Class Schedule

Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the

The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports), which range from techniques designed to promote relaxation, contacting spiritual guides, building internal energy (chi, ki, prana, etc.), receiving psychic visions, getting closer to God, seeing past lives, taking astral journeys, and so forth, to more technical exercises targeted at developing compassion, while engaging in any and all of life’s activities. Thus, it is essential to be specific about the type of meditation practice under investigation.

Failure to make such distinctions would be akin to the use of the word ‘sport’ to refer to all sports as if they were essentially the same. For example, the overly generic description of meditation as a mere relaxation technique becomes problematic when one attends to the details of many practices. In contrast, we should think about the term “Meditation” as referring to several neighborhoods of New Age practices, shamanistic lucid dreaming and astral journeying, theistic-concentration meditations (

Meditation often involves an internal effort to self-regulate the mind in some way. It may be done the word meditation may carry different meanings in different contexts. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity as a component of numerous religious traditions and beliefs.

Contents

[] Etymology

The English meditation is derived from the , from a verb , meaning “to think, contemplate, devise, ponder”.

In the

The Tibetan word for meditation “Gom” means “to become familiar with ones self” and has the strong implication of training the mind to be familiar with states that are beneficial: concentration, compassion, correct understanding, patience, humility, perseverance, etc.

Apart from its historical usage, the term meditation was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices, referred to as dhyāna

[] History

The history of meditation is intimately bound up with the religious context within which it was practiced.

In the west, by 20 BCE had written on some form of “spiritual exercises” involving attention (prosoche) and concentration and by the 3rd century had developed meditative techniques.

The

The

By the 18th century, the study of

Secular forms of meditation were introduced in India in the 1950s as a Westernized form of Hindu meditative techniques and arrived in the United States and Europe in the 1960s. Rather than focusing on spiritual growth, secular meditation emphasizes stress reduction, relaxation and self-improvement.

[] Modern definitions and Western models

[] Definitions and scope

Definitions or Characterizations of Meditation: Examples from Prominent Reviews* Definition / Characterization Review •”[M]editation 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”:228-9 Walsh & Shapiro (2006) •”[M]editation 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”:180 Cahn & Polich (2006) •”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”:415 Jevning et al. (1992) •”theneed for the meditator to retrain his attention, whether through concentration or mindfulness, is the single invariant ingredient in… every meditation system”:107 Goleman (1988) *Influential reviews (cited >50 times in ), encompassing multiple methods of meditation.

As early as 1971, :135

In popular usage, the word “meditation” and the phrase “meditative practice” are often used imprecisely to designate broadly similar practices, or sets of practices, that are found across many cultures and traditions.

Some of the difficulty in precisely defining meditation has been the need to recognize the particularities of the many various traditions.:499 Taylor noted that to refer only to meditation from a particular faith (e.g., “Hindu” or “Buddhist”)

is not enough, since the cultural traditions from which a particular kind of meditation comes are quite different and even within a single tradition differ in complex ways. The specific name of a school of thought or a teacher or the title of a specific text is often quite important for identifying a particular type of meditation. :2

The table shows several definitions of meditation that have been used by influential modern reviews of research on meditation across multiple traditions. Within a specific context, more precise meanings are not uncommonly given the word “meditation.” and may also refer to the practice of that state.

This article mainly focuses on meditation in the broad sense of a type of discipline, found in various forms in many cultures, by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflexive, “thinking” mind) into a deeper, more devout, or more relaxed state. The terms “meditative practice” and “meditation” are mostly used here in this broad sense. However, usage may vary somewhat by context — readers should be aware that in quotations, or in discussions of particular traditions, more specialized meanings of “meditation” may sometimes be used (with meanings made clear by context whenever possible).

[] Western typologies

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”.:143 This means that, for instance, while monks engage in meditation as a 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. These meditative practices sometimes have similarities (often noticed by Westerners), for instance concentration on the breath is practiced in both Zen, Tibetan and Theravadan contexts, and these similarities or ‘typologies’ are noted here.

Progress on the “intractable” problem of defining meditation was attempted by a recent study of views common to seven experts trained in diverse but empirically highly studied (clinical or Eastern-derived) forms of meditation.

In modern psychological research, meditation has been defined and characterized in a variety of ways; many of these emphasize the role of

In the West, meditation is sometimes thought of in two broad categories: concentrative meditation and meditation. These two categories are discussed in the following two paragraphs, with concentrative meditation being used interchangeably with focused attention and mindfulness meditation being used interchangeably with open monitoring,

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.

“One style, Focused Attention (FA) meditation, entails the voluntary focusing of attention on a chosen object. The other style, Open Monitoring (OM) meditation, involves non-reactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment.”

