People can learn to suspend physical and mental responses to stimuli {meditation}. Typically, learning to meditate takes practice over long time. People can suspend judgment, analysis, planning, and emotion. People can ignore anxiety. People can feel nothingness, silence, self-expansion, transcendence, immanence, divine knowledge, enlightenment, cosmic consciousness, oneness, samadhi, or satori [Deikman, 1966] [Deikman, 2000] [Farthing, 1992] [Newberg and D'Aquili, 2001] [Wallace and Fisher, 1991] [Watts, 1957]. People can feel that there is no self, because responses are low [Austin, 1998]. Meditation is conscious but unaware, with experienced sensations. Mental states achievable by meditation can have or appear to have no representations.
Meditation is not daydreaming or drowsiness, because it involves alertness, concentration, and control [Fenwick, 1987]. True meditation does not block outside stimuli from consciousness.
concentration
Meditation concentrates on objects, locations, actions, or thoughts. Meditation suppresses attending and orienting. While concentrating, people ignore thoughts or attend to other thoughts without further thought.
Concentration can be on thoughts, narratives, or descriptions, such as Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola [1500 to 1600] or Four Divine Abidings of Theraveda Buddhism. Four Divine Abidings are kindness, compassion, happiness, and calm.
Concentration can be on images or their properties, as in Tantric-Buddhism and Tibetan-Buddhism Vajrayana, including guru yoga.
Concentration can be on koans, as in Zen-Buddhism Rinzai School and Soto School. Mumonkan or Gateless Gate and Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record have koans.
Concentration can be on mantras, as in Hinduism and Transcendental Meditation. The Jesus Prayer of Eastern Orthodoxy is mantra-like.
Concentration can be on actions, such as breathing.
Concentration can be on locations, such as mandalas or points between eyes.
biology
Meditation does not change left brain/right brain activity [Austin, 1998] [Fenwick, 1987] [Newberg and D'Aquili, 2001] [Ornstein, 1977] [Ornstein, 1992] [Ornstein, 1997].
Meditation EEG differs from sleep or awakeness EEG. EEG theta and delta rhythms increase during meditation. Right and left hemispheres synchronize more [Bagchi and Wenger, 1957] [Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1966].
methods
Meditation requires low light and sound. Meditators can face blank walls in quiet rooms. Meditators can concentrate on one stimulus, such as attending to breathing, saying mantras, saying koans, or looking at low-contrast objects. Meditation can use repeated movements, like thumb touching fingertips in succession or breathing from abdomen, not chest [Austin, 1998].
comparisons
Meditation often leads to daydreaming, but then it is not meditation [Austin, 1998] [Fenwick, 1987].
Meditation often leads to sleeping, but then it is not meditation [Austin, 1998] [Fenwick, 1987].
In religion, prayer can be meditation.
Resting is just as good at reducing arousal and dealing with stress as meditation [Farthing, 1992] [Holmes, 1987].
religion
Meditation is common in various religions [Ornstein, 1986] [Ornstein, 1992] [Ornstein, 1997] [West, 1987].
Zen Buddhism has hua tou, shikantaza, and zazen. Meditation can use prayer wheel. Meditation exercises can develop concentration to achieve pure insight and tranquility {vipassana nana}. Meditation can achieve serenity and mindfulness {sammapatti, meditation}, the highest dhamma.
In Hinduism, magic sound repetitions {mantra} can concentrate mind on gods. Om Mani Padme Hum {jewel in center of lotus} is a Hindu mantra. Icon contemplation can concentrate mind on gods. Yoga is meditation. Meditation and concentration try to identify human mind with, or allow possession by, God or truth. Meditation reveals true self, by reaching stages.
The Sufism Islam branch is a mystical philosophy and uses meditation for personal union with God. Sufism is about divine illumination, not behavior. Meditation is to attain higher-reality knowledge.
Consciousness>Consciousness>States>Meditation
1-Consciousness-States-Meditation
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Date Modified: 2022.0224