable from an entire system of practice and belief 26 143 For instance while monks meditate as part of their everyday lives they also engage the codified rules and live together in monasteries in specific cultural settings that go along with their meditative practices Dictionary definitions Edit Dictionaries give both the original Latin meaning of think ing deeply about something web 2 as well as the popular usage of focusing one s mind for a period of time web 2 the act of giving your attention to only one thing either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed web 3 and to engage in mental exercise such as concentrating on one s breathing or repetition of a mantra for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness web 1 Scholarly definitions Edit In modern psychological research meditation has been defined and characterized in various ways Many of these emphasize the role of attention 18 27 28 29 and characterize the practice of meditation as attempts to get beyond the reflexive discursive thinking note 1 or logic note 2 mind note 3 to achieve a deeper more devout or more relaxed state Bond et al 2009 identified criteria for defining a practice as meditation for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation using a 5 round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research who were also trained in diverse but empirically highly studied Eastern derived or clinical forms of meditation note 4 three main criteria as essential to any meditation practice the use of a defined technique logic relaxation note 5 and a self induced state mode Other criteria deemed important but not essential involve a state of psychophysical relaxation the use of a self focus skill or anchor the presence of a state of suspension of logical thought processes a religious spiritual philosophical context or a state of mental silence 22 It is plausible that meditation is best thought of as a natural category of techniques best captured by family resemblances or by the related prototype model of concepts 31 Several other definitions of meditation have been used by influential modern reviews of research on meditation across multiple traditions note 6 Walsh amp Shapiro 2006 Meditation refers to a family of self regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well being and development and or specific capacities such as calm clarity and concentration 1 Cahn amp Polich 2006 Meditation is used to describe practices that self regulate the body and mind thereby affecting mental events by engaging a specific attentional set regulation of attention is the central commonality across the many divergent methods 2 Jevning et al 1992 We define meditation as a stylized mental technique repetitively practiced for the purpose of attaining a subjective experience that is frequently described as very restful silent and of heightened alertness often characterized as blissful 3 Goleman 1988 the need for the meditator to retrain his attention whether through concentration or mindfulness is the single invariant ingredient in every meditation system 4 Classifications Edit Focused and open methods Edit In the West meditation techniques have often been classified in two broad categories which in actual practice are often combined focused or concentrative meditation and open monitoring or mindfulness meditation 34 Direction of mental attention A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object so called concentrative meditation on all mental events that enter the field of awareness so called mindfulness meditation or both specific focal points and the field of awareness 35 Focused methods include paying attention to the breath to an idea or feeling such as metta loving kindness to a kōan or to a mantra such as in transcendental meditation and single point meditation 36 37 Open monitoring methods include mindfulness shikantaza and other awareness states 38 Other possible typologies Edit Another typology divides meditation approaches into concentrative generative receptive and reflective practices 39 40 concentrative focused attention including breath meditation TM and visualizations generative developing qualities like loving kindness and compassion receptive open monitoring reflective systematic investigation contemplation The Buddhist tradition often divides meditative practice into samatha or calm abiding 41 42 and vipassana insight Mindfulness of breathing a form of focused attention calms down the mind this calmed mind can then investigate the nature of reality 43 44 45 by monitoring the fleeting and ever changing constituents of experience by reflective investigation or by turning back the radiance focusing awareness on awareness itself and discerning the true nature of mind as awareness itself Matko and Sedlmeier 2019 call into question the common division into focused attention and open monitoring practices They argue for two orthogonal dimensions along which meditation techniques could be classified namely activation and amount of body orientation proposing seven clusters of techniques mindful observation body centered meditation visual concentration contemplation affect centered meditation mantra meditation and meditation with movement 46 Jonathan Shear argues that transcendental meditation is an automatic self transcending technique different from focused attention and open monitoring 47 In this kind of practice there is no attempt to sustain any particular condition at all Practices of this kind once started are reported to automatically transcend their own activity and disappear to be started up again later if appropriate 47 note 7 Yet Shear also states that automatic self transcending also applies to the way other techniques such as from Zen and Qigong are practiced by experienced meditators once they had become effortless and automatic through years of practice 47 Technique EditPosture Edit Young children practicing meditation in a Peruvian school Main article Asana Asanas and positions such as the full lotus half lotus Burmese Seiza and kneeling positions are popular in Buddhism Jainism and Hinduism 48 although other postures such as sitting supine lying and standing are also used Meditation is also sometimes done while walking known as kinhin while doing a simple task mindfully known as samu or while lying down known as savasana 49 50 Postures involve focus attention and move body coordinately or hold still with rhythmic inhalation and exhalation 51 Frequency Edit The Transcendental Meditation technique recommends practice of 20 minutes twice per day 52 Some techniques suggest less time 43 especially when starting meditation 53 and Richard Davidson has quoted research saying benefits can be achieved with a practice of only 8 minutes per day 54 Research shows improvement in meditation time with simple oral and video training 55 Some meditators practice for much longer 56 57 particularly when on a course or retreat 58 Some meditators find practice best in the hours before dawn 59 Supporting aids Edit Use of prayer beads Edit Some religions have traditions of using prayer beads as tools in devotional meditation 60 61 62 Most prayer beads and Christian rosaries consist of pearls or beads linked together by a thread 60 61 The Roman Catholic rosary is a string of beads containing five sets with ten small beads The Hindu japa mala has 108 beads the figure 108 in itself having spiritual significance as well as those used in Gaudiya Vaishnavism the Hare Krishna tradition Jainism and Buddhist prayer beads 63 64 Each bead is counted once as a person recites a mantra until the person has gone all the way around the mala 64 The Muslim misbaha has 99 beads There is also quite a variance when it comes to materials used for beads Beads made from seeds of rudraksha trees are considered sacred by devotees of Shiva while followers of Vishnu revere the wood that comes from the tulsi plant 65 Striking the meditator Edit The Buddhist literature has many stories of Enlightenment being attained through disciples being struck by their masters According to T Griffith Foulk the encouragement stick was an integral part of the Zen practice In the Rinzai monastery where I trained in the mid 1970s according to an unspoken etiquette monks who were sitting earnestly and well were shown respect by being hit vigorously and often those known as laggards were ignored by the hall monitor or given little taps if they requested to be hit Nobody asked about the meaning of the stick nobody explained and nobody ever complained about its use 66 Using a narrative Edit Neuroscientist and long time meditator Richard Davidson has expressed the view that having a narrative can help the maintenance of daily practice 54 For instance he himself prostrates to the teachings and meditates not primarily for my benefit but for the benefit of others 54 Meditation traditions Edit Man Meditating in a Garden Setting Origins Edit The history of meditation is intimately bound up with the religious context within which it was practiced 67 Rossano has suggested that the emergence of the capacity for focused attention an element of many methods of meditation may have contributed to the latest phases of human biological evolution 68 Some of the earliest references to meditation as well as proto Samkhya are found in the Upanishads of India 69 70 The earliest clear references to meditation are in the middle Upanishads and the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad Gita 71 72 According to Gavin Flood the earlier Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is describing meditation when it states that having become calm and concentrated one perceives the self atman within oneself BU 4 4 23 73 Indian religions Edit Jainism Edit Main article Jain meditation The asana in which Mahavira is said to have