Other typologies have also been proposed,

Evidence from neuroimaging studies suggests that the categories of meditation, defined by how they direct attention, appear to generate different brainwave patterns.

[] Religious and spiritual meditation

[] Bahá'í Faith

In the teachings of the

The

[] Buddhism

refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism. Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. pursue meditation as part of the path toward and . The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are and jhāna/. According to Manmatha Nath Dutt, there is hardly any difference between mainstream Hinduism’s Dhyana, Dharana and Samadhi with the Buddhist Dhyana, Bhavana, Samadhi, especially as both require following the precepts (nayas and niyamas.)

Buddhist meditation techniques have become increasingly popular in the wider world, with many non-Buddhists taking them up for a variety of reasons. There is considerable homogeneity across meditative practices — such as

The Buddha is said to have identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice:

“serenity” or “tranquillity” (Pali: samatha) which steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates the mind; “insight” (Pali: vipassana) which enables one to see, explore and discern “formations” (conditioned phenomena based on the five ).

Through the meditative development of serenity, one is able to suppress obscuring ; and, with the suppression of the hindrances, it is through the meditative development of insight that one gains liberating .

[] Christianity

Christian meditation contrasts with cosmic styles of eastern meditation as radically as the portrayal of In 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 , but is more structured than the multiple layers of in Christianity. [] Hinduism See also:  and A large statue in meditating There are many schools and styles of meditation within Hinduism. Yoga is generally done to prepare one for meditation, and meditation is done to realize union of one’s self, one’s Within ), and is the ultimate aim of all Hindu yogis. Meditation in Hinduism is not confined to any school or sect and has expanded beyond Hinduism to the West. The influential modern proponent of Hinduism who first introduced Eastern philosophy to the West in the late 19th century, , describes meditation as follows: Meditation has been laid stress upon by all religions. The meditative state of mind is declaredby the Yogis to be the highest state in which the mind exists. When the mind is studying the external object, it gets identified with it, loses itself. To use the simile of the old Indian philosopher: the soul of man is like a piece of crystal, but it takes the colour of whatever is near it. Whatever the soul touches … it has to take its colour. That is the difficulty. That constitutes the bondage. [] Islamic Mysticism Main articles: , , , and or Islamic mysticism involves practices. Remembrance of God in Islam, which is known by the concept is interpreted in different meditative techniques in or Islamic mysticism. This became one of the essential elements of Sufism as it was systematized in the 11th and 12th centuries. It is juxtaposed with fikr (thinking) which leads to knowledge. By the 12th century, the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques, and its followers practiced breathing controls and the repetition of holy words. Numerous place emphasis upon ameditative procedure similar in its cognitive aspect to one of the two principal approaches to be found in the : that of the technique, involving high-intensity and sharply focused . In the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi Sufi order, for example, this is particularly evident, where takes the form of tamarkoz, the latter being a term that means concentration. Meditative quiescence is said to have a quality of , and—in contemporary terminology—enhancing . Tafakkur or tadabbur in Sufism literally means reflection upon the : this is considered to permit access to a form of and development that can emanate only from the higher level, i.e. from God. The sensation of receiving awakens and liberates both and , permitting such inner growth that the apparently mundane actually takes on the quality of the . Muslim teachings embrace life as a test of one’s submission to God. . Among the used to practice those, according to available Hadith literature. [] Jainism Main article: in meditative posture In ,meditation has been a core spiritual practice, one that Jains believe people have undertaken since the teaching of the , . All the twenty-four Tirthankaras practiced deep meditation and attained enlightenment. They are all shown in meditative postures in the images or idols. practiced deep meditation for twelve years and attained . The dating to 500 BC, addresses the meditation system of Jainism in detail. of the 4th century BC practiced deep Mahaprana meditation for twelve years. of 1st century BCE, opened new dimensions of meditation in Jain tradition through his books , Pravachansar and others. Jain meditation and spiritual practices system were referred to as salvation-path. It has three important parts called the 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 Dharmya Dhyana andShukla Dhyana. There exists a number of meditation techniques such as pindāstha-dhyāna, padāstha-dhyāna, rūpāstha-dhyāna, rūpātita-dhyāna, savīrya-dhyāna, etc. In padāstha dhyāna one focuses on 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. formulated in the 1970s and presented a well-organised system of meditation. and Pranayama, meditation, contemplation, mantra and