Human Development
Meditation
Description:
The term has been used to designate a seemingly wide variety of practices, some of which require concentration on mental images, whilst others discourage attention to imagery. Some require action and movement whereas others stress inaction. The practice normally involves narrowing the focus of consciousness to one object while remaining cognitively and intellectually aware. Irrespective of the medium or form used, whether images, physical experiences, verbal utterances, etc, the essential objective of meditation is the same, namely the development of a presence, a modality of being, which may be expressed or developed in whatever situation the individual may be involved.The practice of meditation consists of a persistent effort to detect and become free of all conditioning, compulsive functioning of mind and body, and of habitual emotional responses that may contaminate the utterly simple situation required by the individual. Although meditation has no goal as such, and depending upon whether the meditator is secular or concerned with the mystical, the actual purpose to which meditation is usually put is the transforming of consciousness. It forms a part of many systems aimed at self improvement, spiritual growth or, in the case of mystical meditation, union with the Absolute. It may be used in conjunction with withdrawal from the world and the ascetic life or as a way of improving the quality of life in the everyday world (including physical and mental health), of gaining in self-knowledge, self-esteem, creativity, successful careers, or even of developing psychic powers. It is not usually claimed that meditation itself will achieve these results, more that it will improve the success of other techniques used to achieve them. However, long-term results do include a capacity for serenity and the ability to carry out tasks single-mindedly and competently. Meditation presents a new view of reality leading to self awareness and therefore to increased calm in relationships.
According to Patanjali, there are six stages in the process of meditation: aspiration; concentration; meditation; contemplation; illumination; and inspiration. All meditation involves a conscious exercise of awareness. This leads to a spontaneous flow of experience to which the person becomes a receptive onlooker. In its fullest development, the feeling of a separate self is lost and a degree of union with the object of meditation is achieved. This state may be called contemplation, when the individual becomes aware of his absolute relation with the absolute. As such it is said to be the highest form of prayer. This contemplation must be distinguished from the more general use of the term in western tradition, where it covers a wide range of practices, including intellectually thinking about meaning - which is not restful to mind or body. The eastern tradition of meditation is often synonymous with concentration, a control of the mind until consciousness goes beyond thought to where there is no thought.
When deliberately carried out as a spiritual exercise, meditation commonly contains the following elements: achievement of physical relaxation (often by adoption of some special posture); quieting of the emotions (often by the use of some breathing technique); elimination of intruding thoughts; concentration of the mind.
Importance may be attached to the choice of the object of meditation. Objects with a symbolic significance serve the double function of a target of attention and a reminder of the correct attitude which is both the path and goal of meditation. Characteristics of the most universal objects of meditation, whether visual, verbal or acoustic are: centrality, namely a centre of balance, source or end around which actions flow, or a centre of radiation or emanation (e.g. cross, sun, heart, lotus, seed); order, regularity and lawfulness, particularly as conciliation of opposites or a representation of unity in multiplicity; the religious quality. Object-centred meditation is a dwelling of the individual upon his deepest identity, upon the reflection of himself in the mirror of symbolism, which functions as a reminder of the central core of the individual's being and its relationship to the world.
Forms of meditation exist which do not require the individual to place himself under the influence of a symbol. The person then allows himself to be guided by the experiences provided by his own deeper nature, which are progressively refined as a result of the attention accorded to them. Another approach is to focus on the rejection of all objects of meditation, whether derived from without or within. By so excluding the irrelevant, the individual is open to the relevant and to a conceptual awareness of his true nature.
Broader:
Creative existence Narrower:
SuizenKinhinBhavanaCave meditationActive meditationGuided meditationMagical meditationProcess meditationPyramid meditationBurmese meditationKriya saktiIntegral meditationMahamudra meditationKinerhythm meditationStructured meditationMotionless meditationHypergnostic meditationJewish meditationFree-thinking meditationMetta meditationKasina meditationFree self-inquiry meditationVipassana-bhavanaSubjects for meditationDynamic self-opening meditationChristian meditationConcentration on the flow of breathDiscipline of meditation