attained omniscience Jain meditation and spiritual practices system were referred to as salvation path It has three parts called the Ratnatraya Three Jewels right perception and faith right knowledge and right conduct 74 Meditation in Jainism aims at realizing the self attaining salvation and taking the soul to complete freedom 75 It aims to reach and to remain in the pure state of soul which is believed to be pure consciousness beyond any attachment or aversion The practitioner strives to be just a knower seer Gyata Drashta Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to Dharma Dhyana and Shukla Dhyana clarification needed Jainism uses meditation techniques such as pindastha dhyana padastha dhyana rupastha dhyana rupatita dhyana and savirya dhyana In padastha dhyana one focuses on a mantra 76 A mantra could be either a combination of core letters or words on deity or themes There is a rich tradition of Mantra in Jainism All Jain followers irrespective of their sect whether Digambara or Svetambara practice mantra Mantra chanting is an important part of daily lives of Jain monks and followers Mantra chanting can be done either loudly or silently in mind 76 Contemplation is a very old and important meditation technique The practitioner meditates deeply on subtle facts In agnya vichaya one contemplates on seven facts life and non life the inflow bondage stoppage and removal of karmas and the final accomplishment of liberation In apaya vichaya one contemplates on the incorrect insights one indulges which eventually develops right insight In vipaka vichaya one reflects on the eight causes or basic types of karma In sansathan vichaya one thinks about the vastness of the universe and the loneliness of the soul 76 Buddhism Edit Main article Buddhist meditation Bodhidharma practicing zazen Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward awakening and nirvana note 8 The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhavana development and the core practices of body contemplations repulsiveness and cemetery contemplations and anapanasati mindfulness of in amp out breathing note 9 culminating in jhana dhyana or samadhi note 10 While most classical and contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school specific note 11 the root meditative practices of various body recollections and breath meditation have been preserved and transmitted in almost all Buddhist traditions through Buddhist texts like the Satipatthana Sutta and the Dhyana sutras and through oral teacher student transmissions These ancient practices are supplemented with various distinct interpretations of and developments in these practices The Theravada tradition stresses the development of samatha and vipassana postulating over fifty methods for developing mindfulness based on the Satipatthana Sutta note 12 and forty for developing concentration based on the Visuddhimagga The Tibetan tradition incorporated Sarvastivada and Tantric practices wedded with Madhyamaka philosophy and developed thousands of visualization meditations note 13 Via the Dhyana sutras which are based on the Sarvastivada tradition the Zen tradition incorporated mindfulness and breath meditation Downplaying the petty complexities of satipatthana and the body recollections 78 79 but maintaining the awareness of immanent death the early Chan tradition developed the notions or practices of wu nian no thought no fixation on thought such as one s own views experiences and knowledge 80 81 and fei siliang 非思量 Japanese hishiryō nonthinking 82 and kanxin observing the mind 83 and shou i pu i 守一不移 maintaining the one without wavering 84 turning the attention from the objects of experience to the nature of mind the perceiving subject itself which is equated with Buddha nature 85 The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism introduced meditation to other Asian countries reaching China in the 2nd century CE 86 and Japan in the 6th century CE 87 In the modern era Buddhist meditation techniques have become popular in the wider world due to the influence of Buddhist modernism on Asian Buddhism and western lay interest in Zen and the Vipassana movement with many non Buddhists taking up meditative practices The modernized concept of mindfulness based on the Buddhist term sati and related meditative practices have in turn led to mindfulness based therapies 88 Dhyana Edit Dhyana may have been an original contribution of Gautama Buddha 5th cent BCE the founder of Buddhism 89 While often presented as a form of focused attention or concentration as in Buddhagosa s Theravada classic the Visuddhimagga Path of purification 5th c CE according to a number contemporary scholars and scholar practitioners it is actually a description of the development of perfected equanimity and mindfulness apparently induced by satipatthana an open monitoring of the breath without trying to regulate it The same description in a different formula can be found in the bojjhanga the seven factors of awakening and may therefor refer to the core program of early Buddhist bhavana 90 According to Vetter dhyana seems to be a natural development from the sense restraint and moral constrictions prescribed by the Buddhist tradition 91 92 Samatha and vipassana Edit The Buddha identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice or bhavana namely samatha calm serenity tranquility and vipassana insight As the developing tradition started to emphasize the value of liberating insight and dhyana came to be understood as concentration 93 94 samatha and vipassana were understood as two distinct meditative techniques In this understanding samatha steadies composes unifies and concentrates the mind while vipassana enables one to see explore and discern formations conditioned phenomena based on the five aggregates note 14 According to this understanding which is central to Theravada orthodoxy but also plays a role in Tibetan Buddhism through the meditative development of serenity one is able to weaken the obscuring hindrances and bring the mind to a collected pliant and still state samadhi This quality of mind then supports the development of insight and wisdom Prajna which is the quality of mind that can clearly see vi passana the nature of phenomena What exactly is to be seen varies within the Buddhist traditions In Theravada all phenomena are to be seen as impermanent suffering not self and empty When this happens one develops dispassion viraga for all phenomena including all negative qualities and hindrances and lets them go It is through the release of the hindrances and ending of craving through the meditative development of insight that one gains liberation 95 Hinduism Edit Main article Hindu meditation See also Yoga A statue of Patanjali practicing dhyana in the Padma asana at Patanjali Yogpeeth There are many schools and styles of meditation within Hinduism 73 In pre modern and traditional Hinduism Yoga and Dhyana are practised to recognize pure awareness or pure consciousness undisturbed by the workings of the mind as one s eternal self In Advaita Vedanta jivatman individual self is recognized as illusory and in Reality identical with the omnipresent and non dual Atman Brahman In the dualistic Yoga school and Samkhya the Self is called Purusha a pure consciousness undisturbed by Prakriti nature Depending on the tradition the liberative event is named moksha vimukti or kaivalya One of the most influential texts of classical Hindu Yoga is Patanjali s Yoga sutras c 400 CE a text associated with Yoga and Samkhya which outlines eight limbs leading to kaivalya aloneness These are ethical discipline yamas rules niyamas physical postures asanas breath control praṇayama withdrawal from the senses pratyahara one pointedness of mind dharaṇa meditation dhyana and finally samadhi Later developments in Hindu meditation include the compilation of Hatha Yoga forceful yoga compendiums like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika the development of Bhakti yoga as a major form of meditation and Tantra Another important Hindu yoga text is the Yoga Yajnavalkya which makes use of Hatha Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy Sikhism Edit Main article Nam Japō In Sikhism simran meditation and good deeds are both necessary to achieve the devotee s Spiritual goals 96 without good deeds meditation is futile When Sikhs meditate they aim to feel God s presence and emerge in the divine light citation needed It is only God s divine will or order that allows a devotee to desire to begin to meditate 97 Nam Japna involves focusing one s attention on the names or great attributes of God 98 Taoism Edit Main article Taoist meditation Gathering the Light Taoist meditation from The Secret of the Golden Flower Taoist meditation has developed techniques including concentration visualization qi cultivation contemplation and mindfulness meditations in its long history Traditional Daoist meditative practices were influenced by Chinese Buddhism from around the 5th century and influenced Traditional Chinese medicine and the Chinese martial arts Livia Kohn distinguishes three basic types of Taoist meditation concentrative insight and visualization 99 Ding 定 literally means decide settle stabilize refers to deep concentration intent contemplation or perfect absorption Guan 觀 lit watch observe view meditation seeks to merge and attain unity with the Dao It was developed by Tang Dynasty 618 907 Taoist masters based upon the Tiantai Buddhist practice of Vipassana insight or wisdom meditation Cun 存 lit exist be present survive has a sense of to cause to exist to make present in the meditation techniques popularized by the Taoist Shangqing and Lingbao Schools A meditator visualizes or actualizes solar and lunar essences lights and deities within their body which supposedly