therapy are its integral parts. Numerous Preksha meditation centers came into existence around theworld and numerous meditations camps are being organized to impart training in it. [] Judaism Main article: There is evidence that Judaism has had meditative practices that go back thousands of years. Similarly, there are indications throughout the (the Hebrew ) that meditation was used by the prophets. In the , there are two words for meditation: hāgâ (: הגה‎), which means to sigh or murmur, but also to meditate, and sîḥâ (: שיחה‎), which means to muse, or rehearse in one’s mind. The Jewish mystical tradition, However, he did not write down his teachings, which were recounted and interpreted instead by his close circle of disciples. After a mystical encounter, called in Kabbalistic tradition an “elevation of the soul” into the spiritual realms, Isaac Luria said that it would take 70 years to explain all that he had experienced. As Kabbalah evolved its teachings took on successively greater conceptual form and philosophical system. Nonetheless, as is implied by the name of Kabbalah,which means “to receive”, its exponents see that for the student to understand its teachings requires a spiritual intuitive reception that illuminates and personalises the intellectual structures. Corresponding to the learning of Kabbalah are its traditional meditative practices, as for the Kabbalist, the ultimate purpose of its study is to understand and cleave to the Divine. Classic methods include the mental visualisation of the supernal realms the soul navigates through to achieve certain ends. One of the best known types of meditation in early Jewish mysticism was the work of the , from the root /R-K-B/ meaning “chariot” (of God). In modern Jewish practice, one of the best known meditative practices is called “ This practice is the analytical reflective process of making oneself understand a mystical concept well, that follows and internalises its study in Hasidic writings. [] New Age Main article: 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 [] Sikhism Main article: In , the practices of and encourage quiet meditation. This is focusing one’s attention on the attributes of God. Sikhs believe that there are 10 ‘gates’ to the body; ‘gates’ is another word for ‘chakras’ or energy centres. The top most energy level is called the tenth gate or Dasam Duaar. When one reaches this stage through continuous practice meditation becomes a habit that continues whilst walking, talking, eating, awake and even sleeping. There is a distinct taste or flavour when a meditator reaches this lofty stage of meditation, as one experiences absolute peace and tranquility inside and outside the body. Followers of the Sikh religion also believe that love comes through meditation on the lord’s name since meditationonly conjures up positive emotions in oneself which are portrayed through our actions. The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached the equality of all humankind and stressed the importance of living a householder’s life instead of wandering around jungles meditating, the latter of which being a popular practice at the time. The Guru preached that we can obtain liberation from life and death by living a totally normal family life and by spreading love amongst every human being regardless of religion. In the Sikh religion, , otherwise known as singing the hymns of God is seen as one of the most beneficial ways of aiding meditation, and it too in some ways is believed to be a meditation of one kind. [] Taoism Main article: “Gathering the Light”, Taoist meditation from Taoism includes a number of meditative and contemplative traditions, said to have their principles described in the (T’ai Chi T’u), and is often referred to as “meditation in motion”. “The essay ‘Neiye’ 內業(Inward training) is the oldest received writing on the subject of the cultivation of and meditation techniques. The essay was probably composed at the Jixia Academy in Qi in the late fourth century B.C.” The (c. 3rd century BCE) Daoist records or “sitting forgetting” meditation. asked his disciple to explain what he means by “sit and forget”: “I slough off my limbs and trunk, dim my intelligence, depart from my form, leave knowledge behind, and become identical with the Transformational Thoroughfare.” Often are thought of as moving meditation. A common phrase being, “movement in stillness” referring to energetic movement in passive Qigong and seated Taoist meditation; with the converse being “stillness in movement”, a state of mental calm and meditation in the tai chi form. In a form of meditation using visualization, such as Chinese , the practitioner concentrates on flows of energy (Qi) in the body, starting in the abdomen and then circulating through the body, until dispersed. []Prayer beads Most of the ancient religions of the world have a tradition of using some type of has 99 beads. Specific meditations of each religion may be different. [] Secular meditation in the West A collective meditation in As stated by the , a U.S. government entity within the National Institutes of Health that advocates various forms of , “Meditation may be practiced for many reasons, such as to increase calmness and physical relaxation, to improve psychological balance, to cope with illness, or to enhance overall health and well-being.” of conducted a series of clinical tests on meditators from various disciplines, including the and . In 1975, Benson published a book titled where he outlined his own version of meditation for relaxation. has been used by many researchers since the 1950s in an effort to enter deeper states of mind.