| *Purposes
and effects of meditation*
The purposes for
which people meditate vary almost as widely as practices. Meditation
may serve simply as a means of relaxation from a busy daily routine;
as a technique for cultivating mental discipline; or as a means
of gaining insight into the nature of reality, or of communing with
one's God.
Many report improved
concentration, awareness, self-discipline and equanimity through
meditation.Many authorities avoid emphasizing the effects of meditation
— sometimes out of modesty, sometimes for fear that the expectation
of results might interfere with one's meditation.
For theists, the
effects of meditation are considered a gift of God or from the Holy
Spirit/Ghost, and not something that is "achieved" by
the meditator alone, just as some say that a person will not convert
to Christianity without the influence of the Holy Spirit/Ghost's
presence.
At the same time,
many effects (or perhaps side-effects) have been experienced during,
or claimed for, various types of meditation. These include:
*
Greater faith in, or understanding of, one's religion or beliefs
*
An increase in patience, compassion, and other virtues and morals
or the understanding of
them
*
Feelings of calm or peace, and/or moments of great joy
*
Consciousness of sin, temptation, and remorse, and a spirit of contrition.
*
Sensitivity to certain forms of lighting, such as fluorescent lights
or computer screens, and
sometimes heightened sense-perception.
*
Surfacing of buried memories, possibly including memories of previous
lives and those of others, or that of those to come
*
Experience of spiritual phenomena such as kundalini, extra-sensory
perception, or visions
of deities, saints, demons, etc.
*
"Miraculous" abilities such as levitation (cf. yogic flying)
*
Psychotic episodes (see medical section below)
Some traditions
acknowledge that many types of experiences and effects are possible,
but instruct the meditator to keep in mind the spiritual purpose
of the meditation, and not be distracted by lesser concerns.For
example, Mahayana Buddhists are urged to meditate for the sake of
"full and perfect enlightenment for all sentient beings"
(the bodhisattva vow).Some, as in certain sects of Christianity,
say that these things are possible, but are only to be supported
if they are to the glory of God.
Concepts of
Meditation - Two Types of Meditation:Stabilizing and Analytical
One is Stabilizing
and could be characterized by a type of "mindless" repetition
of a word or phrase (mantra/japa) or by simply doing an action over
and over like yantra (the continual gazing at an object, ie: a picture
or statue of a deity, the symbol for OM, a flame, etc.). The other
type of meditation is Analytical. In this form, the practitioner
doesn’t simply repeat a word over and over or look at a picture
repeatedly. The meditator would try to understand everything they
know or everything that can be known about the object of their attention.
As an example of
the difference between a stabilizing and an analytical meditation,
let’s use the word peace. You could repeat peace, peace, peace,
ad infinitum and eventually go deeper and deeper into a state of
quietude that could be described as Peace.This is very nice but
perhaps might not be fulfilling relative to an increase in understanding
about peace.This is where analytical meditation might bring a benefit.
The meditator who
is trained in analytical methodology might also start by repeating
the word peace,but once firmly concentrated on it would then proceed
to analyzing everything they knew about peace.They might think about
the things that bring them peace like swimming, or eating, or maybe
holding a baby. They may also think about the things that make them
lose their peace like their boss, or unfulfilled desires, or driving
in heavy traffic.
In theory, eventually,
if they kept at it, they would connect everything in the universe,
because everything is in some way connected with peace (Einstein’s’
theory of relativity - all things are relative to everything else).But
what actually happens is that the object of your meditation starts
to present itself to you and you can sit back in your minds-eye
and simply witness your Higher Mind reveal every aspect of peace
to you.
Your inner Witness,
who is your Real Self, is always receiving, knowing, and at one
with everything and once we remove the false concept that we are
different (a body, a mind, an emotion, even a separate soul) from
it, we will know and be at one with everything.Our consciousness
awakens to its real natural of infinite, eternal Peace, Love, Knowledge,
and Bliss, and we live happily ever after.
This is the state
known as Contemplation.So,to summarize,you start by Concentrating,
then Meditate by the analytical method, and then this segues into
Contemplation. It is then when all the ???’s turn into !!!.The Tibetans
Buddhists consider analytical meditation techniques to be superior
to the stabilizing. For you, now, it may be possible that this may
bring about the result you seek.
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