results in health and longevity even xian 仙 仚 僊 immortality The late 4th century BCE Guanzi essay Neiye Inward training is the oldest received writing on the subject of qi cultivation and breath control meditation techniques 100 For instance When you enlarge your mind and let go of it when you relax your vital breath and expand it when your body is calm and unmoving And you can maintain the One and discard the myriad disturbances This is called revolving the vital breath Your thoughts and deeds seem heavenly 101 The c 3rd century BCE Taoist Zhuangzi records zuowang or sitting forgetting meditation Confucius asked his disciple Yan Hui to explain what sit and forget means I slough off my limbs and trunk dim my intelligence depart from my form leave knowledge behind and become identical with the Transformational Thoroughfare 102 Taoist meditation practices are central to Chinese martial arts and some Japanese martial arts especially the qi related neijia internal martial arts Some well known examples are daoyin guiding and pulling qigong life energy exercises neigong internal exercises neidan internal alchemy and taijiquan great ultimate boxing which is thought of as moving meditation One common explanation contrasts movement in stillness referring to energetic visualization of qi circulation in qigong and zuochan seated meditation 45 versus stillness in movement referring to a state of meditative calm in taijiquan forms Also the unification or middle road forms such as Wuxingheqidao that seeks the unification of internal alchemical forms with more external forms Monotheistic religions Edit Judaism Edit Main article Jewish meditation Judaism has made use of meditative practices for thousands of years 103 104 For instance in the Torah the patriarch Isaac is described as going לשוח lasuach in the field a term understood by all commentators as some type of meditative practice Genesis 24 63 105 Similarly there are indications throughout the Tanakh the Hebrew Bible that the prophets meditated 106 In the Old Testament there are two Hebrew words for meditation haga Hebrew הגה to sigh or murmur but also to meditate and siḥa Hebrew שיחה to muse or rehearse in one s mind 107 Classical Jewish texts espouse a wide range of meditative practices often associated with the cultivation of kavanah or intention The first layer of rabbinic law the Mishnah describes ancient sages waiting for an hour before their prayers in order to direct their hearts to the Omnipresent One Mishnah Berakhot 5 1 Other early rabbinic texts include instructions for visualizing the Divine Presence B Talmud Sanhedrin 22a and breathing with conscious gratitude for every breath Genesis Rabba 14 9 108 One of the best known types of meditation in early Jewish mysticism was the work of the Merkabah from the root R K B meaning chariot of God 107 Some meditative traditions have been encouraged in Kabbalah and some Jews have described Kabbalah as an inherently meditative field of study 109 110 111 Kabbalistic meditation often involves the mental visualization of the supernal realms Aryeh Kaplan has argued that the ultimate purpose of Kabbalistic meditation is to understand and cleave to the Divine 107 Meditation has been of interest to a wide variety of modern Jews In modern Jewish practice one of the best known meditative practices is called hitbodedut התבודדות alternatively transliterated as hisbodedus and is explained in Kabbalistic Hasidic and Mussar writings especially the Hasidic method of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav The word derives from the Hebrew word boded בודד meaning the state of being alone 112 Another Hasidic system is the Habad method of hisbonenus related to the Sephirah of Binah Hebrew for understanding 113 This practice is the analytical reflective process of making oneself understand a mystical concept well that follows and internalises its study in Hasidic writings The Musar Movement founded by Rabbi Israel Salanter in the middle of the nineteenth century emphasized meditative practices of introspection and visualization that could help to improve moral character 114 Conservative rabbi Alan Lew has emphasized meditation playing an important role in the process of teshuvah repentance 115 116 Jewish Buddhists have adopted Buddhist styles of meditation 117 Christianity Edit Saint Pio of Pietrelcina stated Through the study of books one seeks God by meditation one finds Him 118 Main article Christian meditation Christian meditation is a term for a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God 119 In the Roman Empire by 20 BCE Philo of Alexandria had written on some form of spiritual exercises involving attention prosoche and concentration 120 and by the 3rd century Plotinus had developed meditative techniques The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditatum which means to concentrate or to ponder Monk Guigo II introduced this terminology for the first time in the 12th century AD Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts e g a biblical scene involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God 121 Christian meditation is sometimes taken to mean the middle level in a broad three stage characterization of prayer it then involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplation in Christianity 122 Between the 10th and 14th centuries hesychasm was developed particularly on Mount Athos in Greece and involves the repetition of the Jesus prayer 123 Interactions with Indians or the Sufis may have influenced the Eastern Christian meditation approach to hesychasm but this is unproven 124 125 Western Christian meditation contrasts with most other approaches in that it does not involve the repetition of any phrase or action and requires no specific posture Western Christian meditation progressed from the 6th century practice of Bible reading among Benedictine monks called Lectio Divina i e divine reading Its four formal steps as a ladder were defined by the monk Guigo II in the 12th century with the Latin terms lectio meditatio oratio and contemplatio i e read ponder pray contemplate Western Christian meditation was further developed by saints such as Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila in the 16th century 126 127 128 129 On April 28 2021 Pope Francis in an address to the General Audience said that meditation is a need for everyone 130 131 He noted that the term meditation has had many meanings throughout history and that the ancients used to say that the organ of prayer is the heart 130 In Catholic Christianity the Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of Jesus and Mary 132 133 The gentle repetition of its prayers makes it an excellent means to moving into deeper meditation It gives us an opportunity to open ourselves to God s word to refine our interior gaze by turning our minds to the life of Christ The first principle is that meditation is learned through practice Many people who practice rosary meditation begin very simply and gradually develop a more sophisticated meditation The meditator learns to hear an interior voice the voice of God 134 Similarly the chotki of the Eastern Orthodox denomination the Wreath of Christ of the Lutheran faith and the Anglican prayer beads of the Episcopalian tradition are used for Christian prayer and meditation 135 136 According to Edmund P Clowney Christian meditation contrasts with Eastern forms of meditation as radically as the portrayal of God the Father in the Bible contrasts with depictions of Krishna or Brahman in Indian teachings 137 Unlike some Eastern styles most styles of Christian meditation do not rely on the repeated use of mantras and yet are also intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion 138 139 In Aspects of Christian meditation the Catholic Church warned of potential incompatibilities in mixing Christian and Eastern styles of meditation 140 In 2003 in A Christian reflection on the New Age the Vatican announced that the Church avoids any concept that is close to those of the New Age 141 142 143 Islam Edit Main article Muraqabah See also Sufism Sama Sufism and Dhikr Sufi view Whirling dervishes Dhikr is a type of meditation within Islam meaning remembering and mentioning God which involves the repetition of the 99 Names of God since the 8th or 9th century 144 145 It is interpreted in different meditative techniques in Sufism or Islamic mysticism 144 145 This became one of the essential elements of Sufism as it was systematized traditionally It is juxtaposed with fikr thinking which leads to knowledge 146 By the 12th century the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques and its followers practiced breathing controls and the repetition of holy words 147 Sufism uses a meditative procedure like Buddhist concentration involving high intensity and sharply focused introspection In the Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi Sufi order for example muraqabah takes the form of tamarkoz concentration in Persian 148 Tafakkur or tadabbur in Sufism literally means reflection upon the universe this is considered to permit access to a form of cognitive and emotional development that can emanate only from the higher level i e from God The sensation of receiving divine inspiration awakens and liberates both heart and intellect permitting such inner growth that the apparently mundane actually takes on the quality of the infinite Muslim teachings embrace life as a test of one s submission to God 149 Dervishes of certain Sufi orders practice whirling a form of physically active meditation 150 Bahaʼi Faith Edit In the teachings of the Bahaʼi Faith meditation is a primary tool for spiritual development 151 involving reflection on the words of God 152 While prayer and meditation are linked where meditation happens generally