What is Meditation

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WHAT IS MEDITATION

 

The word meditation is used in a variety of ways, so there is a good deal of confusion about what precisely meditation is and how to practice it. Some people mistakenly use the word meditate to mean thinking or contemplating; others use it to refer to daydreaming or fantasising.

However, meditation is not any of these, but a different and distinct process, which is important to understand.

 

Meditation is a specific technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totally different from the normal working state. 

In meditation, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or events taking place around you. Neither is your mind asleep, dreaming or fantasising.  Instead, it is clear, relaxed and inwardly focused.

 

The root of the word meditation is similar to that of 'medical' or 'medicate'. The root of all these words implies the sense of "attending" or "paying attention" to something.

 

In meditation you pay attention to dimentions of yourself, which are seldom known as your own deepest, innermost levels. These deepest levels are more profound than the processes of thinking, analysing, daydreaming or experiencing emotions or memories. Meditation involves a type of inner attention that is quiet, concentrated and at the same time relaxed.

 

There is nothing difficult or strenuous about creating this inner attention; infact, you will find that meditation is a process that is restful for the mind. In the beginning, the greatest difficulty is that the mind has never been attained to create this inner attention.

 

In every society all over the world, people are educated in the skills needed to survive and function in their culture - how to talk, walk, work and investigate the objects and experiences of the external world. We learn sciences, such as biology, ecology and  chemistry in order to understand the world we live in, but no one - in any school, college, or university - teaches us to understand or attend to our own inner dimensions. We merely learn to assimilate the goals, fashions and values of our society without really knowing ourselves first, within and without. 

This leaves us ignorant of ourselves and dependent on the advise and suggestions of others.

 

Meditation is a different, subtle and precise approach. It is the simple technique of learning how to pay attention to and understand the various levels of yourself - the body, the breath and the mind. As time progresses, you may find that you enjoy the positive results of meditation - increased joyfulness, calmness, clarity and awareness, as much as you enjoy the relief you will experience from releasing the physical, nervous and mental symptoms of stress.

 

Meditation is therapeutic from the beginning. It helps relax muscular tension of the automatic nervous system, it also provides freedom from mental stress. 

A person of meditation attains a tranquil mind that helps the immune system, by limiting its reaction to stress and strain. 

You will find that even a few day's of sincere effort, will help you control your appetites- and even reactions such as anger, to a certain degree. Meditation will also decrease your mind for sleep and will energise your body and mind.

 

Those who are writers, poets, thinkers often express interest in becoming more creative and developing their intuition, the finest and most evolved of all aspects of knowledge. Meditation is a systematic way of enhancing our innate talents in daily life.

 

Meditation also has an important influence on health. In the modern world, most diseases can be classified to some degree as psychosomatic, having their origin in or begins influenced by thought and emotions. 

Recently, scientists have begun to recognise that these kind of diseases cannot really be cured merely by the conventional methods of orthodox medicine or psychotherapy, because if disease originates in your mind and your emotional reactions, how can an external therapy alone restore your health? If you rely only on external remedies and do not seek to understand your own mind and emotions, you may merely become dependant on a therapist or physician for help. In contrast, the method of meditation makes people self-reliant and helps them attain the inner strength necessary to deal more effectively with all of life's problems.