[] [] Mindfulness Main article: Over the past 20 years, was developed by American physician in the early 1920s. In this practice one tenses and thenrelaxes muscle groups in a sequential pattern whilst concentrating on how they feel. The method has been seen to help people with many conditions especially extreme anxiety. [] Modern cross-cultural dissemination Methods of meditation have been cross-culturally disseminated at various times throughout history, such as Buddhism going to East Asia, and Ideas about Eastern meditation had begun “seeping into American popular culture even before the American Revolution through the various sects of European occult Christianity,”:3 But The , 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, … [founded] various ashrams… lectured at Harvard on Theravada Buddhist meditation in 1904; … [toured] the US teaching the principles of Bahai, and toured in 1907 teaching Zen…:4 More recently, in the 1960s, another surge inWestern interest in meditative practices began. Observers have suggested many types of explanations for this interest in Eastern meditation and revived Western contemplation. :xxiv Another suggested contributing factor is the rise of communist political power in Asia, which, “set the stage for an influx of Asian spiritual teachers to the West,” [] Western context Meditating in In the late 19th century] Meditation may be for a religious purpose, but even before being brought to the West it was used in secular contexts.[] Beginning with the Theosophists meditation has been employed in the West by a number of religious and spiritual movements, such as , and the movement. Meditation techniques have also been used by Western theories of counseling and psychotherapy. Relaxation training works toward achieving mental and muscle relaxation to reduce daily stresses. Jacobson is credited with developing the initial progressive relaxation procedure. These techniques are used in conjunction withother behavioral techniques. Originally used with , relaxation techniques are now used with other clinical problems. Meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback-induced relaxation are a few of the techniques used with relaxation training. One of the eight essential phases of (developed by Francine Shapiro), bringing adequate closure to the end of each session, also entails the use of relaxation techniques, including meditation. Multimodal therapy, a technically eclectic approach to behavioral therapy, also employs the use of meditation as a technique used in individual therapy. From the point of view of [] Meditation, religion, and drugs Main articles: Many traditions in which meditation is practiced, such as , while others, such as the Rastafarian movements and Native American Church, view drugs as integral to their religious lifestyle. The fifth of the five precepts of the traditions, states that adherents must not ingest, “intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness.” On the otherhand, the ingestion of psychoactives has been a central feature in the rituals of many religions, in order to produce . In several traditional ceremonies, drugs are used as agents of ritual. In the , is believed to be a gift from and a to be used regularly, while alcohol is considered to debase man. meditated daily on his long hammock in a corridor-like room with wooden floor and shutters.[] Native Americans use , as part of religious ceremony, continuing today. In India, the drink has a long history of use alongside prayer and sacrifice, and is mentioned in the . During the 1960s, both eastern meditation traditions and psychedelics, such as . [] Physical postures Main article: For bodily positions applied during yoga, see . Various postures are taken up in meditation. Sitting, supine, and standing postures are used. Popular in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism are the , half-lotus, , and positions. Meditation is sometimes done while walking, known as , or while doing a simple taskmindfully, known as . [] Scientific studies Main article: Meditation has been linked to a variety of health benefits. A study of college students by Oman et al. (2008) found that meditation may produce physiological benefits by changing neurological processes. This finding was supported by an expert panel at the National Institutes of Health. The practice of meditation has also been linked with various favourable outcomes that include: “effective functioning, including academic performance, concentration, perceptual sensitivity, reaction time, memory, self control, empathy, and self esteem.”(Oman et al., 2008, pg. 570) In their evaluation of the effects of two meditation-based programs they were able to conclude that meditating had stress reducing effects and cogitation, and also increased forgiveness. (Oman et al., 2008) In a cross-sectional survey research design study lead by Li Chuan Chu (2009), Chu demonstrated that benefits to the psychological state of the participants in thestudy arose from practicing meditation. Meditation enhances overall psychological health and preserves a positive attitude towards stress. (Chu, 2009) Mindfulness Meditation has now entered the health care domain because of evidence suggesting a positive correlation between the practice and emotional and physical health. Examples of such benefits include: reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, headaches, pain, elevated blood pressure, etc. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that those who meditated approximately half an hour per day during an eight week period reported that at the end of the period, they were better able to act in a state of awareness and observation. Respondents also said they felt non-judgmental. (Harvard’s Women’s Health Watch, 2011) “Meditation as Medicine” (American Academy of Neurology) cites scientific evidence from various studies which claim that meditation can increase attention span, sharpen focus, improve memory, and dull the perceptionof pain. The article lists as common types of meditation: Attention Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation, and Benevolent Meditation. Over 1,000 publications on meditation have appeared to date.[. A review of scientific studies identified relaxation, concentration, an altered state of awareness, a suspension of logical thought and the maintenance of a self-observing attitude as the behavioral components of meditation; is still not well understood. In June, 2007 the United States :v More recent research suggests that meditation may increase attention spans. A recent study published in reported that practicing meditation led to doing better on a task related to sustained attention. A 2007 study by the U.S. government found that nearly 9.4% of U.S. adults (over 20 million) had practiced meditation within the past 12 months, up from 7.6% (more than 15 million people) in 2002. Since the 1960s, meditation has been the focus of increasing Meditation and intelligence Recent investigations ofmediation have linked it to increased intelligence through physical growth of the brain. Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and MIT conducted brain scans that reveal an increased thickness in the parts of the brain that deal with attention and sensory input processing. Using , they visualized variations in the thickness of the cerebral cortex of experienced practitioners. The data show that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to somatosensory, auditory, visual and interoceptive processing. Further, regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex, leading to longer lasting executive functioning. Another study investigated the effects of on and Hick’s reaction time, which are both correlated with general intelligence. In the study 100 men and women who meditated showed significant improvement on the tests compared to the control group of non-meditators, which showed no improvement. Theresults indicated that participation in meditation results in improvements to intelligence. A study by Keith Wallace, David Johnson, and Paul Mills investigated the relationship between the paired H-reflex and the academic success of students practicing Transcendental Meditation. The paired H-reflex correlated significantly with GPA, but not with sat scores or any of three IQ measurements. The results suggest that meditation may be a useful indicator of academic achievement by “improving awareness and wakefullness”. Self-discipline, a trait linked to the practice of meditation has also been linked to increases in IQ scores. In a behavioral delay-of-gratification task with 8th graders, self-discipline accounted for more than twice as much variance as IQ in final grades, high school selection, school attendance, hours spent doing homework, hours spent watching television and the hour of the day students began their homework. The effect of self-discipline on final grades stayed even whencontrolling for grades, achievement-test scores, and measured IQ. [] Popular culture Main article: Various forms of meditation have been described in popular culture sources. In particular, . [] See also [] References . //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693206/. Watts, Alan. “11 _10-4-1 Meditation.” Eastern Wisdom: Zen in the West & Meditations. The Alan Watts Foundation. 2009. MP3 CD. @4:45 University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008, March 27). Compassion Meditation Changes The Brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from Gen. Lamrimpa (author); “Calming the Mind.” Snow Lion Publications. 1995. Book on Buddhist methods for developing single pointed concentration. Gen.Lamrimpa (author); “Calming the Mind.” Snow Lion Publications. 1995. Includes basic instructions for analysis of reality. “MacMillan Reference Encyclopedia of Buddhism”, the article entitled, “Meditation” ^ , both listed in this article’s bibliography. ^ Moksha Journal. Issue 1. 2006. ISSN 1051-127X, OCLC21878732 An universal etymological English dictionary 1773, London, by Nathan Bailey . Note: from the 1773 edition on Google books, not earlier editions.[] Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 page 88 The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 page 115 The verb root “dhyai” is listed as referring to “contemplate, meditate on” and “dhyāna” is listed as referring to “meditation; religious contemplation” on page 134 of (1929 (1971 reprint)). A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation and etymological analysis throughout. London: . . ^ . . Joel Stein (2003). . 162 (5): 48–56. . In the print edition (pp. 54-55), the “Through the Ages” box describes “Christian Meditation”, “Cabalistic (Jewish) Meditation”, “Muslim Meditation”, and others. .. Page 161 states “In Christianity, the term ‘contemplation’ is parallel to the term ‘meditation’ as it has entered contemporary usage” ^ page 199 Joseph, M. 1998, The effectof strong religious beliefs on coping with stress Stress Medicine. Vol 14(4), Oct 1998, 219-224.[] . Matt J. Rossano (2007). “Did meditating make us human?”