in a prayerful attitude prayer is seen specifically as turning toward God 153 and meditation is seen as a communion with one s self where one focuses on the divine 152 In Bahaʼi teachings the purpose of meditation is to strengthen one s understanding of the words of God and to make one s soul more susceptible to their potentially transformative power 152 more receptive to the need for both prayer and meditation to bring about and maintain a spiritual communion with God 154 Baha u llah the founder of the religion never specified any particular form of meditation and thus each person is free to choose their own form 151 However he did state that Bahaʼis should read a passage of the Bahaʼi writings twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening and meditate on it He also encouraged people to reflect on one s actions and worth at the end of each day 152 During the Nineteen Day Fast a period of the year during which Bahaʼis adhere to a sunrise to sunset fast they meditate and pray to reinvigorate their spiritual forces 155 Modern spirituality Edit Meditation Alexej von Jawlensky 1918 Modern dissemination in the West Edit Meditation has spread in the West since the late 19th century accompanying increased travel and communication among cultures worldwide Most prominent has been the transmission of Asian derived practices to the West In addition interest in some Western based meditative practices has been revived 156 and these have been disseminated to a limited extent to Asian countries 157 Ideas about Eastern meditation had begun seeping into American popular culture even before the American Revolution through the various sects of European occult Christianity 25 3 and such ideas came pouring in to America during the era of the transcendentalists especially between the 1840s and the 1880s 25 3 The following decades saw further spread of these ideas to America The World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893 was the landmark event that increased Western awareness of meditation This was the first time that Western audiences on American soil received Asian spiritual teachings from Asians themselves Thereafter Swami Vivekananda founded various Vedanta ashrams Anagarika Dharmapala lectured at Harvard on Theravada Buddhist meditation in 1904 Abdul Baha toured the US teaching the principles of Bahai sic and Soyen Shaku toured in 1907 teaching Zen 25 4 Meditating in Madison Square Park New York City More recently in the 1960s another surge in Western interest in meditative practices began The rise of communist political power in Asia led to many Asian spiritual teachers taking refuge in Western countries oftentimes as refugees 25 7 In addition to spiritual forms of meditation secular forms of meditation have taken root Rather than focusing on spiritual growth secular meditation emphasizes stress reduction relaxation and self improvement 158 159 The 2012 US National Health Interview Survey NHIS 34 525 subjects found 8 of US adults used meditation 160 with lifetime and 12 month prevalence of meditation use of 5 2 and 4 1 respectively 161 In the 2017 NHIS survey meditation use among workers was 10 up from 8 in 2002 162 Mantra meditation with the use of a japa mala and especially with focus on the Hare Krishna maha mantra is a central practice of the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith tradition and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ISKCON also known as the Hare Krishna movement Other popular New Religious Movements include the Ramakrishna Mission Vedanta Society Divine Light Mission Chinmaya Mission Osho Sahaja Yoga Transcendental Meditation Oneness University Brahma Kumaris Vihangam Yoga and Heartfulness Meditation Sahaj Marg New Age Edit New Age meditations are often influenced by Eastern philosophy mysticism yoga Hinduism and Buddhism yet may contain some degree of Western influence In the West meditation found its mainstream roots through the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s when many of the youth of the day rebelled against traditional religion as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity to provide spiritual and ethical guidance 163 New Age meditation as practised by the early hippies is regarded for its techniques of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra or focusing on an object 164 New Age meditation evolved into a range of purposes and practices from serenity and balance to access to other realms of consciousness to the concentration of energy in group meditation to the supreme goal of samadhi as in the ancient yogic practice of meditation 165 Guided meditation Edit Further information Yoga nidra Guided meditation is a form of meditation which uses a number of different techniques to achieve or enhance the meditative state It may simply be meditation done under the guidance of a trained practitioner or teacher or it may be through the use of imagery music and other techniques 166 The session can be either in person via media 167 comprising music or verbal instruction or a combination of both 168 169 The most common form is a combination of meditation music and receptive music therapy guided imagery relaxation mindfulness and journaling 170 171 172 Because of the different combinations used under the one term it can be difficult to attribute positive or negative outcomes to any of the various techniques Furthermore the term is frequently used interchangeably with guided imagery and sometimes with creative visualization in popular psychology and self help literature It is less commonly used in scholarly and scientific publications Consequently guided meditation cannot be understood as a single technique but rather multiple techniques that are integral to its practice 173 174 175 176 Guided meditation as an aggregate or synthesis of techniques includes meditation music receptive music therapy guided imagery relaxation meditative praxis and self reflective diary keeping or journaling All of which have been shown to have therapeutic benefits when employed as an adjunct to primary strategies Benefits include lower levels of stress 177 reducing asthmatic episodes 178 physical pain 179 insomnia 180 episodic anger 181 negative or irrational thinking 182 and anxiety as well as improving coping skills 183 focus 184 and a general feeling of well being 185 186 Secular applications EditPsychotherapy Edit See also Analytic psychology and Psychoanalysis Carl Jung 1875 1961 was an early western explorer of eastern religious practices 187 188 He clearly advocated ways to increase the conscious awareness of an individual Yet he expressed some caution concerning a westerner s direct immersion in eastern practices without some prior appreciation of the differing spiritual and cultural contexts 189 190 Also Erich Fromm 1900 1980 later explored spiritual practices of the east 191 Clinical applications Edit See also Mindfulness applications Mindfulness based stress reduction Mindfulness based cognitive therapy and Mindfulness based pain management The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states that Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation improving psychological balance coping with illness and enhancing overall health and well being 192 10 A 2014 review found that practice of mindfulness meditation for two to six months by people undergoing long term psychiatric or medical therapy could produce small improvements in anxiety pain or depression 193 In 2017 the American Heart Association issued a scientific statement that meditation may be a reasonable adjunct practice to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases with the qualification that meditation needs to be better defined in higher quality clinical research of these disorders 194 Recent findings have also found evidence of meditation affecting migraines in adults Mindfulness meditation may allow for a decrease in migraine episodes and a drop in migraine medication usage 195 Low quality evidence indicates that meditation may help with irritable bowel syndrome 192 insomnia 192 cognitive decline in the elderly 196 and post traumatic stress disorder 197 198 Researchers have found that participating in mindfulness meditation can aid insomnia patients by improving sleep quality and total wake time 199 Mindfulness meditation is not a treatment for insomnia patients but it can provide support in addition to their treatment options 199 Meditation in the workplace Edit A 2010 review of the literature on spirituality and performance in organizations found an increase in corporate meditation programs 200 As of 2016 around a quarter of U S employers were using stress reduction initiatives 201 202 The goal was to help reduce stress and improve reactions to stress Aetna now offers its program to its customers Google also implements mindfulness offering more than a dozen meditation courses with the most prominent one Search Inside Yourself having been implemented since 2007 202 General Mills offers the Mindful Leadership Program Series a course which uses a combination of mindfulness meditation yoga and dialogue with the intention of developing the mind s capacity to pay attention 202 Relaxation response and biofeedback Edit Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School conducted a series of clinical tests on meditators from various disciplines including the Transcendental Meditation technique and Tibetan Buddhism In 1975 Benson published a book titled The Relaxation Response where he outlined his own version of meditation for relaxation 203 Also in the 1970s the American psychologist Patricia Carrington developed a similar technique called Clinically Standardized Meditation CSM 204 In Norway another sound based method called Acem Meditation developed a psychology of meditation and