what is meditation
What is meditation?
Meditation helps to maintain a sound mental well being. Although meditation is a simple phenomenon it has been very much misunderstood in the west.
It is the state of being and non doing. So when you are sitting doing nothing, are you meditating? The answer is no because you are thinking about something. You might be thinking about mundane problems.You might be thinking of past , present or future. In meditation you are fully alert and yet you have zero thoughts. Meditation is state of complete stillness. If this state is reached and maintained for about an hour, one can reach the enlightenment. The Enlightenment is the ultimate goal of meditation. Even if you do not want to reach enlightenment you still wish to be free from anxiety, panic attacks and depression, Right?
What meditation is not ?
Meditation is not concentration. Concentrating on something is not meditation. Although you will have to practice concentration as the first step on the ladder of meditation. According to the yogsutra of patanjali , concentration is the source of psychic powers but not the goal of a meditator.
Hypnosis is not meditation?
A lot of people spend hours listening to some meditation music and call it meditation . This is not a meditation. You will have your thoughts still running while listening to the music. Your thoughts might be influenced by the music. So called meditation music can induce calmness and sleep. Getting hypnotized by a music is still not a meditation. But If the meditation music helps you to sleep and calm down your anxiety, you should still go for it.
Q:Why should you care if it is actually meditation or not ?
A:Nothing hits the bulls eye as close as meditation.
In order to fully understand meditation one needs to have a notion of several spiritual concepts like three states of consciousness, the seven bodies , seven chakras etc. One doesn't need to know all these to reap the benefits of meditation.
Unfortunately there are so many new meditation methods emerging like mushrooms that are not actually meditation. There are ultimately 112 was of meditation. They were found out by the first yogi also known as adiyogi in india several thousands of year ago. They are still relevant across time. The first method is called vipassana or annapansatti yog. It simply means watching the breathe. This is the method by which budhha and countless others have reached enlightenment.
What meditation is not ?
Meditation is not concentration. Concentrating on something is not meditation. Although you will have to practice concentration as the first step on the ladder of meditation. According to the yogsutra of patanjali , concentration is the source of psychic powers but not the goal of a meditator.
Hypnosis is not meditation?
A lot of people spend hours listening to some meditation music and call it meditation . This is not a meditation. You will have your thoughts still running while listening to the music. Your thoughts might be influenced by the music. So called meditation music can induce calmness and sleep. Getting hypnotized by a music is still not a meditation. But If the meditation music helps you to sleep and calm down your anxiety, you should still go for it.
Q:Why should you care if it is actually meditation or not ?
A:Nothing hits the bulls eye as close as meditation.
In order to fully understand meditation one needs to have a notion of several spiritual concepts like three states of consciousness, the seven bodies , seven chakras etc. One doesn't need to know all these to reap the benefits of meditation.
Unfortunately there are so many new meditation methods emerging like mushrooms that are not actually meditation. There are ultimately 112 was of meditation. They were found out by the first yogi also known as adiyogi in india several thousands of year ago. They are still relevant across time. The first method is called vipassana or annapansatti yog. It simply means watching the breathe. This is the method by which budhha and countless others have reached enlightenment.
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