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal (Cambridge University Press) 17 (1): 47–58. :. This paper draws on various lines of evidence to argue that “Campfire rituals of focused attention created for enhanced working memory among our Homo sapiens ancestors…. this emergence was [in part] caused by a fortuitous genetic mutation that enhanced working memory capacity [and] a where genetic adaptation follows somatic adaptation was the mechanism for this emergence” (p. 47). Hadot, Pierre; Arnold I. Davidson (1995) Philosophy as a way of life pages 83-84 pages 15 pages 50 page 5 Soto Zen in Medieval Japan by William Bodiford 2008 page 39 The Cambridge History of Japan: Medieval Japan by Kōzō Yamamura, John Whitney Hall 1990 ISBN 0521223547646 ^ page 147-149 ^ page 63 ^ page 109 An introduction to the Christian Orthodox churches by John Binns 2002page 128 . OrthodoxWiki. . Retrieved 12 May 2010. ] Christian Spirituality: A Historical Sketch by George Lane 2005 page 20 Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 page 38 The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 page 109 After Augustine: the meditative reader and the text by Brian Stock 2001 page 105 Abelson, Peter (April 1993) . Philosophy East and West Volume 43, Number 2, pp. 255-278. University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved on: 12 April 2008. Enlightenment and reform in 18th-century Europe by Derek Edward Dawson Beales 2005 page 13 Shakya, Tsering “Review of Prisoners of Shangri-la by Donald Lopez”. A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response by George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 page 200 Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion by David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden, Stanton Marlan 2009 ISBN page 559 ^ . ^ pages 201-202 ^ . ^ . ^ . Number of citations in : 69 for Walsh & Shapiro, 2006 (2 July 2010); 95 forCahn & Polich, 2006 (2 July 2010); 57 for Jevning et al (1992) (3 July 2010); 103 for Goleman, 1988 (2 July 2010). Claudio Naranjo (1972, originally published 1971), in: Naranjo and Orenstein, On the Psychology of Meditation. New York: Viking. ^ ) . ^ (NB: pagination of published was 499-551 proof was 497-550). ^ . ^ . Besides Lectio and Yoga, examples include ‘s (1975) Relaxation Response , ‘s (1990) Full Catastrophe Living , and ‘s (1978) 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, Ospina, et al, 2009; Appendix B, pp. 279-282 in Ospina, Bond, et al, 2007). .). Bond, Ospina et al (2009) — see fuller discussion elsewhere on this page — 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 thepossible 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, Bond, et al, 2007, p. 281) Robert Ornstein (1972, originally published 1971), in: Naranjo and Orenstein, On the Psychology of Meditation. New York: Viking. LCCN 76149720 “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: , , relaxation response, , andmeditation” (Bond, Ospina et al, 2009, p. 131); their views were combined using the “The … a method of eliciting and refining group judgments to address complex problems with a high level of uncertainty” (p. 131). The full quotation from Bond, Ospina et al (2009, p. 135) reads: “It is plausible that meditation is best thought of as a natural category of techniques best captured by ‘‘ (, 1968) or by the related (, 1973; & Mervin, 1975).” Lutz, A., Slagter, H. Dunne, J. and Davidson, R. (8 March 2010). . “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 ofmeditation, 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, Vipassanā 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” The full quote from Bond, Ospina et al (2009, p. 130) reads: “The differences and similarities among these techniques is often explained in the Western meditation literature in terms of the direction of mental attention (Koshikawa & Ichii, 1996; Naranjo, 1971; Orenstein, 1971): A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object (so-called concentrative mediation), on all mental events that enterthe field of awareness (so-called mindfulness meditation), or both specific focal points and the field of awareness (Orenstein, 1971).” Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation by Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson online at ^ . //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693206/. ^ . ^ . Retrieved 2007-08-23. . ^ . Retrieved 2011-07-01. ^ . . . . For instance, Kamalashila (2003), p. 4, states that Buddhist meditation “includes any method of meditation that has 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, ….” A similar although in some ways slightly broader definition is provided by Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 142: “Meditation – general term for a multitude of religious practices, often quite different in method, but allhaving 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 and 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 et al. (1991), p. 20. As an example from a well-known discourse of the , in “The Greater Exhortation to Rahula” (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, 62), Ven. tells Ven. (in Pali, based on : ānāpānassatiṃ, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvehi. translates this as: “Rahula, develop the meditation [bhāvana] of .” (Square-bracketed Pali word included based on Thanissaro, 2006, end note.) contemporaneous with the Buddha, wrote: “…[T]here is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technicalterm 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’ (); 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.) Goldstein (2003) writes that, in regard to the , “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). The forty concentrative meditation subjects refer to ‘s oft-referenced enumeration. 