has been the subject of several scientific studies 205 Biofeedback has been used by many researchers since the 1950s in an effort to enter deeper states of mind 206 207 Effects EditMain article Effects of meditation Research on the processes and effects of meditation is a subfield of neurological research 9 Modern scientific techniques such as fMRI and EEG were used to observe neurological responses during meditation 208 Concerns have been raised on the quality of meditation research 9 209 210 including the particular characteristics of individuals who tend to participate 211 Meditation lowers heart rate oxygen consumption breathing frequency stress hormones lactate levels and sympathetic nervous system activity associated with the fight or flight response along with a modest decline in blood pressure 212 213 However those who have meditated for two or three years were found to already have low blood pressure During meditation the oxygen consumption decrease averages 10 to 20 percent over the first three minutes During sleep for example oxygen consumption decreases around 8 percent over four or five hours 214 For meditators who have practiced for years breath rate can drop to three or four breaths per minute and brain waves slow from alpha waves seen in normal relaxation to much slower delta and theta waves 215 Since the 1970s clinical psychology and psychiatry have developed meditation techniques for numerous psychological conditions 216 Mindfulness practice is employed in psychology to alleviate mental and physical conditions such as reducing depression stress and anxiety 9 217 218 Mindfulness is also used in the treatment of drug addiction although the quality of research has been poor 210 219 Studies demonstrate that meditation has a moderate effect to reduce pain 9 There is insufficient evidence for any effect of meditation on positive mood attention eating habits sleep or body weight 9 A 2015 study including subjective and objective reports and brain scans has shown that meditation can improve controlling attention as well as self awareness 220 A 2017 systematic review and meta analysis of the effects of meditation on empathy compassion and prosocial behaviors found that meditation practices had small to medium effects on self reported and observable outcomes concluding that such practices can improve positive prosocial emotions and behaviors 221 unreliable medical source However a meta review published on Scientific Reports showed that the evidence is very weak and that the effects of meditation on compassion were only significant when compared to passive control groups suggests that other forms of active interventions like watching a nature video might produce similar outcomes to meditation 222 Potential adverse effects Edit See also Effects of meditation Potential adverse effects and limits of meditation Meditation has been correlated with unpleasant experiences in some people 223 224 225 226 In some cases it has also been linked to psychosis in a few individuals 227 In one study published in 2019 of 1 232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience about a quarter reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation related experiences such as anxiety fear distorted emotions or thoughts altered sense of self or the world which they thought may have been caused by their meditation practice Meditators with high levels of repetitive negative thinking and those who only engage in deconstructive meditation were more likely to report unpleasant side effects Adverse effects were less frequently reported in women and religious meditators 228 Difficult experiences encountered in meditation are mentioned in traditional sources and some may be considered to be just an expected part of the process for example seven stages of purification mentioned in Theravada Buddhism or possible unwholesome or frightening visions mentioned in a practical manual on vipassana meditation 229 See also EditAutogenic training Entheogen Full Catastrophe Living Headspace company Hypnosis Immanence Mechanisms of mindfulness meditation Mushin mental state Narrative identity Psychedelic experience Psychonautics Psychology of religion Satipatthana Four Foundations of Mindfulness Sensory deprivation Flow Ego death Altered state of consciousnessNotes Edit An influential definition by Shapiro 1982 states that meditation refers to a family of techniques which have in common a conscious attempt to focus attention in a nonanalytical way and an attempt not to dwell on discursive ruminating thought p 6 italics in original The term discursive thought has long been used in Western philosophy and is often viewed as a synonym to logical thought 30 Bond et al 2009 report that 7 expert scholars who had studied different traditions of meditation agreed that an essential component of meditation Involves logic relaxation not to intend to analyze the possible psychophysical effects not to intend to judge the possible results not to intend to create any type of expectation regarding the process p 134 Table 4 In their final consideration all 7 experts regarded this feature as an essential component of meditation none of them regarded it as merely important but not essential p 234 Table 4 This same result is presented in Table B1 in Ospina et al 2007 p 281 This does not mean that all meditation seeks to take a person beyond all thought processes only those processes that are sometimes referred to as discursive or logical see Shapiro 1982 1984 Bond et al 2009 Appendix B pp 279 82 in Ospina et al 2007 members were chosen on the basis of their publication record of research on the therapeutic use of meditation their knowledge of and training in traditional or clinically developed meditation techniques and their affiliation with universities and research centers Each member had specific expertise and training in at least one of the following meditation practices kundalini yoga Transcendental Meditation relaxation response mindfulness based stress reduction and vipassana meditation Bond et al 2009 p 131 their views were combined using the Delphi technique a method of eliciting and refining group judgments to address complex problems with a high level of uncertainty Bond et al 2009 p 131 Bond et al 2009 Logic relaxation is defined by the authors as not to intend to analyzing not trying to explain the possible psychophysical effects not to intend to judging good bad right wrong the possible psychophysical effects and not to intend to creating any type of expectation regarding the process Cardoso et al 2004 p 59 Regarding influential reviews encompassing multiple methods of meditation Walsh amp Shapiro 2006 Cahn amp Polich 2006 and Jevning Wallace amp Beidebach 1992 are cited gt 80 times in PsycINFO Number of citations in PsycINFO 254 for Walsh amp Shapiro 2006 26 August 2018 561 for Cahn amp Polich 2006 26 August 2018 83 for Jevning et al 1992 26 August 2018 Goleman s book has 33 editions listed in WorldCat 17 editions as The meditative mind The varieties of meditative experience 32 and 16 editions as The varieties of meditative experience 33 Citation and edition counts are as of August 2018 and September 2018 respectively According to Shear Focused Attention Open Monitoring and Automatic Self Transcending were likely to be associated with g and b 13 8 and a1 EEG bands respectively 47 For instance Kamalashila 2003 p 4 states that Buddhist meditation includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim Likewise Bodhi 1999 writes To arrive at the experiential realization of the truths it is necessary to take up the practice of meditation At the climax of such contemplation the mental eye shifts its focus to the unconditioned state Nibbana A similar although in some ways slightly broader definition is provided by 77 Meditation general term for a multitude of religious practices often quite different in method but all having the same goal to bring the consciousness of the practitioner to a state in which he can come to an experience of awakening liberation enlightenment Kamalashila 2003 further allows that some Buddhist meditations are of a more preparatory nature p 4 The Pali and Sanskrit word bhavana literally means development as in mental development For the association of this term with meditation see Epstein 1995 p 105 and Fischer Schreiber Ehrhard amp Diener 1991 p 20 As an example from a well known discourse of the Pali Canon in The Greater Exhortation to Rahula Maha Rahulovada Sutta MN 62 Ven Sariputta tells Ven Rahula in Pali based on VRI n d anapanassatiṃ rahula bhavanaṃ bhavehi Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu 2006 Maha Rahulovada Sutta The Greater Exhortation to Rahula MN 62 translates this as Rahula develop the meditation bhavana of mindfulness of in amp out breathing Square bracketed Pali word included based on Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu 2006 end note See for example Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu 1997 One Tool Among Many The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice as well as Kapleau 1989 p 385 for the derivation of the word zen from Sanskrit dhyana Pali Text Society Secretary Rupert Gethin in describing the activities of wandering ascetics contemporaneous with the Buddha wrote There is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might for the lack of a suitable technical term in English be referred to as altered states of consciousness In the technical vocabulary of Indian religious texts such states come to be termed meditations Skt dhyana Pali jhana or concentrations samadhi the attainment of such states of consciousness was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper knowledge and experience of the nature of the world Gethin 1998 p 10 Examples of contemporary school specific classics include from the Theravada tradition Nyanaponika Thera 1996 The Heart of Buddhist Meditation Satipaṭṭhana a Handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha s Way of Mindfulness with an Anthology of Relevant Texts Translated from the Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist Publication Society from the Zen tradition Kapleau 1989 Goldstein 2003 writes that in regard to the Satipatthana Sutta there are more than fifty different practices outlined in this Sutta The meditations that derive from these foundations of mindfulness are called vipassana and in one form or another and by whatever name are found in all the major Buddhist traditions p 92 Regarding Tibetan visualizations Kamalashila 2003 writes The Tara meditation is one example out of thousands of subjects for visualization meditation each one arising out of some meditator s visionary experience of enlightened qualities seen in the form of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas p 227 These definitions of samatha and vipassana are based on the Four Kinds of Persons Sutta AN 4 94 This article s text is primarily based on Bodhi 2005 pp 269 70 440 n 13 See also Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu 1998d Samadhi Sutta Concentration Tranquillity and Insight AN 4 94 References Edit a b Walsh amp Shapiro 2006 pp 228 229 a b Cahn amp Polich 2006 p 180 a b Jevning Wallace amp Beidebach 1992 p 415 a b Goleman 1988 p 107 Dhavamony Mariasusai 1982 Classical Hinduism Universita Gregoriana Editrice p 243 ISBN 978 88 7652 482 0 Holzel Britta K Lazar Sara W Gard Tim Schuman Olivier Zev Vago David R Ott Ulrich November 2011 How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 6 6 537 559 doi 10 1177 1745691611419671 ISSN 1745 6916 PMID 26168376 S2CID 2218023 The Dalai Lama explains how to practice meditation properly May 3 2017 Meditation In Depth NCCIH a b c d e f Goyal M Singh S Sibinga E M Gould N F Rowland Seymour A Sharma R Berger Z Sleicher D Maron D D Shihab H M Ranasinghe P D Linn S Saha S Bass E B Haythornthwaite J A 2014 Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well being A Systematic Review and Meta analysis JAMA Internal Medicine 174 3 357 368 doi 10 1001 jamainternmed 2013 13018 PMC 4142584 PMID 24395196 a b Shaner Lynne Kelly Lisa Rockwell Donna Curtis Devorah 2016 Calm Abiding Journal of Humanistic Psychology 57 98 doi 10 1177 0022167815594556 S2CID 148410605 An universal etymological English dictionary 1773 London by Nathan Bailey ISBN 1 002 37787 0 a b Meditation Online Etymology Dictionary Douglas Harper 2019 Retrieved 2 February 2019 The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway 2008 ISBN 0 8146 3176 2 p 115 Sampaio Cynthia Vieira Sanches Lima Manuela Garcia Ladeia Ana Marice April 2017 Meditation Health and Scientific Investigations Review of the Literature Journal of Religion and Health 56 2 411 427 doi 10 1007 s10943 016 0211 1 ISSN 0022 4197 PMID 26915053 S2CID 20088045 Feuerstein Georg 2006 Yoga and Meditation Dhyana Moksha Journal 1 OCLC 21878732 The verb root dhyai is listed as referring to contemplate meditate on and dhyana is listed as referring to meditation religious contemplation on page 134 of Macdonell Arthur Anthony 1971 1929 A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration accentuation and etymological analysis throughout London Oxford University Press Mirahmadi Sayyid Nurjan Naqshbandi Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani Kabbani Muhammad Hisham Mirahmadi Hedieh 2005 The healing power of sufi meditation Fenton MI Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order of America ISBN 978 1 930409 26 2 a b c Goleman 1988 Carroll Mary October 2005 Divine Therapy Teaching Reflective and Meditative Practices Teaching Theology and Religion 8 4 232 238 doi 10 1111 j 1467 9647 2005 00249 x Lutz Antoine Dunne John D Davidson Richard J 2007 Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness An Introduction In Zelazo Philip David Moscovitch Morris Thompson Evan eds The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness pp 499 552 doi 10 1017 CBO9780511816789 020 ISBN 9780511816789 Claudio Naranjo 1972 1971 in Naranjo and Orenstein On the Psychology of Meditation New York Viking a b Bond et al 2009 p 135 Lutz Dunne and Davidson Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness An Introduction in The Cambridge handbook of consciousness by Philip David Zelazo Morris Moscovitch Evan Thompson 2007 ISBN 0 521 85743 0 pp 499 551 proof copy NB pagination of published was 499 551 proof was 497 550 Archived March 3 2012 at the Wayback Machine John Dunne s speech Archived from the original on November 20 2012 a b c d e Taylor Eugene 1999 Murphy Michael Donovan Steven Taylor Eugene eds Introduction The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation A Review of Contemporary Research with a Comprehensive Bibliography 1931 1996 1 32 Robert Ornstein 1972 1971 in Naranjo and Orenstein On the Psychology of Meditation New York Viking LCCN 76 149720 Walsh amp Shapiro 2006 Cahn amp Polich 2006 Jevning Wallace amp Beidebach 1992 Rappe Sara 2000 Reading neoplatonism Non discursive thinking in the texts of plotinus proclus and damascius Cambridge New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 65158 5 Bond et al 2009 p 135 It is plausible that meditation is best thought of as a natural category of techniques best captured by family resemblances Wittgenstein 1968 or by the related prototype model of concepts Rosch 1973 Rosch amp Mervin 1975 worldcat org Daniel Goleman The meditative mind The varieties of meditative experience Archived 2018 09 06 at the Wayback Machine worldcat org Daniel Goleman The varieties of meditative experience Archived 2018 09 06 at the Wayback Machine Lutz Antoine Slagter Heleen A Dunne John D Davidson Richard J April 2008 Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation Trends in Cognitive Sciences 12 4 163 69 doi 10 1016 j tics 2008 01 005 PMC 2693206 PMID 18329323 The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices In order to narrow the explanandum to a more tractable scope this article uses Buddhist contemplative techniques and their clinical secular derivatives as a paradigmatic framework see e g 9 10 or 7 9 for reviews including other types of techniques such as Yoga and Transcendental Meditation Among the wide range of practices within the Buddhist tradition we will further narrow this review to two common styles of meditation FA and OM see box 1 box 2 that are often combined whether in a single session or over the course of practitioner s training These styles are found with some variation in several meditation traditions including Zen Vipassana and Tibetan Buddhism e g 7 15 16 The first style FA meditation entails voluntary focusing attention on a chosen object in a sustained fashion The second style OM meditation involves non reactively monitoring the content of experience from moment to moment primarily as a means to recognize the nature of emotional and cognitive patterns Bond et al 2009 p 130 The differences and similarities among these techniques is often explained in the Western meditation literature in terms of the direction of mental attention Koshikawa amp Ichii 1996 Naranjo 1971 Orenstein 1971 A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object so called concentrative meditation on all mental events that enter the field of awareness so called mindfulness meditation or both specific focal points and the field of awareness Orenstein 1971 Easwaran Eknath 2018 The Bhagavad Gita Classics of Indian Spirituality Nilgiri Press ISBN 978 1 58638 019 9 lywa 2 April 2015 Developing Single pointed Concentration Single pointed concentration samadhi is a meditative power that is useful in either of these two types of meditation However in order to develop samadhi itself we must cultivate principally concentration meditation In terms of practice this means that we must choose an object of concentration and then meditate single pointedly on it every day until the power of samadhi is attained Site is under maintenance meditation research org uk 19 July 2013 Gangadharan amp Hemamalini 2021 p 70 Aguirre 2018 p 18 20 Deepening Calm Abiding The Nine Stages of Abiding terebess hu Dorje Ogyen Trinley Calm Abiding a b Mindful Breathing Greater Good in Action ggia berkeley edu Shonin Edo Van Gordon William October 2016 Experiencing the Universal Breath a Guided Meditation Mindfulness 7 5 1243 1245 doi 10 1007 s12671 016 0570 4 S2CID 147845968 a b Perez De Albeniz amp Holmes 2000 Matko amp Sedlmeier 2019 a b c d Travis Fred Shear Jonathan December 2010 Focused attention open monitoring and automatic self transcending Categories to organize meditations from Vedic Buddhist and Chinese traditions Consciousness and Cognition 19 4 1110 1118 doi 10 1016 j concog 2010 01 007 PMID 20167507 S2CID 11036572 Mallinson James Singleton Mark 2017 Roots of Yoga Penguin Books pp 86 87 ISBN 978 0 241 25304 5 OCLC 928480104 Meditation savasana 14 August 2017 Ng Teng Kuan 2018 Pedestrian Dharma Slowness and Seeing in Tsai Ming Liang s Walker Religions 9 7 200 doi 10 3390 rel9070200 Chatfield Steven J 2018 10 02 Connecting Earth and Sky Standing Gestures of The Embodied Life School Journal of Dance Education 18 4 180 181 doi 10 1080 15290824 2018 1482169 ISSN 1529 0824 S2CID 134214721 The Daily Habit Of These Outrageously Successful People Huffington Post 5 July 2013 Mindfulness Meditation method a b c Neuroscientist Says Dalai Lama Gave Him a Total Wake Up Call ABC News 27 July 2016 Strait Julia Englund Strait Gerald Gill McClain Maryellen Brunson Casillas Laurel Streich Kristin Harper Kristina Gomez Jocelyn 2020 01 27 Classroom Mindfulness Education Effects on Meditation Frequency Stress and Self Regulation Teaching of Psychology 47 