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 somemeditator’s visionary experience of enlightened qualities, seen in the form of and ” (p. 227). Examples of contemporary school-specific “classics” include, from the Theravada tradition, Nyanaponika (1996) and, from the Zen tradition, Kapleau (1989). These definitions of samatha and vipassana are based on the “Four Kinds of Persons Sutta” ( 4.94). This article’s text is primarily based on Bodhi (2005), pp. 269-70, 440 n. 13. See also . See, for instance, AN 2.30 in Bodhi (2005), pp. 267-68, and . The Rosary: A Path Into Prayer by Liz Kelly 2004 pages 79 and 86 Christian Meditation for Beginners by Thomas Zanzig, Marilyn Kielbasa 2000, page 7 An introduction to Christian spirituality by F. Antonisamy, 2000 pages 76-77 Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney, 1979 page 12 Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney, 1979 pages 12-13 The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3 by Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley 2003 page 488 Letter on certain aspects of Christian meditation (inEnglish), October 15, 1989 , February 8, 2003 New Age Beliefs Aren’t Christian, Vatican Finds Feb 4, 2003 Vatican sounds New Age alert Simple Ways to Pray by Emilie Griffin 2005 page 134 Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 51. The earliest reference is actually in the Mokshadharma, which dates to the early Buddhist period. The Katha Upanishad describes yoga, including mediation. On meditation in this and other post-Buddhist Hindu literature see Randall Collins, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Harvard University Press, 2000, page 199. ^ . . . Sainthood and revelatory discourse by David Emmanuel Singh 2003 page 154 Dwivedi, Kedar Nath. Review:Freedom from Self, Sufism, Meditation and Psychotherapy. Group Analysis, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 434-436, December 1989 . . Bhagwan Mahavira. JVB, Ladnun, India. 1995. . Retrieved 2009-09-27. “1 History and Tradition”. Introduction to Jainism. JVB, Ladnun, India. 2007. . BhagwanMahavira. JVB, Ladnun, India. 1995. . Retrieved 2009-09-27. Ahimsa — The Science Of Peace: by Surendra Bothra 1987 . . Retrieved 2010-07-20. Jain Yoga by Acharya Mahapragya 2004 “Foreword”. Jain Yog. Aadarsh Saahitya Sangh. 2004. “blessings”. Sambodhi. Aadarsh Saahitya Sangh. 2004. ^ . Retrieved 2009-09-14. . Introduction To Jainism. Prakrit Bharti Academy, jaipur, India. 2006. . Retrieved 2010-07-28. . Jain Vishva Bharati. 2007. . Retrieved 2010-07-28. . Preksha International. . Retrieved 2010-07-26. The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 page 1 Jacobs, L. (1976) Jewish Mystical Testimonies, Jerusalem, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd. Kaplan, A. (1978) Meditation and the Bible, Maine, Samuel Weiser Inc, p 101. The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 page 45 Kaplan, A. (1982) Meditation and Kabbalah, Maine, Samuel Weiser, Inc. Matt, D.C. (1996) The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, San Francisco,HarperCollins. Scholem, G. G. (1988) Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York, Schocken Books, pp 244-286 Kaplan, A. (1985) Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, New York Schocken Books. Kaplan, A. (1978) op cit p2 Kaplan, (1982) op cit, p13 Barnia, George (1996). . Dallas TX: Word Publishing. religioustolerance.org. . Mair, Victor H., tr. (1994), Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu, Bantam Books, p. 64. ^ page 3 ^ page 175 For a general overview see Beads of Faith: Pathways to Meditation and Spirituality Using Rosaries, Prayer Beads, and Sacred Words by Gray Henry, Susannah Marriott 2008 ^ pages 82-83 . . . . Retrieved 28 November 2010. . Eagle Life Communications. . Retrieved March 2007. “In the last 20 years, mindfulness has become the focus of considerable attention for a large community of clinicians and, to a lesser extent, empirical psychology.” – . Kabat-Zinn gives the body scan and food meditations in “Mindfulness for Beginners” the 2CD set,and Matthieu Ricard gives the letting thoughts arise and pass away in his 2CD set “Happiness: A Guide to Cultivating Life’s Most Important Skill” about introductory mindfulness practice online”. . . . . The organization , which teaches Christian , has chapters in non-Western locations in Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea (accessed 5 July 2010) . Taylor (1999, p. 7) stated that “the increased Soviet influence in India, the Cultural Revolution in China, the Communist Chinese takeover of Tibet and Mongolia, and the increased political influence of Chinese Communism in Korea and Southeast Asia were key forces that collectively set the stage for an influx of Asian spiritual teachers to the West. An entirely new generation of them appeared on the American scene and they found a willing audience of devotees within the American counter-culture. , , , , , , , , , , , , and the were but a few of the names that found followers in the United States… [and] the most well known and influential…today remains , the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.” . Deane Shapiro “Towards an empirical understanding of meditation as an altered state of consciousness” in Meditation, classic and contemporary perspectives by Deane H. Shapiro, Roger N. Walsh 1984 page 13 New developments in consciousness research by Vincent W. Fallio 2006 page 151 Denise Denniston and Peter McWilliams, The TM Book: How to Enjoy the Rest of Your Life, pp. 179-180, Three Rivers Press, O’Brien, Barbara. . buddhism.about.com. . . ; October 