2 162 168 doi 10 1177 0098628320901386 S2CID 213924577 How Humankind Could Become Totally Useless Time magazine Retrieved 17 March 2018 Kaul P Passafiume J Sargent C R O Hara B F 2010 Meditation acutely improves psychomotor vigilance and may decrease sleep need Behavioral and Brain Functions 6 47 doi 10 1186 1744 9081 6 47 PMC 2919439 PMID 20670413 Questions amp Answers Dhamma Giri Vipassana International Academy www giri dhamma org Archived from the original on 2019 06 24 Retrieved 2018 05 01 Brahmamuhurta The best time for meditation Times of India a b Mysteries of the Rosary by Stephen J Binz 2005 ISBN 1 58595 519 1 p 3 a b The everything Buddhism book by Jacky Sach 2003 ISBN 978 1 58062 884 6 p 175 For a general overview see Henry Gray Marriott Susannah 2008 Beads of faith pathways to meditation and spirituality using rosaries prayer beads and sacred words Louisville KY Fons Vitae ISBN 978 1 887752 95 4 OCLC 179839679 Chanting Hare Krishna on Japa Beads Krishna org Real Krishna Consciousness 2019 09 29 Retrieved 2020 07 08 a b Vishnu Devananda Swami 1995 Meditation and mantras Delhi Motilal Banarsidass pp 82 83 ISBN 81 208 1615 3 OCLC 50030094 Simoons Frederick J 1998 Plants of life plants of death Madison Wis University of Wisconsin Press pp 7 40 ISBN 0 585 17620 5 OCLC 45733876 Foulk T Griffith 1998 The Encouragement Stick 7 Views Tricycle Winter Retrieved 6 May 2020 Everly amp Lating 2002 p 199 202 Rossano Matt J February 2007 Did Meditating Make Us Human Cambridge Archaeological Journal 17 1 47 58 doi 10 1017 S0959774307000054 S2CID 44185634 Dhavamony Mariasusai 1982 Classical Hinduism Universita Gregoriana Editrice pp 243 244 ISBN 978 88 7652 482 0 Lusthaus 2018 Alexander Wynne The Origin of Buddhist Meditation Routledge 2007 p 51 The earliest reference is actually in the Mokshadharma which dates to the early Buddhist period The 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ISBN 0 941532 90 9 How to Use Guided Meditation for Calm and Mindfulness United We Care March 5 2021 Bronkhorst 1993 Gethin The Buddhist Path to Awakening Vetter The meditative practices of early Buddhism Polak Reexamining Jhana Bronkhorst 1993 p 131 Vetter 1988 pp xxi xxxvii See for instance AN 2 30 in Bodhi 2005 pp 267 68 and Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu 1998e Vijja bhagiya Sutta A Share in Clear Knowing AN 2 30 Sharma Suresh 2004 Cultural and Religious Heritage of India Sikhism Mittal Publications p 7 ISBN 978 81 7099 961 4 Duggal Kartar 1980 The Prescribed Sikh Prayers Nitnem Abhinav Publications p 20 ISBN 978 81 7017 377 9 Singh Nirbhai 1990 Philosophy of Sikhism Reality and Its Manifestations Atlantic Publishers amp Distribution p 105 Kohn Livia 2008 Meditation and visualization in The Encyclopedia of Taoism ed by Fabrizio Pregadio p 118 Harper Donald Loewe Michael Shaughnessy Edward L 2007 First published in 1999 The Cambridge History of Ancient China From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 880 ISBN 978 0 521 47030 8 Roth Harold D 1999 Original Tao Inward Training Nei yeh and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism Columbia University Press p 92 Mair Victor H tr 1994 Wandering on the Way Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu Bantam Books p 64 The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 ISBN 978 1 56821 522 8 p 1 Jacobs L 1976 Jewish Mystical Testimonies Jerusalem Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Kaplan 1978 p 101 The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 ISBN 978 1 56821 522 8 p 45 a b c Kaplan A 1985 Jewish Meditation A Practical Guide New York Schocken Books Buxbaum Y 1990 Jewish Spiritual Practices New York Rowman and Littlefield pp 108 10 423 35 Scholem Gershom Gerhard 1961 Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism Schocken Books p 34 ISBN 978 0 8052 1042 2 Kaplan 1982 Matt D C 1996 The Essential Kabbalah The Heart of Jewish Mysticism San Francisco HarperCollins Kaplan 1978 op cit 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to Mindfulness at Work Routledge ISBN 978 0 429 53486 7 Winston Kimberly 1 March 2008 Bead One Pray Too Church Publishing ISBN 978 0 8192 2092 9 Christian Meditation by Edmund P Clowney 1979 ISBN 1 57383 227 8 p 12 Christian Meditation by Edmund P Clowney 1979 ISBN 1 57383 227 8 pp 12 13 The encyclopedia of Christianity Volume 3 by Erwin Fahlbusch Geoffrey William Bromiley 2003 ISBN 90 04 12654 6 p 488 EWTN Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Archived 2010 05 02 at the Wayback Machine Letter on certain aspects of Christian meditation in English October 15 1989 Los Angeles Times February 8 2003 New Age Beliefs Aren t Christian Vatican Finds Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on July 1 2012 Retrieved July 1 2010 Vatican sounds New Age alert 4 February 2003 via news bbc co uk Prersentation of Holy See s Document on New Age www vatican va a b Prayer a history by Philip Zaleski Carol Zaleski 2005 ISBN 0 618 15288 1 pp 147 49 a b Global Encyclopaedia of Education by Rama 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2000 ISBN 978 0 517 09132 6 Patricia Carrington 1977 Freedom in meditation Anchor Press ISBN 978 0 385 11392 2 Lagopoulos Jim Xu Jian Rasmussen Inge Andre Vik Alexandra Malhi Gin S Eliassen Carl Fredrik Arntsen Ingrid Edith Saether Jardar G Saether JG Hollup Stig Arvid Holen Are Davanger Svend Ellingsen Oyvind 2009 Increased Theta and Alpha EEG Activity During Nondirective Meditation Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 15 11 1187 92 doi 10 1089 acm 2009 0113 PMID 19922249 Rubin Jeffrey B 2001 A New View of Meditation Journal of Religion and Health 40 1 121 28 doi 10 1023 a 1012542524848 S2CID 32980899 Brandmeyer Tracy Delorme Arnaud 2013 Meditation and neurofeedback Frontiers in Psychology 4 688 doi 10 3389 fpsyg 2013 00688 ISSN 1664 1078 PMC 3791377 PMID 24109463 Fox Kieran C R Nijeboer Savannah Dixon Matthew L Floman James L Ellamil Melissa Rumak Samuel P Sedlmeier Peter Christoff Kalina 2014 Is meditation associated with altered brain structure A systematic review and 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qualms historical perspectives American Psychologist 70 7 621 631 doi 10 1037 a0039460 PMID 26436312 S2CID 43129186 Strauss Clara Cavanagh Kate Oliver Annie Pettman Danelle 24 April 2014 Mindfulness Based Interventions for People Diagnosed with a Current Episode of an Anxiety or Depressive Disorder A Meta Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials PLOS ONE 9 4 e96110 Bibcode 2014PLoSO 996110S doi 10 1371 journal pone 0096110 PMC 3999148 PMID 24763812 Khoury Bassam Sharma Manoj Rush Sarah E Fournier Claude June 2015 Mindfulness based stress reduction for healthy individuals A meta analysis Journal of Psychosomatic Research 78 6 519 528 doi 10 1016 j jpsychores 2015 03 009 PMID 25818837 Chiesa Alberto Serretti Alessandro 16 April 2014 Are Mindfulness Based Interventions Effective for Substance Use Disorders A Systematic Review of the Evidence Substance Use amp Misuse 49 5 492 512 doi 10 3109 10826084 2013 770027 PMID 23461667 S2CID 34990668 Tang Yi Yuan Holzel Britta K Posner Michael I April 2015 The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation Nature Reviews Neuroscience 16 4 213 225 doi 10 1038 nrn3916 PMID 25783612 S2CID 54521922 Luberto Christina M Shinday Nina Song Rhayun Philpotts Lisa L Park Elyse R Fricchione Gregory L Yeh Gloria Y 2017 A Systematic Review and Meta analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy Compassion and Prosocial Behaviors Mindfulness 9 3 708 24 doi 10 1007 s12671 017 0841 8 PMC 6081743 PMID 30100929 Kreplin Ute Farias Miguel Brazil Inti A 5 February 2018 The limited prosocial effects of meditation A systematic review and meta analysis Scientific Reports 8 1 2403 Bibcode 2018NatSR 8 2403K doi 10 1038 s41598 018 20299 z PMC 5799363 PMID 29402955 Does meditation carry a risk of harmful side effects nhs uk 2017 05 26 Dangers of Meditation Psychology Today 2016 Seriously Seriously Is Mindfulness Meditation Dangerous BBC Radio 4 Meditation is touted as a cure for mental instability but can it actually be bad for you www independent co uk 2015 Chan Ob T Boonyanaruthee V 1999 Meditation in association with psychosis Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand Chotmaihet Thangphaet 82 9 925 30 ISSN 0125 2208 PMID 10561951 Schlosser Marco Sparby Terje Voros Sebastjan Jones Rebecca Marchant Natalie L 2019 Unpleasant meditation related experiences in regular meditators Prevalence predictors and conceptual considerations PLOS ONE 14 5 e0216643 Bibcode 2019PLoSO 1416643S doi 10 1371 journal pone 0216643 PMC 6508707 PMID 31071152 Voros Sebastjan 2016 Sitting with the Demons Mindfulness Suffering and Existential Transformation Asian Studies 4 2 59 83 doi 10 4312 as 2016 4 2 59 83 Retrieved 31 January 2020 Sources EditPrinted sourcesAguirre Blaise 2018 Mindfulness and Meditation Your Questions Answered ABC CLIO Austin James H 1999 Zen and the Brain Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness Cambridge MIT Press 1999 ISBN 0 262 51109 6 Azeemi Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi 2005 Muraqaba The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation Houston Plato 2005 ISBN 0 9758875 4 8 Bennett Goleman T 2001 Emotional Alchemy How the Mind Can Heal the Heart Harmony Books ISBN 0 609 60752 9 Benson Herbert and Miriam Z Klipper 2000 1972 The Relaxation Response Expanded Updated edition Harper ISBN 0 380 81595 8 Bond Kenneth Ospina Maria B Hooton Nicola Bialy Liza Dryden Donna M Buscemi Nina Shannahoff Khalsa David Dusek Jeffrey Carlson Linda E 2009 Defining a complex intervention The development of demarcation criteria for meditation Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 1 2 129 137 doi 10 1037 a0015736 NB Bond et al 2009 has substantial overlap with the full report by Ospina et al 2007 listed below Overlap includes the first 6 authors of this paper and the equivalence of Table 3 on p 134 in this paper with Table B1 on p 281 in the full report Bodhi Bhikkhu 1999 The Noble Eightfold Path The Way to the End of Suffering Retrieved 4 July 2006 Bodhi Bhikkhu 2005 In the Buddha s Words An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon Simon and Schuster Bronkhorst Johannes 1993 The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India Motilal Banarsidass Publ Cahn B Rael Polich John 2006 Meditation states and traits EEG ERP and neuroimaging studies Psychological Bulletin 132 2 180 211 doi 10 1037 0033 2909 132 2 180 PMID 16536641 Craven John L October 1989 Meditation and Psychotherapy The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 34 7 648 653 doi 10 1177 070674378903400705 PMID 2680046 S2CID 27930160 Everly George S Lating Jeffrey M 2002 A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response Springer Science amp Business Media ISBN 0 306 46620 1 Epstein Mark 1995 Thought without a Thinker Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective Basic Books Fischer Schreiber Ingrid Ehrhard Franz Karl Diener Michael S eds 1991 The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen Shambhala Publications Gangadharan Shobana Hemamalini M 2021 Community Health Nursing Framework for Practice Vol 2 E Book Elsevier Health Sciences Gethin Rupert 1998 The foundations of Buddhism Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 289223 1 Goldstein Joseph 2003 One Dharma the emerging Western Buddhism New York Harper Collins ISBN 0 06 251701 5 Goleman Daniel 1988 The meditative mind The varieties of meditative experience New York Tarcher ISBN 978 0 87477 833 5 Hayes S C Strosahl K D Wilson K G 1999 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy New York Guilford Press Jevning R Wallace R K Beidebach M September 1992 The physiology of meditation A review A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response Neuroscience amp Biobehavioral Reviews 16 3 415 424 doi 10 1016 s0149 7634 05 80210 6 PMID 1528528 S2CID 2650109 Kamalashila 2003 Meditation The Buddhist art of tranquility and insight Birmingham Windhorse Publications Kaplan A 1978 Meditation and the Bible Maine Samuel Weiser Kaplan A 1982 Meditation and Kabbalah Maine Samuel Weiser Kapleau Phillip 1989 The three pillars of Zen teaching practice and enlightenment 25th anniversary ed New York Anchor Books ISBN 0 385 26093 8 Kutz I Borysenko JZ Benson H January 1985 Meditation and psychotherapy a rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy the relaxation response and mindfulness meditation American Journal of Psychiatry 142 1 1 8 doi 10 1176 ajp 142 1 1 PMID 3881049 Lai Whalen Cheng Yu yin 2008 Chinese Buddhist Philosophy from Han through Tang in Mou Bo ed Routledge Lusthaus Dan 2018 Samkhya acmuller net Resources for East Asian Language and Thought Musashino University Lutz A Greischar L L Rawlings N B Ricard M Davidson R J 16 November 2004 Long term meditators self induce high amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101 46 16369 16373 Bibcode 2004PNAS 10116369L doi 10 1073 pnas 0407401101 PMC 526201 PMID 15534199 Matko Karin Sedlmeier Peter 15 October 2019 What Is Meditation Proposing an Empirically Derived Classification System Front Psychol 10 Sec Cognition 2276 doi 10 3389 fpsyg 2019 02276 PMC 6803504 PMID 31681085 McRae John 1986 The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chʻan Buddhism University of Hawaii Press Metzner R 2005 Psychedelic Psychoactive and Addictive Drugs and States of Consciousness In Mind Altering Drugs The Science of Subjective Experience Chap 2 Mitch Earlywine ed Oxford University Press MirAhmadi As Sayed Nurjan 2005 Healing Power of Sufi Meditation Islamic Supreme Council of America Nirmalananda Giri Swami 2007 Om Yoga Its Theory and Practice In depth study of the classical meditation method of the Bhagavad Gita Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Upanishads Ospina MB Bond K Karkhaneh M Tjosvold L Vandermeer B Liang Y Bialy L Hooton N Buscemi N Dryden DM Klassen TP June 2007 Meditation practices for health state of the research Evidence Report Technology Assessment 155 1 263 PMC 4780968 PMID 17764203 Perez De Albeniz Alberto Holmes Jeremy 2000 Meditation Concepts Effects And Uses In Therapy International Journal of Psychotherapy 5 1 49 58 doi 10 1080 13569080050020263 Polak Grzegorz 2011 Reexamining Jhana Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology UMCS Schaik Sam van 2018 The spirit of Zen Yale University Press Shalif Ilan et al 1989 Focusing on the Emotions of Daily Life Tel Aviv Etext Archives 2008 Shapiro D H 1982 Overview Clinical and physiological comparison of meditation with other self control strategies American Journal of Psychiatry 139 3 267 74 doi 10 1176 ajp 139 3 267 PMID 7036760 Reprinted as chapter 1 pp 5 10 in Shapiro Deane H Walsh Roger N 1984 Meditation classic and contemporary perspectives New York Aldine ISBN 978 0 202 25136 3 the book was republished in 2008 ISBN 978 0 202 36244 1 0 202 36244 2 Shapiro Deane H 1992 Adverse effects of meditation a preliminary investigation of long term meditators International Journal of Psychosomatics 39 1 4 62 7 PMID 1428622 S2CID 52203383 Sharf Robert 2014 Mindfullness and Mindlessness in Early Chan PDF Philosophy East amp West 64 4 933 964 doi 10 1353 pew 2014 0074 S2CID 144208166 Sharf Robert H 2015 Is mindfulness Buddhist and why it matters Transcultural Psychiatry 52 4 470 484 doi 10 1177 1363461514557561 PMID 25361692 S2CID 18518975 Shear Jonathan ed 2006 The experience of meditation Experts introduce the major traditions St Paul MN Paragon House ISBN 978 1 55778 857 3 Smith Fritz Frederick 1986 Inner Bridges A Guide to Energy Movement and Body Structure Humanics Ltd Partners ISBN 978 0 89334 086 5 Sogyal Rinpoche The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying ISBN 0 06 250834 2 Suzuki D T 2014 Selected Works of D T Suzuki Volume I Zen University of California Press Tart Charles T ed 1969 Altered states of consciousness a book of readings New York ISBN 978 0 471 84560 7 OCLC 5476 Trungpa C 1973 Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Shambhala South Asia Editions Boston Massachusetts Trungpa C 1984 Shambhala The Sacred Path of the Warrior Shambhala Dragon Editions Boston Massachusetts Vetter Tilmann 1988 The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism BRILL Erhard Vogel 2001 Journey Into Your Center Nataraja Publications ISBN 1 892484 05 6 Walsh Roger Shapiro Shauna L 2006 The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology A mutually enriching dialogue American Psychologist 61 3 227 239 doi 10 1037 0003 066X 61 3 227 PMID 16594839 Wenner Melinda 30 June 2007 Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works LiveScience com Yu Jimmy 2021 Reimagining Chan Buddhism Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Routledge Web sources a b Definition of meditate Merriam Webster Dictionary 18 December 2017 Retrieved 25 December 2017 a b c meditate Oxford Dictionaries English Archived from the original on September 26 2016 meditation Meaning Cambridge English Dictionary Further reading EditAjahn Brahm Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond ISBN 978 0 86171 275 5 Baba Meher 1995 Discourses Myrtle Beach SC Sheriar Foundation ISBN 978 1 880619 09 4 Baxter Roger 1823 Meditations For Every Day In The Year New York Benziger Brothers Cooper David A The Art of Meditation A Complete Guide ISBN 81 7992 164 6 Easwaran Eknath Meditation see article ISBN 0 915132 66 4 new edition Passage Meditation ISBN 978 1 58638 026 7 The Mantram Handbook ISBN 978 1 58638 028 1 Glickman Marshall 2002 Beyond the Breath Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole Body Vipassana ISBN 1 58290 043 4 Goenka S N Meditation Now Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom ISBN 1 928706 23 1 978 1 928706 23 6 Hanson Rick Mendius Richard 2009 Buddha s Brain The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness Love and Wisdom New Harbinger Publications ISBN 978 1 57224 695 9 Hart William Art of Living Vipassana Meditation ISBN 0 06 063724 2 ISBN 978 0 06 063724 8 Krishnamurti Jiddu This Light in Oneself True Meditation 1999 Shambhala Publications ISBN 1 57062 442 9 Heller Rick Secular Meditation 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace Compassion and Joy A Guide from the Humanist Community at Harvard 2015 New World Library ISBN 978 1 60868 369 7 Levin Michal Meditation Path to the Deepest Self Dorling Kindersley 2002 ISBN 978 0 7894 8333 1 Long Barry Meditation A Foundation Course A Book of Ten Lessons ISBN 1 899324 00 3 Meditation for Beginners without Religion Meditation for Beginners Meiche Michele Meditation for Everyday Living ISBN 0 9710374 6 9 Monaghan Patricia and Eleanor G Viereck Meditation The Complete Guide ISBN 1 57731 088 8 Oldstone Moore Jennifer Understanding Confucianism Duncan Baird 2003 ISBN 1 904292 12 7 Saraydarian Torkom 1976 The Science of Meditation TSG Publishing Foundation ISBN 978 0 911794 29 8 Shankarananda Swami Happy For No Good Reason Shaktipat Press 2004 ISBN 978 0 9750995 1 3 Wood Ernest Concentration An Approach to Meditation Theosophical Publishing House 1949 ISBN 0 8356 0176 5 Yogananda Paramahansa Autobiography of a Yogi External links EditMeditation at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Resources from Wikiversity Meditation at Curlie portrait and article from The Illustrated Sporting amp Dramatic News August 28 1880 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meditation amp oldid 1134086228, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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