6, 1994″]. . Retrieved 28 November 2010. “A Zen Life” a documentary film about the life of D.T. Suzuki Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, “Meditation as Medicine”, Amy Paturel M.S., M.P.H, online at Lutz, Dunne and Davidson, “Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction” in The Cambridgehandbook of consciousness by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, 2007 pages 498-499 ^ . . . ^ . . //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3132583/. “Our findings suggest that training-related improvements in perception can decrease resource demands and thus improve vigilance” (p. 836). Study participants in the meditation condition practiced 5 hours per day over 3 months. . A 2007 national Government survey that asked about CAM use in a sample of 23,393 U.S. adults found that 9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months—compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002. The 2007 survey also asked about CAM use in a sample of 9,417 children; 1 percent (representing 725,000 children) had used meditation in the past 12 months.” Wilkinson, G. Understanding Stress, Poole, Family Doctor Publications in association with British MedicalAssociation, p111. Cranson, Robert W., et al. “Transcendental Meditation and improved performance on intelligence-related measures: a longitudinal study.” Personality and Individual Differences 12.10 (1991): 1105-1116. MICHAEL, C. DILLBECK, et al. “LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAM ON COGNITIVEABILITY AND COGNITIVE STYLE.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 62.3 (1986): 731-738. Wallace, R. Keith, et al. “Academic achievement and the paired Hoffman reflex in students practicing meditation.” International Journal of Neuroscience 24.3-4 (1984): 261-266. Duckworth, Angela L., and Martin EP Seligman. “Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents.” Psychological Science 16.12 (2005): 939-944. [] Bibliography Austin, James H. (1999) Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999, Bennett-Goleman, T. (2001) Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart, Harmony Books,Benson, Herbert and Miriam Z. Klipper. (2000 [1972]). The Relaxation Response. Expanded Updated edition. Harper. Bond, Kenneth; Maria B. Ospina, Nicola Hooton, Liza Bialy, Donna M. Dryden, Nina Buscemi, David Shannahoff-Khalsa, Jeffrey Dusek & Linda E. Carlson (2009). “Defining a complex intervention: The development of demarcation criteria for “meditation””. . (NB: Bond, Ospina et al., 2009, has substantial overlap with the full report by Ospina, Bond 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) Craven JL (October 1989). “Meditation and psychotherapy”. Can J Psychiatry 34 (7): 648–53.  . (1988). The meditative mind: The varieties of meditative experience. New York: Tarcher.  . Hayes SC, Strosahl KD, Wilson KG. (1999) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New York: Guilford Press. 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”. Am J Psychiatry 142 (1): 1–8.  . Lutz, Antoine; . 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: Oxford University Press. MirAhmadi, As Sayed Nurjan Healing Power of Sufi Meditation The Healing Power of Sufi Meditation Paperback: 180 pages Publisher: Islamic Supreme Council of America (June 30, 2005) Language: English Nirmalananda Giri, Swami (2007) In-depth study of the classical meditation method of the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and the Upanishads. Ospina Maria B., Kenneth Bond, Mohammad Karkhaneh, Lisa Tjosvold, Ben Vandermeer, Yuanyuan Liang, Liza Bialy, Nicola Hooton, Nina Buscemi, Donna M. Dryden & Terry P. Klassen (June 2007). (pdf). Evidence Report / Technology Assessment (Full Report), prepared by theUniversity of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-02-0023) () (155): 1–263.  . . Perez-De-Albeniz, Alberto & Holmes, Jeremy (2000) Meditation: Concepts, Effects And Uses In Therapy. International Journal of Psychotherapy, March 2000, Vol. 5 Issue 1, p49, 10p Shalif, Ilan et al. (1989) (Tel-Aviv: Etext Archives, 2008) Shapiro, Deane H. (1982). . American Journal of Psychiatry (American Psychiatric Association) 139 (3): 267–274. ) Shapiro DH (1992). “Adverse effects of meditation: a preliminary investigation of long-term meditators”. Int J Psychosom 39 (1–4): 62–7.  . Shear, Jonathan, ed. (2006). . St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.  . . Smith, Fritz Frederick (1986): Inner Bridges: A Guide to Energy Movement and Body Structure, Humanics Ltd. Partners, . (1973) Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Shambhala South Asia Editions, Boston, Massachusetts. (1984) Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, , Boston, Massachusetts. Erhard Vogel. (2001) Journey Into YourCenter, Nataraja Publications, Wenner, Melinda. “Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works.” LiveScience.com. 30 June 2007. [] Further reading (1995). . : Sheriar Foundation.  . . Cooper, David. A. The Art of Meditation: A Complete Guide. Glickman, Marshall (2002) Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana. Hart, William. Art of Living, Vipassana Meditation, Meiche, Michele. Meditation for Everyday Living. Monaghan, Patricia and Eleanor G. Viereck. Meditation: The Complete Guide. Oldstone-Moore, Jennifer. , Duncan Baird, 2003. . . Yoga for Modern life. . . [] External links Find more about Meditation on Wikipedia’s : from Wiktionary from Commons from Wikiversity from Wikinews from Wikiquote from Wikisource from Wikibooks at the Aspects Meditation and Source: