Meditation May Bolster Brain Activity
Buddhist Meditation May Produce Lasting Changes in the Brain
By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, November 10, 2004
WebMD Medical News
Nov. 10, 2004 -- Meditation may not only produce a calming effect, but new research suggests that the practice of Buddhist meditation may produce lasting changes in the brain.
Researchers found that monks who spent many years in Buddhist meditation training show significantly greater brain activity in areas associated with learning and happiness than those who have never practiced meditation.
The results suggest that long-term mental training, such as Buddhist meditation, may prompt both short and long-term changes in brain activity and function.
Buddhist Meditation May Change the Brain
In the study, which appears in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers compared the brain activity of eight long-time Buddhist monks and 10 healthy students.
The average age of the monks was 49, and each had undergone mental training in meditation for 10,000 to 50,000 hours over the course of 15 to 40 years.
The students' average age was 21. They had no prior experience in meditation and received one week of meditative training before the start of the study.
Both groups were asked to practice compassionate meditation, which does not require concentration on specific things. Instead, the participants are instructed to generate a feeling of love and compassion without drawing attention to a particular object.
Researchers measured brain activity before, during, and after meditation using electroencephalograms.
They found striking differences between the two groups in a type of brain activity called gamma wave activity, which is involved in mental processes including attention, working memory, learning, and conscious perception.
The Buddhist monks had a higher level of this sort of gamma wave activity before they began meditation, and this difference increased dramatically during meditation. In fact, researchers say the extremely high levels of gamma wave activity are the highest ever reported.
The monks also had more activity in areas associated with positive emotions, such as happiness.
Researchers say the fact that the monks had higher levels of this type of brain activity before meditation began suggests that long-term practice of Buddhist or other forms of meditation may alter the brain.
Although age differences may also account for some of the differences found by this study, researchers say that the hours of meditation practice, rather than age, significantly predicted gamma wave activity.
Researchers say more studies are needed to look at whether differences in brain activity are caused by long-term meditation training itself or by individual differences before training.
SOURCE: Lutz, A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, online early edition, Nov. 8, 2004
From India, Delhi
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174Buddhist Meditation May Produce Lasting Changes in the Brain
By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, November 10, 2004
WebMD Medical News
Nov. 10, 2004 -- Meditation may not only produce a calming effect, but new research suggests that the practice of Buddhist meditation may produce lasting changes in the brain.
Researchers found that monks who spent many years in Buddhist meditation training show significantly greater brain activity in areas associated with learning and happiness than those who have never practiced meditation.
The results suggest that long-term mental training, such as Buddhist meditation, may prompt both short and long-term changes in brain activity and function.
Buddhist Meditation May Change the Brain
In the study, which appears in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers compared the brain activity of eight long-time Buddhist monks and 10 healthy students.
The average age of the monks was 49, and each had undergone mental training in meditation for 10,000 to 50,000 hours over the course of 15 to 40 years.
The students' average age was 21. They had no prior experience in meditation and received one week of meditative training before the start of the study.
Both groups were asked to practice compassionate meditation, which does not require concentration on specific things. Instead, the participants are instructed to generate a feeling of love and compassion without drawing attention to a particular object.
Researchers measured brain activity before, during, and after meditation using electroencephalograms.
They found striking differences between the two groups in a type of brain activity called gamma wave activity, which is involved in mental processes including attention, working memory, learning, and conscious perception.
The Buddhist monks had a higher level of this sort of gamma wave activity before they began meditation, and this difference increased dramatically during meditation. In fact, researchers say the extremely high levels of gamma wave activity are the highest ever reported.
The monks also had more activity in areas associated with positive emotions, such as happiness.
Researchers say the fact that the monks had higher levels of this type of brain activity before meditation began suggests that long-term practice of Buddhist or other forms of meditation may alter the brain.
Although age differences may also account for some of the differences found by this study, researchers say that the hours of meditation practice, rather than age, significantly predicted gamma wave activity.
Researchers say more studies are needed to look at whether differences in brain activity are caused by long-term meditation training itself or by individual differences before training.
SOURCE: Lutz, A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, online early edition, Nov. 8, 2004
From India, Delhi
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Hi,
A lot of people lately have started realizing the importance of meditation. I am undoubtedly one of these people. But getting hold of a good meditation technique and the process of meditation, the requirements, etc., is something I am blank on. I have been trying to get hold of a book on meditation, but not many people around me seem to know about it. I am a student, so the many people are mostly students who don't agree with meditation, and some actually ridicule the concept. Anyway, can you tell me of sources where I would find the details on the same? I wanted to start right away because my stress levels are increasing day by day, and I need to deal with it.
Thanks.
Regards, Vinisha.
From India,
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
A lot of people lately have started realizing the importance of meditation. I am undoubtedly one of these people. But getting hold of a good meditation technique and the process of meditation, the requirements, etc., is something I am blank on. I have been trying to get hold of a book on meditation, but not many people around me seem to know about it. I am a student, so the many people are mostly students who don't agree with meditation, and some actually ridicule the concept. Anyway, can you tell me of sources where I would find the details on the same? I wanted to start right away because my stress levels are increasing day by day, and I need to deal with it.
Thanks.
Regards, Vinisha.
From India,
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Thank you vinisha for your query. You will get appropriate information you want and also all your doubts will be clarified. Please start with basic of neuropsycholgy. Here is an article.
regards
Brainwaves and EEG
The language of the brain
Definitions
The EEG (electroencephalograph) measures brainwaves of different frequencies within the brain. Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the scalp to detect and record the electrical impulses within the brain.
A frequency is the number of times a wave repeats itself within a second. It can be compared to the frequencies that you tune into on your radio. If any of these frequencies are deficient, excessive, or difficult to access, our mental performance can suffer.
Amplitude represents the power of electrical impulses generated by brain.
Volume or intensity of brain wave activity is measured in microvolts.
The raw EEG has usually been described in terms of frequency bands: Gamma greater than 30(Hz) BETA (13-30Hz), ALPHA (8-12 Hz), THETA (4-8 Hz), and DELTA(less than 4 Hz).
For example : Our brain uses 13Hz (high alpha or low beta) for "active" intelligence. Often we find individuals who exhibit learning disabilities and attention problems having a deficiency of 13Hz activity in certain brain regions that effects the ability to easily perform sequencing tasks and math calculations.
Brain Wave Frequencies
Delta (0.1 to 3 Hz)
The lowest frequencies are delta. These are less than 4 Hz and occur in deep sleep and in some abnormal processes also during experiences of "empathy state". Delta waves are involved with our ability to integrate and let go. It reflects unconscious mind.
It is the dominant rhythm in infants up to one year of age and it is present in stages 3 and 4 of sleep.
It tends to be the highest in amplitude and the slowest waves. We increase Delta waves in order to decrease our awareness of the physical world. We also access information in our unconscious mind through Delta.
Peak performers decrease Delta waves when high focus and peak performance are required.
However, most individuals diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, naturally increase rather than decrease Delta activity when trying to focus. The inappropriate Delta response often severely restricts the ability to focus and maintain attention. It is as if the brain is locked into a perpetual drowsy state.
Another way to look at Delta is to imagine you are driving in a car and you shift into 1st gear....you're not going to get anywhere very fast. So Delta would represent 1st gear.
Delta (0.1-3 Hz):Distribution: generally broad or diffused may be bilateral, widespread
Subjective feeling states: deep, dreamless sleep, non-REM sleep, trance, unconscious
Associated tasks & behaviors: lethargic, not moving, not attentive
Physiological correlates: not moving, low-level of arousal
Effects of training: can induce drowsiness, trance, deeply relaxed states
Theta (4-8 Hz)
The next brainwave is theta. Theta activity has a frequency of 3.5 to 7.5 Hz and is classed as "slow" activity. It is seen in connection with creativity, intuition, daydreaming, and fantasizing and is a repository for memories, emotions, sensations. Theta waves are strong during internal focus, meditation, prayer, and spiritual awareness. It reflects the state between wakefulness and sleep. Relates to subconscious.
It is abnormal in awake adults but is perfectly normal in children up to 13 years old. It is also normal during sleep. Theta is believed to reflect activity from the limbic system and hippocampal regions. Theta is observed in anxiety, behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition.
When the theta rhythm appears to function normally it mediates and/or promotes adaptive, complex behaviors such as learning and memory. Under unusual emotional circumstances, such as stress or disease states, there may be an imbalance of three major transmitter systems, which results in aberrant behavior.
Back to our car example, Theta would be considered 2nd gear. Not as slow as 1st gear (Delta) but still not very fast.
Distribution: usually regional, may involve many lobes, can be lateralized or diffuse;
Subjective feeling states: intuitive, creative, recall, fantasy, imagery, creative, dreamlike, switching thoughts, drowsy; "oneness", "knowing"
Associated tasks & behaviors: creative, intuitive; but may also be distracted, unfocused
Physiological correlates: healing, integration of mind/body
Effects of Training: if enhanced, can induce drifting, trance-like state. If suppressed, can improve concentration, ability to focus attention
Alpha (8-12 Hz)
Alpha waves are those between 7.5 and 13(Hz). Alpha waves will peak around 10Hz. Good healthy alpha production promotes mental resourcefulness, aids in the ability to mentally coordinate, enhances overall sense of relaxation and fatigue. In this state you can move quickly and efficiently to accomplish whatever task is at hand. When Alpha predominates most people feel at ease and calm. Alpha appears to bridge the conscious to the subconscious.
It is the major rhythm seen in normal relaxed adults - it is present during most of life especially beyond the thirteenth year when it dominates the resting tracing.
Alpha rhythms are reported to be derived from the white matter of the brain. The white matter can be considered the part of the brain that connects all parts with each other.
Alpha is a common state for the brain and occurs whenever a person is alert (it is a marker for alertness and sleep), but not actively processing information. They are strongest over the occipital (back of the head) cortex and also over frontal cortex.
Alpha has been linked to extroversion (introverts show less), creativity (creative subjects show alpha when listening and coming to a solution for creative problems), and mental work.
When your alpha is with in normal ranges we tend to also experience good moods, see the world truthfully, and have a sense of calmness. Alpha is one of the brain's most important frequency to learn and use information taught in the classroom and on the job.
You can increase alpha by closing your eyes or deep breathing or decrease alpha by thinking or calculating.
Alpha-Theta training can create an increase in sensation, abstract thinking and self-control.
In our car scenario, Alpha would represent neutral or idle. Alpha allows us to shift easily from one task to another.
Distribution: regional, usually involves entire lobe; strong occipital w/eyes closed
Subjective feeling states: relaxed, not agitated, but not drowsy; tranquil, conscious
Associated tasks & behaviors: meditation, no action
Physiological correlates: relaxed, healing
Effects of Training: can produce relaxation
Sub band low alpha: 8-10: inner-awareness of self, mind/body integration, balance
Sub band high alpha: 10-12: centering, healing, mind/body connection
Beta (above 12 Hz)
Beta activity is 'fast' activity. It has a frequency of 14 and greater Hz. It reflects desynchronized active brain tissue. It is usually seen on both sides in symmetrical distribution and is most evident frontally. It may be absent or reduced in areas of cortical damage.
It is generally regarded as a normal rhythm and is the dominant rhythm in those who are alert or anxious or who have their eyes open.
It is the state that most of brain is in when we have our eyes open and are listening and thinking during analytical problem solving, judgment, decision making, processing information about the world around us.
Beta would represent overdrive or hyperdrive in our car scenario.
The beta band has a relatively large range, and has been divided into low, midrange and high.
Low Beta (12-15 Hz), formerly "SMR":
Distribution: localized by side and by lobe (frontal, occipital, etc)
Subjective feeling states: relaxed yet focused, integrated
Associated tasks & behaviors: low SMR can reflect "ADD", lack of focused attention
Physiological correlates: is inhibited by motion; restraining body may increase SMR
Effects of Training: increasing SMR can produce relaxed focus, improved attentive abilities,
Midrange Beta (15-18 Hz)
Distribution: localized, over various areas. May be focused on one electrode.
Subjective feeling states: thinking, aware of self & surroundings
Associated tasks & behaviors: mental activity
Physiological correlates: alert, active, but not agitated
Effects of Training: can increase mental ability, focus, alertness, IQ
High Beta (above 18 Hz):
Distribution: localized, may be very focused.
Subjective feeling states: alertness, agitation
Associated tasks & behaviors: mental activity, e.g. math, planning, etc.
Physiological correlates: general activation of mind & body functions.
Effects of Training: can induce alertness, but may also produce agitation, etc.
Gamma (above 36 Hz)
Gamma is measured between 36 44 (Hz) and is the only frequency group found in every part of the brain. When the brain needs to simultaneously process information from different areas, its hypothesized that the 40Hz activity consolidates the required areas for simultaneous processing. A good memory is associated with well-regulated and efficient 40Hz activity, whereas a 40Hz deficiency creates learning disabilities.
Gamma (40 Hz):
Distribution: very localized
Subjective feeling states: thinking; integrated thoughts
Associated tasks & behaviors: high-level information processing, "binding"
Physiological correlates: associated with information-rich task processing
Effects of Training: not known
Source-Cross Roads Institute
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
regards
Brainwaves and EEG
The language of the brain
Definitions
The EEG (electroencephalograph) measures brainwaves of different frequencies within the brain. Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the scalp to detect and record the electrical impulses within the brain.
A frequency is the number of times a wave repeats itself within a second. It can be compared to the frequencies that you tune into on your radio. If any of these frequencies are deficient, excessive, or difficult to access, our mental performance can suffer.
Amplitude represents the power of electrical impulses generated by brain.
Volume or intensity of brain wave activity is measured in microvolts.
The raw EEG has usually been described in terms of frequency bands: Gamma greater than 30(Hz) BETA (13-30Hz), ALPHA (8-12 Hz), THETA (4-8 Hz), and DELTA(less than 4 Hz).
For example : Our brain uses 13Hz (high alpha or low beta) for "active" intelligence. Often we find individuals who exhibit learning disabilities and attention problems having a deficiency of 13Hz activity in certain brain regions that effects the ability to easily perform sequencing tasks and math calculations.
Brain Wave Frequencies
Delta (0.1 to 3 Hz)
The lowest frequencies are delta. These are less than 4 Hz and occur in deep sleep and in some abnormal processes also during experiences of "empathy state". Delta waves are involved with our ability to integrate and let go. It reflects unconscious mind.
It is the dominant rhythm in infants up to one year of age and it is present in stages 3 and 4 of sleep.
It tends to be the highest in amplitude and the slowest waves. We increase Delta waves in order to decrease our awareness of the physical world. We also access information in our unconscious mind through Delta.
Peak performers decrease Delta waves when high focus and peak performance are required.
However, most individuals diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, naturally increase rather than decrease Delta activity when trying to focus. The inappropriate Delta response often severely restricts the ability to focus and maintain attention. It is as if the brain is locked into a perpetual drowsy state.
Another way to look at Delta is to imagine you are driving in a car and you shift into 1st gear....you're not going to get anywhere very fast. So Delta would represent 1st gear.
Delta (0.1-3 Hz):Distribution: generally broad or diffused may be bilateral, widespread
Subjective feeling states: deep, dreamless sleep, non-REM sleep, trance, unconscious
Associated tasks & behaviors: lethargic, not moving, not attentive
Physiological correlates: not moving, low-level of arousal
Effects of training: can induce drowsiness, trance, deeply relaxed states
Theta (4-8 Hz)
The next brainwave is theta. Theta activity has a frequency of 3.5 to 7.5 Hz and is classed as "slow" activity. It is seen in connection with creativity, intuition, daydreaming, and fantasizing and is a repository for memories, emotions, sensations. Theta waves are strong during internal focus, meditation, prayer, and spiritual awareness. It reflects the state between wakefulness and sleep. Relates to subconscious.
It is abnormal in awake adults but is perfectly normal in children up to 13 years old. It is also normal during sleep. Theta is believed to reflect activity from the limbic system and hippocampal regions. Theta is observed in anxiety, behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition.
When the theta rhythm appears to function normally it mediates and/or promotes adaptive, complex behaviors such as learning and memory. Under unusual emotional circumstances, such as stress or disease states, there may be an imbalance of three major transmitter systems, which results in aberrant behavior.
Back to our car example, Theta would be considered 2nd gear. Not as slow as 1st gear (Delta) but still not very fast.
Distribution: usually regional, may involve many lobes, can be lateralized or diffuse;
Subjective feeling states: intuitive, creative, recall, fantasy, imagery, creative, dreamlike, switching thoughts, drowsy; "oneness", "knowing"
Associated tasks & behaviors: creative, intuitive; but may also be distracted, unfocused
Physiological correlates: healing, integration of mind/body
Effects of Training: if enhanced, can induce drifting, trance-like state. If suppressed, can improve concentration, ability to focus attention
Alpha (8-12 Hz)
Alpha waves are those between 7.5 and 13(Hz). Alpha waves will peak around 10Hz. Good healthy alpha production promotes mental resourcefulness, aids in the ability to mentally coordinate, enhances overall sense of relaxation and fatigue. In this state you can move quickly and efficiently to accomplish whatever task is at hand. When Alpha predominates most people feel at ease and calm. Alpha appears to bridge the conscious to the subconscious.
It is the major rhythm seen in normal relaxed adults - it is present during most of life especially beyond the thirteenth year when it dominates the resting tracing.
Alpha rhythms are reported to be derived from the white matter of the brain. The white matter can be considered the part of the brain that connects all parts with each other.
Alpha is a common state for the brain and occurs whenever a person is alert (it is a marker for alertness and sleep), but not actively processing information. They are strongest over the occipital (back of the head) cortex and also over frontal cortex.
Alpha has been linked to extroversion (introverts show less), creativity (creative subjects show alpha when listening and coming to a solution for creative problems), and mental work.
When your alpha is with in normal ranges we tend to also experience good moods, see the world truthfully, and have a sense of calmness. Alpha is one of the brain's most important frequency to learn and use information taught in the classroom and on the job.
You can increase alpha by closing your eyes or deep breathing or decrease alpha by thinking or calculating.
Alpha-Theta training can create an increase in sensation, abstract thinking and self-control.
In our car scenario, Alpha would represent neutral or idle. Alpha allows us to shift easily from one task to another.
Distribution: regional, usually involves entire lobe; strong occipital w/eyes closed
Subjective feeling states: relaxed, not agitated, but not drowsy; tranquil, conscious
Associated tasks & behaviors: meditation, no action
Physiological correlates: relaxed, healing
Effects of Training: can produce relaxation
Sub band low alpha: 8-10: inner-awareness of self, mind/body integration, balance
Sub band high alpha: 10-12: centering, healing, mind/body connection
Beta (above 12 Hz)
Beta activity is 'fast' activity. It has a frequency of 14 and greater Hz. It reflects desynchronized active brain tissue. It is usually seen on both sides in symmetrical distribution and is most evident frontally. It may be absent or reduced in areas of cortical damage.
It is generally regarded as a normal rhythm and is the dominant rhythm in those who are alert or anxious or who have their eyes open.
It is the state that most of brain is in when we have our eyes open and are listening and thinking during analytical problem solving, judgment, decision making, processing information about the world around us.
Beta would represent overdrive or hyperdrive in our car scenario.
The beta band has a relatively large range, and has been divided into low, midrange and high.
Low Beta (12-15 Hz), formerly "SMR":
Distribution: localized by side and by lobe (frontal, occipital, etc)
Subjective feeling states: relaxed yet focused, integrated
Associated tasks & behaviors: low SMR can reflect "ADD", lack of focused attention
Physiological correlates: is inhibited by motion; restraining body may increase SMR
Effects of Training: increasing SMR can produce relaxed focus, improved attentive abilities,
Midrange Beta (15-18 Hz)
Distribution: localized, over various areas. May be focused on one electrode.
Subjective feeling states: thinking, aware of self & surroundings
Associated tasks & behaviors: mental activity
Physiological correlates: alert, active, but not agitated
Effects of Training: can increase mental ability, focus, alertness, IQ
High Beta (above 18 Hz):
Distribution: localized, may be very focused.
Subjective feeling states: alertness, agitation
Associated tasks & behaviors: mental activity, e.g. math, planning, etc.
Physiological correlates: general activation of mind & body functions.
Effects of Training: can induce alertness, but may also produce agitation, etc.
Gamma (above 36 Hz)
Gamma is measured between 36 44 (Hz) and is the only frequency group found in every part of the brain. When the brain needs to simultaneously process information from different areas, its hypothesized that the 40Hz activity consolidates the required areas for simultaneous processing. A good memory is associated with well-regulated and efficient 40Hz activity, whereas a 40Hz deficiency creates learning disabilities.
Gamma (40 Hz):
Distribution: very localized
Subjective feeling states: thinking; integrated thoughts
Associated tasks & behaviors: high-level information processing, "binding"
Physiological correlates: associated with information-rich task processing
Effects of Training: not known
Source-Cross Roads Institute
From India, Delhi
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Hello Vinisha,
I think I can help you. I have been meditating for several years now (not regularly) and I also teach meditation, de-stressing skills, etc.
Do not look for books and trainers at this stage. What you, and most people, need is meditation for joy and not for any major therapeutic benefits.
Different people have different theories of meditation. If anyone tells you that unless you strictly follow a particular technique closely it may harm you, just disregard that person.
In my concept, meditation is being like a tube light and not a focused beam. What I mean is that you should let your mind remain diffused rather than concentrated.
Twice a day, sit down quietly. Sit on a chair or on the floor. Just keep your spine straight. Be comfortable. Use a cushion, etc. Talk to yourself silently that you are about to meditate and shall try not to let your attention latch on to any thought at all. Tell yourself that the technique you will use is simply to let your mind loose. Loosen your body, limb by limb. After spending about 2 minutes on this, close your eyes loosely.
Now do nothing. I mean mentally. Whenever your mind starts latching on to any thought, shake it off. Become diffused like a tube light. If after some minutes you realize that the mind has got stuck in the groove of any specific thought, do not get annoyed with yourself. Laugh it off and move on to remaining mentally diffused. If someone disturbs you in this duration (avoid such a possibility though), laugh it off and resume.
Particularly, do not assess your performance - Am I doing it right? If it does happen unconsciously, laugh it off.
At times, you MAY move your attention to your breath. Feel how the breath comes in and goes out. Become aware of the sensation but do not verbalize. Also, do not start controlling the breath in any manner.
After about 12-15 minutes (use an alarm, etc.), loosen up again. Open your eyes and slowly get up.
If you do this twice a day for about 20 days, you will learn the correct technique yourself. Your body will teach you. Just sit down for 15 minutes twice a day, for 20 days, and it is done.
After this, you can buy some books. Many are available. If you ask me, I can guide you thereafter.
Just get on. It is much easier than people make it out to be. People just do not start. Once they do, they are surprised at how easy the whole thing is. Just stick on for the first fortnight.
Best
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
I think I can help you. I have been meditating for several years now (not regularly) and I also teach meditation, de-stressing skills, etc.
Do not look for books and trainers at this stage. What you, and most people, need is meditation for joy and not for any major therapeutic benefits.
Different people have different theories of meditation. If anyone tells you that unless you strictly follow a particular technique closely it may harm you, just disregard that person.
In my concept, meditation is being like a tube light and not a focused beam. What I mean is that you should let your mind remain diffused rather than concentrated.
Twice a day, sit down quietly. Sit on a chair or on the floor. Just keep your spine straight. Be comfortable. Use a cushion, etc. Talk to yourself silently that you are about to meditate and shall try not to let your attention latch on to any thought at all. Tell yourself that the technique you will use is simply to let your mind loose. Loosen your body, limb by limb. After spending about 2 minutes on this, close your eyes loosely.
Now do nothing. I mean mentally. Whenever your mind starts latching on to any thought, shake it off. Become diffused like a tube light. If after some minutes you realize that the mind has got stuck in the groove of any specific thought, do not get annoyed with yourself. Laugh it off and move on to remaining mentally diffused. If someone disturbs you in this duration (avoid such a possibility though), laugh it off and resume.
Particularly, do not assess your performance - Am I doing it right? If it does happen unconsciously, laugh it off.
At times, you MAY move your attention to your breath. Feel how the breath comes in and goes out. Become aware of the sensation but do not verbalize. Also, do not start controlling the breath in any manner.
After about 12-15 minutes (use an alarm, etc.), loosen up again. Open your eyes and slowly get up.
If you do this twice a day for about 20 days, you will learn the correct technique yourself. Your body will teach you. Just sit down for 15 minutes twice a day, for 20 days, and it is done.
After this, you can buy some books. Many are available. If you ask me, I can guide you thereafter.
Just get on. It is much easier than people make it out to be. People just do not start. Once they do, they are surprised at how easy the whole thing is. Just stick on for the first fortnight.
Best
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Hello,
Thank you for both articles. Both were indeed useful.
Sir Alok, I don't think you remember me. I had sought your assistance a month or two ago on my project regarding Assessment Centres and Development Centres. I conducted a couple of Telephone Interviews for the same. I have been meaning to call you for a while. Thanks to you, my project was a great success.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Vinisha.
From India,
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Thank you for both articles. Both were indeed useful.
Sir Alok, I don't think you remember me. I had sought your assistance a month or two ago on my project regarding Assessment Centres and Development Centres. I conducted a couple of Telephone Interviews for the same. I have been meaning to call you for a while. Thanks to you, my project was a great success.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Vinisha.
From India,
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear Mindskills,
Namaskar.
Happy to find a meditator. Trust the discussion in this thread will be lively thanks to you.
To me, meditation is focusing attention upon something. To voluntarize the involuntary psychophysiological processes, one must learn to increase and decrease alertness. This involves altering the states of consciousness. As alertness rises voluntarily, the voltage behind brain waves and their frequency increase. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system becomes more active, and every cell of the body gets toned up. Conversely, when alertness is lowered, the voltage and frequency decrease, the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system takes over, and the body moves towards homeostasis.
To illustrate, let me speak about Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). A GSR monitor shows your degree of resistance to electric conductance in kiloohms. Your initial resistance and how much you can raise it speak about your ability to resist stress. Typically, people have a resistance range of 0 to 500 kiloohms by Medicaid Systems (Chandigarh) equipment. My basal level of resistance starts at about 600 kiloohms and rises beyond 2000 kiloohms. This is not necessarily in a calm and quiet setup, but I demonstrate it in a classroom setting as well. Higher resistance is correlated with low-voltage brain waves.
Regards,
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Namaskar.
Happy to find a meditator. Trust the discussion in this thread will be lively thanks to you.
To me, meditation is focusing attention upon something. To voluntarize the involuntary psychophysiological processes, one must learn to increase and decrease alertness. This involves altering the states of consciousness. As alertness rises voluntarily, the voltage behind brain waves and their frequency increase. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system becomes more active, and every cell of the body gets toned up. Conversely, when alertness is lowered, the voltage and frequency decrease, the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system takes over, and the body moves towards homeostasis.
To illustrate, let me speak about Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). A GSR monitor shows your degree of resistance to electric conductance in kiloohms. Your initial resistance and how much you can raise it speak about your ability to resist stress. Typically, people have a resistance range of 0 to 500 kiloohms by Medicaid Systems (Chandigarh) equipment. My basal level of resistance starts at about 600 kiloohms and rises beyond 2000 kiloohms. This is not necessarily in a calm and quiet setup, but I demonstrate it in a classroom setting as well. Higher resistance is correlated with low-voltage brain waves.
Regards,
From India, Delhi
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Dear Vinisha,
I too have been doing meditation, both types as suggested by Mindskill and Dr. Jogeshwar. Like the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are many styles of meditation, and you will need to find one that you are most comfortable with. The only way to know is to try them out.
I started out with the focus meditation as mentioned by Dr. Jogeshwar. I start by imagining a white cross. As I breathe (deep diaphragm breathing), I imagine maintaining the cross in the middle of my mind's eye and continue holding the image there.
Then later, I was introduced to the relaxing method. Where I let go of everything and at the same time, being aware of everything that is going on. Mindskill describes it beautifully. It's like floating in a space of thoughts, and you are aware of every thought.
Currently, I am practicing a vocal form of meditation. I understand it as kototama (a Japanese word). A vocalization of A, O, Aum and E, O, I. This, I find the most peaceful and my personal favorite.
The benefits of meditation are astounding.
Hope this information helps you.
Regards,
Noel Liew
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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I too have been doing meditation, both types as suggested by Mindskill and Dr. Jogeshwar. Like the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are many styles of meditation, and you will need to find one that you are most comfortable with. The only way to know is to try them out.
I started out with the focus meditation as mentioned by Dr. Jogeshwar. I start by imagining a white cross. As I breathe (deep diaphragm breathing), I imagine maintaining the cross in the middle of my mind's eye and continue holding the image there.
Then later, I was introduced to the relaxing method. Where I let go of everything and at the same time, being aware of everything that is going on. Mindskill describes it beautifully. It's like floating in a space of thoughts, and you are aware of every thought.
Currently, I am practicing a vocal form of meditation. I understand it as kototama (a Japanese word). A vocalization of A, O, Aum and E, O, I. This, I find the most peaceful and my personal favorite.
The benefits of meditation are astounding.
Hope this information helps you.
Regards,
Noel Liew
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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Dear Dr. Mahanta,
It is evident that you have a good knowledge of the subject and the focusing method is working well for you. For me, the diffusion method works well. I do not even mind if it is called Relaxation Response, rather than meditation.
In your earlier mail, you too spoke of loving compassion type of meditation where it is required NOT to concentrate. Many people get a headache with the concentration method. Beginners should be encouraged to just sit for 15 minutes, twice a day, calming their thoughts. This is a welcoming way to get them initiated. Thereafter, they may explore further.
I believe the concentration method helps to reduce the diverse mind-chatters to one unified one - which can then be conveniently dropped! My teacher used to say, "Do not nurture the mind: drop it." When I told him that I seem to be losing track of consciousness at times, he told me, "Isn't that what you are aiming for? Don't be afraid to let go."
Best
From India, Mumbai
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It is evident that you have a good knowledge of the subject and the focusing method is working well for you. For me, the diffusion method works well. I do not even mind if it is called Relaxation Response, rather than meditation.
In your earlier mail, you too spoke of loving compassion type of meditation where it is required NOT to concentrate. Many people get a headache with the concentration method. Beginners should be encouraged to just sit for 15 minutes, twice a day, calming their thoughts. This is a welcoming way to get them initiated. Thereafter, they may explore further.
I believe the concentration method helps to reduce the diverse mind-chatters to one unified one - which can then be conveniently dropped! My teacher used to say, "Do not nurture the mind: drop it." When I told him that I seem to be losing track of consciousness at times, he told me, "Isn't that what you are aiming for? Don't be afraid to let go."
Best
From India, Mumbai
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Hello All,
Good discussion on meditation and relaxation techniques.
Dr. Mahanta,
Could you please mention some meditation techniques for people who are prone to depression and have a history of mental illness? I could offer further assistance.
From India, Delhi
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Good discussion on meditation and relaxation techniques.
Dr. Mahanta,
Could you please mention some meditation techniques for people who are prone to depression and have a history of mental illness? I could offer further assistance.
From India, Delhi
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Namskar to all of you.
Trust, you all have enjoyed dusserah well. I am very happy to find Noel ji and umalme ji here. I shall be responding to your replies. But before that I like you to read the following article.Umalme ji is most welcome to post whatever you desire. But I am thinking why none of you have asked me why I have named the thread as "heaven of kranti".
regards.
Extraordinary States
Gamma
HyperGamma
Lambda
Epsilon
New evidence has emerged of brainwave states above the highest recognized brainwave frequencies of Beta (30 Hz). Higher-than Beta frequencies are called Gamma. These Gamma brainwaves resonate around 40 Hz and are associated with the brain function which holographically synthesizes all the bits of individual data from various areas of the brain and fuses them all together in a higher perspective.
Gamma is a 'newer' brainwave only because it is difficult to get instrumentation to accurately measure it. It is thought the Gamma is the harmonizing frequency - for example when you are observing an object, its colour, size, texture etc are all perceived and processed by different parts of the brain, it is thought that Gamma allows for unification of all the different information.
This brainwave activity is associated with states of self awareness, higher levels of insight and information, psychic abilities and out of body experiences. This new region of brain activity and states of consciousness associated with it is called EPSILON.
Theta and gamma rhythms also interact helping the brain to package information into coherent images, thought and memories.
EEG researchers are noticing extremely high brainwave frequencies above Gamma, at up to 100 Hz. Totally opposite speed brainwave frequencies - some at 100 Hz and others at less than 0.5 Hz - have exactly the same states of consciousness associated with them. These high-range brain frequency states are named HyperGamma. Later information showed new evidence of frequencies even higher than this, at almost 200 Hz.named: Lambda brainwave frequencies and states of consciousness.
These HyperGamma, Lambda and Epsilon frequencies, are linked together in a circular relationship -where if you looked with a magnifying glass at an extremely slow Epsilon brain frequency, you would see hidden within it a modulation frequency of 100 - 200 Hz. If you stand back far enough from an extremely fast 200 Hz brainwave frequency, you would see that is it riding on the crest of a slow motion modulating wave of Epsilon.
This Epsilon state of consciousness (the state Yogi's go into when they achieve "suspended animation") is where western medical doctors can perceive no heart beat, respiration or pulse. HyperGamma and Lambda states of consciousness are the states associated with the ability of certain sects of Tibetan monks who can mediate in the Himalayan mountains in sub-zero temperatures with scanty clothing and melt the snow all around them.
Fast, gamma rhythms range from 30 to 100 Hz, and may vary in frequency during a response. The 20-100 Hz range we consider here overlaps the beta band (15 to 30 Hz), but we will ignore the finer points of EEG classification here. The natural history and functional roles of synchronous gamma oscillations have been reviewed recently [5,10,12,22]. Below is a potted history.
Gamma rhythms occur in humans and other mammals following sensory stimuli. They often occur in brief runs in these responses. "Induced rhythms" at 50-60 Hz were first described in olfactory bulb by Adrian [1]. They have since been found in: olfactory [4], visual [3a,3b,6-8,11,22], auditory [13,16], somatosensory [2] and motor cortex [17,19,21]. Gamma oscillations also occur in the hippocampus [3,24], where the link with external sensory stimuli is less direct, but may still exist in the multimodal inputs it receives from higher order sensory cortices. Hippocampal gamma tends to occur during the theta (4-12 Hz) EEG that is a prominent feature of the hippocampus in vivo [3,23], especially during exploration.
In Man the auditory response includes brief "40 Hz transient responses" [18,25], which increase when the subject pays attention and which disappear with loss of consciousness during anaesthesia [14]. Repetitive auditory stimulation at ~40 Hz generates a large "40 Hz steady state response" [9]. MEG recordings in Man suggest that gamma rhythms can be very widespread [20], both during waking and dream states. Other MEG measurements in Man suggest that gamma rhythms may be organised to sweep across the whole brain, perhaps providing "temporal binding .... into a single cognitive experience" [15].
Bibliography 1 Adrian, E.D. The electrical activity of the mammalian olfactory bulb, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 2 (1950) 377-388.
2 Bouyer, J.J., Montaron, M.F., Vahnee, J.M., Albert, M.P. and Rougeul, A. Anatomical localization of cortical beta rhythms in cat, Neuroscience, 22 (1987) 863-869.
3 Bragin, A., Jand¢, G., N dasdy, Z., Hetke, J., Wise, K. and Buzs ki, G. Gamma (40-100 Hz) oscillation in the hippocampus of the behaving rat, J. Neurosci. 15 (1995) 47-60.
3a Eckhorn, R., Bauer, R., Jordan, W., Brosch, M., Kruse, W., Munk, M. and Reitboeck, H.J. Coherent oscillations: a mechanism of feature linking in the visual cortex? Multiple electrode and correlation analyses in the cat, Biol. Cybern. 60 (1988) 121-130.
3b Eckhorn, R., Reitboeck, H.J., Arndt, M. and Dicke, P. Feature linking via synchronization among distributed assemblies: simulations of results from cat visual cortex, Neural Comput. 2 (1990) 293-307.
4 Eeckman, F.H. and Freeman, W.J. Correlations between unit firing and EEG in the rat olfactory system, Brain Res. 528 (1990) 238-244.
5 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P., Kreiter, A.K., Schillen, T.B. and Singer, W. Temporal coding in the visual cortex: New vistas on integration in the nervous system, Trends Neurosci. 15 (1992) 218-226.
6 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P., Kreiter, A.K. and Singer, W. Interhemispheric synchronization of oscillatory neuronal responses in cat visual cortex, Science, 252 (1991) 1177-1179.
7 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P. and Singer, W. Direct physiological evidence for scene segmentation by temporal coding, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 9136-9140.
8 Freeman, W.J. and van Dijk, B.W. Spatial patterns of visual cortical fast EEG during conditioned reflex in a rhesus monkey, Brain Res. 422 (1987) 267-276.
9 Galambos, R., Makeig, S. and Talmachoff, P.J. A 40-Hz auditory potential recorded from the human scalp, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 78 (1981) 2643-2647.
10 Gray, C.M. Synchronous oscillations in neuronal systems: mechanisms and function, J. Comput. Neurosci. 1 (1994) 11-38.
11 Gray, C.M., K”nig, P., Engel, A.K. and Singer, W. Oscillatory responses in cat visual cortex exhibit inter-columnar synchronization which reflects global stimulus properties, Nature, 338 (1989) 334-337.
12 Jefferys, J.G.R., Traub, R.D. and Whittington, M.A. Neuronal networks for induced "40 Hz" rhythms, Trends Neurosci. 19 (1996) 202-208.
13 Keller, I., Madler, C., Schwender, D. and Poppel, E. Analysis of oscillatory components in perioperative AEP-recordings: a nonparametric procedure for frequency measurement, Clin. Electroencephalogr. 21 (1990) 88-92.
14 Kulli, J. and Koch, C. Does anesthesia cause loss of consciousness, Trends Neurosci. 14 (1991) 6-10.
15 Llin s, R. and Ribary, U. Coherent 40-Hz oscillation characterizes dream state in humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90 (1993) 2078-2081.
16 Madler, C., Keller, I., Schwender, D. and Poppel, E. Sensory information processing during general anaesthesia: effect of isoflurane on auditory evoked neuronal oscillations, Br. J. Anaesth. 66 (1991) 81-87.
17 Murthy, V.N. and Fetz, E.E. Coherent 25- to 35-Hz oscillations in the sensorimotor cortex of awake behaving monkeys, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89 (1992) 5670-5674.
18 Pantev, C., Makeig, S., Hoke, M., Galambos, R., Hampson, S. and Gallen, C. Human auditory evoked gamma-band magnetic fields, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 8996-9000.
19 Pfurtscheller, G., Flotzinger, D. and Neuper, C. Differentiation between finger, toe and tongue movement in man based on 40 Hz EEG, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 90 (1994) 456-460.
20 Ribary, U., Ioannides, A.A., Singh, K.D., Hasson, R., Bolton, J.P.R., Lado, F., Mogilner, A. and Llin s, R. Magnetic field tomography of coherent thalamocortical 40-Hz oscillations in humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 11037-11041.
21 Sanes, J.N. and Donoghue, J.P. Oscillations in local field potentials of the primate motor cortex during voluntary movement, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90 (1993) 4470-4474.
22 Singer, W. and Gray, C.M. Visual feature integration and the temporal correlation hypothesis, Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 18 (1995) 555-586.
23 Soltesz, I. and Deschˆnes, M. Low- and high-frequency membrane potential oscillations during theta activity in CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons of the rat hippocampus under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia, J. Neurophysiol. 70 (1993) 97-116.
24 Stumpf, C. The fast component in the electrical activity of rabbit's hippocampus, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 18 (1965) 477-486.
25 Tiitinen, H., Sinkkonen, J., Reinikainen, K., Alho, K., Lavikainen, J. and Naatanen, R. Selective attention enhances the auditory 40-Hz transient response in humans, Nature, 364 (1993) 59-60.
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Trust, you all have enjoyed dusserah well. I am very happy to find Noel ji and umalme ji here. I shall be responding to your replies. But before that I like you to read the following article.Umalme ji is most welcome to post whatever you desire. But I am thinking why none of you have asked me why I have named the thread as "heaven of kranti".
regards.
Extraordinary States
Gamma
HyperGamma
Lambda
Epsilon
New evidence has emerged of brainwave states above the highest recognized brainwave frequencies of Beta (30 Hz). Higher-than Beta frequencies are called Gamma. These Gamma brainwaves resonate around 40 Hz and are associated with the brain function which holographically synthesizes all the bits of individual data from various areas of the brain and fuses them all together in a higher perspective.
Gamma is a 'newer' brainwave only because it is difficult to get instrumentation to accurately measure it. It is thought the Gamma is the harmonizing frequency - for example when you are observing an object, its colour, size, texture etc are all perceived and processed by different parts of the brain, it is thought that Gamma allows for unification of all the different information.
This brainwave activity is associated with states of self awareness, higher levels of insight and information, psychic abilities and out of body experiences. This new region of brain activity and states of consciousness associated with it is called EPSILON.
Theta and gamma rhythms also interact helping the brain to package information into coherent images, thought and memories.
EEG researchers are noticing extremely high brainwave frequencies above Gamma, at up to 100 Hz. Totally opposite speed brainwave frequencies - some at 100 Hz and others at less than 0.5 Hz - have exactly the same states of consciousness associated with them. These high-range brain frequency states are named HyperGamma. Later information showed new evidence of frequencies even higher than this, at almost 200 Hz.named: Lambda brainwave frequencies and states of consciousness.
These HyperGamma, Lambda and Epsilon frequencies, are linked together in a circular relationship -where if you looked with a magnifying glass at an extremely slow Epsilon brain frequency, you would see hidden within it a modulation frequency of 100 - 200 Hz. If you stand back far enough from an extremely fast 200 Hz brainwave frequency, you would see that is it riding on the crest of a slow motion modulating wave of Epsilon.
This Epsilon state of consciousness (the state Yogi's go into when they achieve "suspended animation") is where western medical doctors can perceive no heart beat, respiration or pulse. HyperGamma and Lambda states of consciousness are the states associated with the ability of certain sects of Tibetan monks who can mediate in the Himalayan mountains in sub-zero temperatures with scanty clothing and melt the snow all around them.
Fast, gamma rhythms range from 30 to 100 Hz, and may vary in frequency during a response. The 20-100 Hz range we consider here overlaps the beta band (15 to 30 Hz), but we will ignore the finer points of EEG classification here. The natural history and functional roles of synchronous gamma oscillations have been reviewed recently [5,10,12,22]. Below is a potted history.
Gamma rhythms occur in humans and other mammals following sensory stimuli. They often occur in brief runs in these responses. "Induced rhythms" at 50-60 Hz were first described in olfactory bulb by Adrian [1]. They have since been found in: olfactory [4], visual [3a,3b,6-8,11,22], auditory [13,16], somatosensory [2] and motor cortex [17,19,21]. Gamma oscillations also occur in the hippocampus [3,24], where the link with external sensory stimuli is less direct, but may still exist in the multimodal inputs it receives from higher order sensory cortices. Hippocampal gamma tends to occur during the theta (4-12 Hz) EEG that is a prominent feature of the hippocampus in vivo [3,23], especially during exploration.
In Man the auditory response includes brief "40 Hz transient responses" [18,25], which increase when the subject pays attention and which disappear with loss of consciousness during anaesthesia [14]. Repetitive auditory stimulation at ~40 Hz generates a large "40 Hz steady state response" [9]. MEG recordings in Man suggest that gamma rhythms can be very widespread [20], both during waking and dream states. Other MEG measurements in Man suggest that gamma rhythms may be organised to sweep across the whole brain, perhaps providing "temporal binding .... into a single cognitive experience" [15].
Bibliography 1 Adrian, E.D. The electrical activity of the mammalian olfactory bulb, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 2 (1950) 377-388.
2 Bouyer, J.J., Montaron, M.F., Vahnee, J.M., Albert, M.P. and Rougeul, A. Anatomical localization of cortical beta rhythms in cat, Neuroscience, 22 (1987) 863-869.
3 Bragin, A., Jand¢, G., N dasdy, Z., Hetke, J., Wise, K. and Buzs ki, G. Gamma (40-100 Hz) oscillation in the hippocampus of the behaving rat, J. Neurosci. 15 (1995) 47-60.
3a Eckhorn, R., Bauer, R., Jordan, W., Brosch, M., Kruse, W., Munk, M. and Reitboeck, H.J. Coherent oscillations: a mechanism of feature linking in the visual cortex? Multiple electrode and correlation analyses in the cat, Biol. Cybern. 60 (1988) 121-130.
3b Eckhorn, R., Reitboeck, H.J., Arndt, M. and Dicke, P. Feature linking via synchronization among distributed assemblies: simulations of results from cat visual cortex, Neural Comput. 2 (1990) 293-307.
4 Eeckman, F.H. and Freeman, W.J. Correlations between unit firing and EEG in the rat olfactory system, Brain Res. 528 (1990) 238-244.
5 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P., Kreiter, A.K., Schillen, T.B. and Singer, W. Temporal coding in the visual cortex: New vistas on integration in the nervous system, Trends Neurosci. 15 (1992) 218-226.
6 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P., Kreiter, A.K. and Singer, W. Interhemispheric synchronization of oscillatory neuronal responses in cat visual cortex, Science, 252 (1991) 1177-1179.
7 Engel, A.K., K”nig, P. and Singer, W. Direct physiological evidence for scene segmentation by temporal coding, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 9136-9140.
8 Freeman, W.J. and van Dijk, B.W. Spatial patterns of visual cortical fast EEG during conditioned reflex in a rhesus monkey, Brain Res. 422 (1987) 267-276.
9 Galambos, R., Makeig, S. and Talmachoff, P.J. A 40-Hz auditory potential recorded from the human scalp, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 78 (1981) 2643-2647.
10 Gray, C.M. Synchronous oscillations in neuronal systems: mechanisms and function, J. Comput. Neurosci. 1 (1994) 11-38.
11 Gray, C.M., K”nig, P., Engel, A.K. and Singer, W. Oscillatory responses in cat visual cortex exhibit inter-columnar synchronization which reflects global stimulus properties, Nature, 338 (1989) 334-337.
12 Jefferys, J.G.R., Traub, R.D. and Whittington, M.A. Neuronal networks for induced "40 Hz" rhythms, Trends Neurosci. 19 (1996) 202-208.
13 Keller, I., Madler, C., Schwender, D. and Poppel, E. Analysis of oscillatory components in perioperative AEP-recordings: a nonparametric procedure for frequency measurement, Clin. Electroencephalogr. 21 (1990) 88-92.
14 Kulli, J. and Koch, C. Does anesthesia cause loss of consciousness, Trends Neurosci. 14 (1991) 6-10.
15 Llin s, R. and Ribary, U. Coherent 40-Hz oscillation characterizes dream state in humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90 (1993) 2078-2081.
16 Madler, C., Keller, I., Schwender, D. and Poppel, E. Sensory information processing during general anaesthesia: effect of isoflurane on auditory evoked neuronal oscillations, Br. J. Anaesth. 66 (1991) 81-87.
17 Murthy, V.N. and Fetz, E.E. Coherent 25- to 35-Hz oscillations in the sensorimotor cortex of awake behaving monkeys, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89 (1992) 5670-5674.
18 Pantev, C., Makeig, S., Hoke, M., Galambos, R., Hampson, S. and Gallen, C. Human auditory evoked gamma-band magnetic fields, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 8996-9000.
19 Pfurtscheller, G., Flotzinger, D. and Neuper, C. Differentiation between finger, toe and tongue movement in man based on 40 Hz EEG, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 90 (1994) 456-460.
20 Ribary, U., Ioannides, A.A., Singh, K.D., Hasson, R., Bolton, J.P.R., Lado, F., Mogilner, A. and Llin s, R. Magnetic field tomography of coherent thalamocortical 40-Hz oscillations in humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991) 11037-11041.
21 Sanes, J.N. and Donoghue, J.P. Oscillations in local field potentials of the primate motor cortex during voluntary movement, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90 (1993) 4470-4474.
22 Singer, W. and Gray, C.M. Visual feature integration and the temporal correlation hypothesis, Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 18 (1995) 555-586.
23 Soltesz, I. and Deschˆnes, M. Low- and high-frequency membrane potential oscillations during theta activity in CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons of the rat hippocampus under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia, J. Neurophysiol. 70 (1993) 97-116.
24 Stumpf, C. The fast component in the electrical activity of rabbit's hippocampus, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 18 (1965) 477-486.
25 Tiitinen, H., Sinkkonen, J., Reinikainen, K., Alho, K., Lavikainen, J. and Naatanen, R. Selective attention enhances the auditory 40-Hz transient response in humans, Nature, 364 (1993) 59-60.
From India, Delhi
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Dear friends,
As I read your replies carefully, I find that your focus is on different type of meditations. There are countless types of meditations. That is not so important. What the meditation does is important. The following article will tell you about the meditations around the world and through the ages.
regards
meditation
Dictionary
med·i·ta·tion (mĕd'ĭ-tā'shən)
n.
1.
a. The act or process of meditating.
b. A devotional exercise of or leading to contemplation.
2. A contemplative discourse, usually on a religious or philosophical subject.
med'i·ta'tion·al adj.
Thesaurus
meditation
noun
The act or process of thinking: brainwork, cerebration, cogitation, contemplation, deliberation, excogitation, reflection, rumination, speculation, thought. See thoughts.
WordNet
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun meditation has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature
Synonym: speculation
Meaning #2: contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects)
Wikipedia
meditation
This article is about the practice of meditation. For the writings by Marcus Aurelius, see Meditations.
Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. Several major religions include ritual meditation; however, meditation itself need not be a religious or spiritual activity. Most of the more popular systems of meditation are of Eastern origin, though there exists also various forms of Christian, Jewish and Muslim meditation.
Another form of meditation is more closely akin to prayer and worship, wherein the practitioner turns spiritual thoughts over in the mind and engages the brain in higher thinking processes. The goal in this case is the receipt of spiritual insights and new understanding.
From the point of view of psychology, meditation can induce — or is itself — an altered state of consciousness.
Strategies common to many forms
Cross-legged posture. See also: Lotus Position
Meditation generally involves discounting wandering thoughts and fantasies, and calming and focusing the mind; however meditation does not necessarily require effort and can be experienced as "just happening". Physical postures include sitting cross-legged, standing, lying down, and walking (sometimes along designated floor patterns). Quietness is often desirable, and some people use repetitive activities such as deep breathing, humming or chanting to help induce a meditative state.
Meditation can be done with the eyes closed (as long as one does not fall asleep), or with the eyes open: focusing the eyes on a certain point of an object or image, and keeping the eyes constantly looking at that point.
Besides the physical factors related to meditation perhaps the most important strategy relates to the very process through which the relevant state of consciousness is achieved. The most common approach is to focus one's full attention on the natural cycle of breathing. As one takes in a breath, one is called to experience that particular inbreath fully, as if nothing else existed in the world at that particular moment in time. Similarly, one follows the outbreath with full awareness. If for any reason the mind should get distracted during this process the key is to acknowledge this shift in attention, slowly pull one's awareness back to the breath, and continue focusing on its natural cycle. Another common approach is to attempt to block all sensory input (visual, auditory, tactile being key) and concentrate on something other than yourself.
Purposes of meditation
The purposes for which people meditate vary almost as widely as practices. It may serve simply as a means of relaxation from a busy daily routine, or even 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. The disciplined self-cultivation aspect of meditation plays a central role in Taoism, Sufism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Generally, there are religious meditation, in which one meditates on or in communion with the Divine, and focus meditation, in which one meditates to improve health or mental faculties. The 'divine' need not be any specific deity and may be unknown; 'focus' need not include concentration on any specific item and may include intuitive inner 'quantum leaps'. The two positions often overlap in meditative traditions.
However, see spiritual materialism.
Samadhi
In the samadhi or shamatha, i.e. concentrative, techniques of meditation, the mind is kept closely focused on a particular sensation (e.g. the breath), word, image, sound, person, or idea. This form of meditation is often found in Hindu and Buddhist traditions (especially the Pure Land school), as well as in Christianity (Gregorian chant, for example), Jewish Kabbalah, and in some modern metaphysical schools.
Tae Eul Mantra meditation
Tae Eul Ju is a sacred mantra practiced throughout the world among the Jeung San Do practitioners. This mantra is consisted of twenty three holy sounds.
The cornerstone of this practice is Tae Eul Mantra(太乙呪) meditation. Chanting the Tae Eul Mantra (Tae-eul-ju) allows the practitioner to tap into the healing and enlightening energy coming from the life-giving womb of the universe, awakens the practitioner to the spirit world, and attracts protective energy and spirits that can protect the practitioner from misfortune.
A mantra is a series of sacred sounds. Any mantra chanted with proper breathing, posture of body and mind, and a degree of faith in both the mantra and one's own ability will produce positive effects. Each mantra has its own purpose and power. Some mantras can be translated into simple words, but invariably the deeper meaning can only be understood through regular practice.
Mindful awareness traditions
Vipassana (insight) and anapanasati (observance of breath) are parts of the broader notion of mindful awareness, which is part of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is held to lead to Enlightenment, and expounded upon in the Satipatthana sutra. While in anapanasati meditation the attention is focused on the breath, in vipassana the mind is instead trained to be acutely aware of not only breathing, but all things that one comes to experience.
The concept of vipassana works in believing that the meditator's mind will eventually take note of every physical and mental experience "real-time" or as it happens, the goal being that it will gradually reveal to the practitioner how one's mind unknowingly attaches itself to things that are impermanent in nature. Thus, when such things cease to exist, one experiences suffering from their loss. This in turn can gradually free one's mind from the attachment to the impermanent that is the root of suffering. In other words, in vipassana (insight, or seeing things as they are) meditation, the mind is trained to notice each perception or thought that passes without "stopping" on any one. This is a characteristic form of meditation in Buddhism.
However, in at least some forms of vipassana, notably the Burmese Theravada school as taught by S. N. Goenka, one does not attend to whatever perceptions arise, but purposely moves one's attention over their body part by part, checking for sensations, being aware and equanimous with them, and moving on. This form of meditation has some resemblance with "choiceless awareness" — the kind of meditation that J. Krishnamurti addressed.
Buddhist meditation
The Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Buddhist methods of meditation include both samatha, and vipassana. While Vipassana consist in seeing the reality, Samatha consist in attaining highly developed stages of concentration by focusing on any object: anapana, mettā bhāvanā, being the more popular of 40 traditional objects (see: Kammathana).
Zen (Chinese : Chan) buddhism refers to Zazen and Koan mediation practices. Tibetan buddhism include more various methods.
Christian meditation
Jesus, according to the New Testament, often left his apostles and the crowds to distance himself in the wilderness areas of Palestine to engage in long periods of prayer, spiritual meditation and fasting wherein he is reported to have communicated with God. The 40 days following his baptism were spent in such a manner, although, as described in the Bible this period was a difficult one of struggle and temptation. Saint Francis would also retreat to the wilderness in isolation for periods of prayer and meditation. Christian traditions have varying approaches to the subject of meditation, they are especially to be found in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, often associated with monastic practices. The meditation of the Jesus prayer is akin to the Hindu mantra meditation. The meditation of the Christian hesychasts is a silent form of meditation centered on the navel, similar to Taoist or Zen meditation focusing on the hara region (hence the term contemplating one's navel).
See also the article Christian meditation.
Osho on meditation
Osho introduced meditation that is very different from whatever is written on the rest of this page. According to him, it is a state beyond mind. It is not concentration! It is not about any spiritual thoughts, it is a state of thoughtlessness. It is something that can just happen, it is a state that one can be in, it is not something that one can do. But he said that it is very difficult for modern man to just sit and be in meditation. So he devised some active meditation techniques which naturally take one into meditation. These techniques allow a person to express whatever is repressed in him. Many of his techniques involve dancing too. But the meditaion technique is not meditation. Meditation technique is just a method which takes one into a state of meditation.
Health applications and clinical studies of meditation
In the recent years there has been a growing interest within the medical community to study the physiological effects of meditation (Venkatesh et al., 1997; Peng et al., 1999; Lazar et al., 2000; Carlson 2001). Many concepts of meditation have been applied to clinical settings in order to measure its effect on somatic motor function as well as cardiovascular and respiratory function. Also the hermeneutic and phenomenological aspects of meditation are objects of growing interest. Meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. For example, in an early study in 1972, transcendental meditation was shown to affect the human metabolism by lowering the biochemical byproducts of stress, such as lactate (lactic acid), and by decreasing heart rate and blood pressure and inducing favorable brain waves. (Scientific American 226: 84-90 (1972)) The meditative aspects of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and some forms of yoga have also become increasingly popular as means of healthful stress management in recent years.
As a method of stress reduction, meditation is often used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress including a depressed immune system. There is a growing consensus in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund and do research in this area (e.g. the establishment by the NIH in the U.S. of 5 research centers to research the mind-body aspects of disease.) Dr. James Austin, a neurophysiologist at the University of Colorado, reported that Zen meditation rewires the circuitry of the brain in his landmark book Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). This has been confirmed using sophisticated imaging techniques which examine the electrical activity of the brain.
Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response" (Lazar 2003). The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains. Among other well-known studies within this particular field of interest we find the research of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts who have done extensive research on the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress (Kabat-Zinn 1985; Davidson 2003).
One of the most important invitations to study the clinical effects of meditation comes from The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has had many dialogues with Western scientists about this subject and it was at the top of the agenda when he visited Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September 2003 for the "Investigating the Mind conference".
Meditation and the Brain
Mindfulness meditation and related techniques are intended to train attention for the sake of provoking insight. Think of it as the opposite of attention deficit disorder. A wider, more flexible attention span makes it easier to be aware of a situation, easier to be objective in emotionally or morally difficult situations, and easier to achieve a state of responsive, creative awareness or "flow".
One theory, presented by Daniel Goleman & Tara Bennett-Goleman, suggests that meditation works because of the relationship between the amygdala, the part of the brain that handles emotions (sometimes referred to as the "emotional brain"), and the neocortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which handles reasoning and is also known as the inhibitory centre of the brain.
The neocortex processes information very deeply--so it's smart and flexible, but also very slow. Meanwhile, the amygdala, which is a simpler structure (and older in evolutionary terms), makes rapid guesses about our perceptions, and triggers an appropriate emotional response. These emotional responses are very powerful--often because they are related to our immediate survival needs. In other words, if you're an early human standing on the savannah and a lion jumps out at you, your amygdala will have you running and screaming long before your neocortex can figure out what's happening.
In making snap judgments, our amygdalas are prone to error, seeing danger where there is none. This is particularly true in contemporary society where social conflicts are far more common than encounters with predators. A basically harmless but emotionally charged situation can trigger our amygdala's fight or flight reflexes before we know what's happening, causing conflict, stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Certain kinds of meditation (also, martial arts, yoga, etc.) train attention to watch the entire experience, so it's possible to catch emotional reflexes before they take over--but at the same time without squashing or denying the emotion (which would only cause additional frustration). The trick is that there is very little time to do this (roughly a quarter of a second) before the amygdala takes over and the person is flooded with emotion. But the idea is that a skilled meditator can quickly reframe fear and anger, and mould them into constructive responses and perhaps even good cheer.
The different roles of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex can be easily observed under the influence of various drugs. Alcohol depresses the brain generally, but the complicated prefrontal cortex is more affected than the comparatively simple and robust amygdala, resulting in lowered inhibitions, decreased attention span, and increased influence of emotions over behaviour. Likewise, the controversial drug ritalin has the opposite effect, because it stimulates activity in the prefrontal cortex.
Some other studies of meditation have linked the practice to increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex, which is associated with concentration, planning, meta-cognition (thinking about thinking), and with positive affect (good feelings). There are similar studies linking depression and anxiety with decreased activity in the same region, and/or with dominant activity in the right prefrontal cortex. Meditation increases activity in the left prefrontal cortex, and the changes are stable over time--even if you stop meditating for a while, the effect lingers.
Electroencephalographs (EEG) recordings of skilled meditators showed gamma wave activity that gradually expanded across the brain during meditation. Gamma waves indicate synchrony between sections of the brain. These meditators had 10 to 40 years of training in Buddhist-based mental training. EEGs done on meditators who had received recent training turned up considerably less synchrony.
The experienced meditators also showed increased gamma activity while at rest and not meditating. The results of the study do not make clear whether meditation training creates this activity or if individuals with high gamma activity are attracted to meditation. (Lutz & Davidson, 2004)
Meditation and quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics when an observer views a system they may collapse the wavefunction of the system , that is reduce the possibility states of the system. This effect is related to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The Uncollapsing theorem is an unproven conjecture considered to be highly speculative that says a person in a deep meditative state may also be able to uncollapse the quantum wavefunction. The possibility states then increases. This is formalised in the Uncollapsing theorem
Adverse effects of meditation
Predominantly, studies of meditation report positive effects. However, some studies report that meditation may have adverse effects in certain circumstances.
If practiced improperly or too intensely, meditation can lead to considerable psychological and physiological problems, for example, the symptoms of kundalini or shamanic 'illness'. It is not uncommon for teachers of meditation to warn their students about the possible pitfalls of a contemplative path. It is also not uncommon for teachers of meditation to be totally ignorant of the potential negative side-effects and incompetent or ineffective in dealing with them when they do arise.
Since the practice of meditation might include a powerful confrontation with existential questions it is not considered wise to engage in intense meditation techniques without an extended period of psychological preparation. Preferably in contact with a credible teacher or clinician. In the case of Asian contemplative traditions there often exist major challenges connected to the way the particular tradition is to be applied to a Western culture, or a Western mindset. The import of eastern contemplative concepts into popular Western culture has not always been sensitive to, or familiar with the cultural matrix that the meditative concept originated from.
As with any practice, meditation may also be used to avoid facing an ongoing problem or emerging crisis in the meditator's life. In such a case, it may be helpful to apply the mindful attitude from meditation while actively engaging with current problems.
A growing body of clinical literature is now starting to address the phenomenon of meditation-related problems (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998; Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes, 2000). Several side-effects have been reported, among these we find uncomfortable kinaesthetic sensations, mild dissociation and psychosis-like symptoms (Craven, 1989). From a clinical study of twenty-seven long term meditators, Shapiro (1992) reported such adverse effects as depression, relaxation-induced anxiety and panic, paradoxical increases in tension, impaired reality testing, confusion, disorientation and feeling 'spaced out'. The possibility that meditation might trigger strong emotional reactions is also reported by Kutz, Borysenko & Benson (1985). Within the context of therapy, meditation is usually contraindicated when the therapeutic goal is to strengthen ego boundaries, release powerful emotions, or work through complex relational dynamics (Bogart, 1991). The tendency of meditation to disturb object-relations and release unconscious material implies that the beginning meditator should approach the practice with moderation. It usually takes years of dedication to become stable in a contemplative practice, a perspective that is often overlooked by many new religious movements and New Age therapies.
Specific traditions
· Sikhism encourages the divine meditation on God's name, through simran.
· Hinduism's two major meditation traditions evolved with the schools of Yoga and Vedanta, two of the six limbs of Hindu philosophy.
· There are three main branches of Buddhism:
o Theravada or "elders' tradition", established from 500BCE to the time of Christ. Today present mainly in Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. It is the monastic system most closely related to the system set up by the Buddha. Practice involves both samadhi or concentration, and vipassana or insight, as well as the development of metta or loving-kindness.
o Mahayana or "great vehicle" tradition, established from the time of Christ to 700CE. Includes Zen. Today present mainly in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Practice involves various forms of dhyana (Chan or Zen), visualizations, koans, invocation and chanting. Two main branches of Zen Buddhism are Rinzai and Soto.
o Vajrayana or "diamond thunderbolt" tradition established 700-1200CE. This is the Tibetan branch of Buddhism, whose best-known exponent is the Dalai Lama. Concentration is cultivated through highly structured ritual, leading to deep meditative states. Compassionate action is also emphasized.
· There are religious meditations associated with Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
· Taoism has a long history of meditative studies.
· Many martial arts schools teach forms of meditation, especially based on Buddhist or Taoist models.
See also
· Advaita Vedanta
· Buddhist meditation
o Zazen
· Christian meditation
· Hesychasm
· Kinemantra Meditation
· mantra
· mandala
· meditation (alternative medicine)
· MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy)
· New Age
· Passage Meditation
· Psychology of religion
· Qigong
· Samatha
· Silva Method
· Sufism
· Tae Eul Ju Meditation
· Tai Chi Chuan
· Tao Yin
· The Whirling Dervishes
· Transcendental meditation
· Naam
· Kundalini
· Yoga
References
Academic and clinical
· Austin, James (1999) Zen and the Brain, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999, ISBN 0262511096
· Azeemi, Khwaja Shamsuddin (2005) Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation, Houston: Plato, 2005, ISBN 0975887548
· Bogart G. (1991) The use of meditation in psychotherapy: a review of the literature. American Journal of Psychotherapy. 1991 Jul;45(3):383-412. PubMed abstract PMID 1951788
· Carlson LE, Ursuliak Z, Goodey E, Angen M, Speca M. (2001) The effects of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction program on mood and symptoms of stress in cancer outpatients: 6-month follow-up. Support Care Cancer. 2001 Mar;9(2):112-23.PubMed abstract PMID 11305069
· Craven JL. (1989) Meditation and psychotherapy. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 1989 Oct;34(7):648-53. PubMed abstract PMID 2680046
· Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Urbanowski F, Harrington A, Bonus K, Sheridan JF. (2003) Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine 2003 Jul-Aug;65(4):564-70. PubMed abstract PMID 12883106
· Bennett-Goleman, T. (2001) Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart, Harmony Books, ISBN 0-609-60752-9
· Kabat-Zinn J, Lipworth L, Burney R. (1985) The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain. J Behav Medicine. 1985 Jun;8(2):163-90. PubMed abstract PMID 3897551
· Kutz I, Borysenko JZ, Benson H. (1985) Meditation and psychotherapy: a rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy, the relaxation response, and mindfulness meditation. Am J Psychiatry. 1985 Jan;142(1):1-8. PubMed abstract PMID 3881049
· Lazar, Sara W.; Bush, George; Gollub, Randy L.; Fricchione, Gregory L.; Khalsa, Gurucharan; Benson, Herbert (2000) Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation [Autonomic Nervous System] NeuroReport: Volume 11(7) 15 May 2000 p 1581–1585 PubMed abstract PMID 10841380
· Lukoff, David; Lu Francis G. & Turner, Robert P. (1998) From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38(2), 21-50,
· 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
· Peng CK, Mietus JE, Liu Y, Khalsa G, Douglas PS, Benson H, Goldberger AL. (1999) Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques. Int J Cardiol. 1999 Jul 31;70(2):101–7. PubMed Abstract PMID 10454297
· Shapiro DH Jr. (1992) Adverse effects of meditation: a preliminary investigation of long-term meditators.Int J Psychosom. 1992;39(1-4):62-7. PubMed abstract PMID 1428622
· Venkatesh S, Raju TR, Shivani Y, Tompkins G, Meti BL. (1997) A study of structure of phenomenology of consciousness in meditative and non-meditative states. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1997 Apr;41(2): 149–53. PubMed Abstract PMID 9142560
· Lutz, A. . . . and R.J. Davidson (2004). "Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0407401101)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101 (November 16): .
External links
· Articles on meditation ( http://spiritual.com.au <link updated to site home> )
· Active Meditations (http://www.activemeditation.com/)
Research on meditation
· The McGovern Institute at MIT and The Mind & Life Institute present...Investigating the Mind ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· MIT Technology review - Meditation and the Brain (http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...newton0204.asp)
· Harvard University Gazette - Meditation changes temperatures (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/.../09-tummo.html)
· Harvard University News - His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama visits Harvard ( http://harvard.edu <link updated to site home> )
· E-Sangha Meditation Forum ( http://lioncity.net <link updated to site home> )
· University Of Wisconsin News - The Dalai Lama and scientists unite to study meditation ( http://wisc.edu <link updated to site home> )
· The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation ( http://noetic.org <link updated to site home> ) (subtitle) A Review of Contemporary Research, Michael Murphy and Steven Donovan, Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1999-2004, full text of e-book with extensive searchable bibliography (type * into search box to retrieve entire list of over 1800 citations)
· MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) (http://cebmh.warne.ox.ac.uk/csr/mbct.html)
· Vipassana Research Institute (http://www.vri.dhamma.org)
Miscellaneous
· New York Times Article on the increasing use of meditation in hospitals (http://www.nytimes.com/library/natio...editation.html)
· Harvard University Gazette - How not to get hooked ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· The Meditation Doctor: Solutions to Common Problems in Meditation (http://www.meditationdoctor.org/)
· Medical Observer - Making Sense of Meditation ( http://medicalobserver.com.au <link updated to site home> )
· Spiritual Practices (Training Aid) (http://swami-center.org/en/text/Practices.html) Online book describing practical meditative methods of spiritual self-development.
· Meditative Trainings (http://swami-center.org/en/chpt/ecology/page_36.shtml)
· DailyOM (http://www.dailyom.com/) Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy & fulfilling day. Includes many articles about meditation.
· Wuxi Meditation from Dr Shen Hongxun ( http://buqi.net <link updated to site home> )
· Original translations from Sanskrit; quotes from Ramana Maharshi; the practice of Self-enquiry. (http://acalayoga.blogspot.com/)
· Instructions in Passage Meditation ( http://easwaran.org <link updated to site home> )
· Article about meditation from 40 year practitioner with links to try various styles of meditation (http://meditation.3d.net/)
· Learning to meditate in prison ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) by Ozay Rinpoche
· Healing through Meditation ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· How to Meditate (http://www.zader.com/treats/how-to-meditate.html) A beginner's guide to meditation.
· A Meditation Primer ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) Clearly describes the fundamental meditation techniques: observation, focus, and vacancy.
· What is Meditation ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) how to meditate and what are the benefits.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations
Translations for: Meditation
Nederlands (Dutch)
meditatie, overpeinzing
Français (French)
méditation, réflexion
Deutsch (German)
n. - Nachdenken, Meditation
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. αυτοσυγκέντρωση, διαλογισμός, στοχασμός, συλλογισμός
Italiano (Italian)
meditazione
Português (Portuguese)
n. - meditação (f)
Русский (Russian)
размышление, созерцание, медитация
Español (Spanish)
n. - meditación
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - meditation, grubbel
中国话 (Simplified Chinese)
n. - 沉思, 冥想
中國話 (Traditional Chinese)
n. - 沈思, 冥想
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 熟考, 瞑想, 瞑想録
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) تأمل, تفكر
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - הגות, התבוננות, שקיעה בהרהורים, מחשבה, שרעפים, מדיטציה
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Mentioned In
meditation is mentioned in the following
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As I read your replies carefully, I find that your focus is on different type of meditations. There are countless types of meditations. That is not so important. What the meditation does is important. The following article will tell you about the meditations around the world and through the ages.
regards
meditation
Dictionary
med·i·ta·tion (mĕd'ĭ-tā'shən)
n.
1.
a. The act or process of meditating.
b. A devotional exercise of or leading to contemplation.
2. A contemplative discourse, usually on a religious or philosophical subject.
med'i·ta'tion·al adj.
Thesaurus
meditation
noun
The act or process of thinking: brainwork, cerebration, cogitation, contemplation, deliberation, excogitation, reflection, rumination, speculation, thought. See thoughts.
WordNet
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun meditation has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature
Synonym: speculation
Meaning #2: contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects)
Wikipedia
meditation
This article is about the practice of meditation. For the writings by Marcus Aurelius, see Meditations.
Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. Several major religions include ritual meditation; however, meditation itself need not be a religious or spiritual activity. Most of the more popular systems of meditation are of Eastern origin, though there exists also various forms of Christian, Jewish and Muslim meditation.
Another form of meditation is more closely akin to prayer and worship, wherein the practitioner turns spiritual thoughts over in the mind and engages the brain in higher thinking processes. The goal in this case is the receipt of spiritual insights and new understanding.
From the point of view of psychology, meditation can induce — or is itself — an altered state of consciousness.
Strategies common to many forms
Cross-legged posture. See also: Lotus Position
Meditation generally involves discounting wandering thoughts and fantasies, and calming and focusing the mind; however meditation does not necessarily require effort and can be experienced as "just happening". Physical postures include sitting cross-legged, standing, lying down, and walking (sometimes along designated floor patterns). Quietness is often desirable, and some people use repetitive activities such as deep breathing, humming or chanting to help induce a meditative state.
Meditation can be done with the eyes closed (as long as one does not fall asleep), or with the eyes open: focusing the eyes on a certain point of an object or image, and keeping the eyes constantly looking at that point.
Besides the physical factors related to meditation perhaps the most important strategy relates to the very process through which the relevant state of consciousness is achieved. The most common approach is to focus one's full attention on the natural cycle of breathing. As one takes in a breath, one is called to experience that particular inbreath fully, as if nothing else existed in the world at that particular moment in time. Similarly, one follows the outbreath with full awareness. If for any reason the mind should get distracted during this process the key is to acknowledge this shift in attention, slowly pull one's awareness back to the breath, and continue focusing on its natural cycle. Another common approach is to attempt to block all sensory input (visual, auditory, tactile being key) and concentrate on something other than yourself.
Purposes of meditation
The purposes for which people meditate vary almost as widely as practices. It may serve simply as a means of relaxation from a busy daily routine, or even 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. The disciplined self-cultivation aspect of meditation plays a central role in Taoism, Sufism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Generally, there are religious meditation, in which one meditates on or in communion with the Divine, and focus meditation, in which one meditates to improve health or mental faculties. The 'divine' need not be any specific deity and may be unknown; 'focus' need not include concentration on any specific item and may include intuitive inner 'quantum leaps'. The two positions often overlap in meditative traditions.
However, see spiritual materialism.
Samadhi
In the samadhi or shamatha, i.e. concentrative, techniques of meditation, the mind is kept closely focused on a particular sensation (e.g. the breath), word, image, sound, person, or idea. This form of meditation is often found in Hindu and Buddhist traditions (especially the Pure Land school), as well as in Christianity (Gregorian chant, for example), Jewish Kabbalah, and in some modern metaphysical schools.
Tae Eul Mantra meditation
Tae Eul Ju is a sacred mantra practiced throughout the world among the Jeung San Do practitioners. This mantra is consisted of twenty three holy sounds.
The cornerstone of this practice is Tae Eul Mantra(太乙呪) meditation. Chanting the Tae Eul Mantra (Tae-eul-ju) allows the practitioner to tap into the healing and enlightening energy coming from the life-giving womb of the universe, awakens the practitioner to the spirit world, and attracts protective energy and spirits that can protect the practitioner from misfortune.
A mantra is a series of sacred sounds. Any mantra chanted with proper breathing, posture of body and mind, and a degree of faith in both the mantra and one's own ability will produce positive effects. Each mantra has its own purpose and power. Some mantras can be translated into simple words, but invariably the deeper meaning can only be understood through regular practice.
Mindful awareness traditions
Vipassana (insight) and anapanasati (observance of breath) are parts of the broader notion of mindful awareness, which is part of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is held to lead to Enlightenment, and expounded upon in the Satipatthana sutra. While in anapanasati meditation the attention is focused on the breath, in vipassana the mind is instead trained to be acutely aware of not only breathing, but all things that one comes to experience.
The concept of vipassana works in believing that the meditator's mind will eventually take note of every physical and mental experience "real-time" or as it happens, the goal being that it will gradually reveal to the practitioner how one's mind unknowingly attaches itself to things that are impermanent in nature. Thus, when such things cease to exist, one experiences suffering from their loss. This in turn can gradually free one's mind from the attachment to the impermanent that is the root of suffering. In other words, in vipassana (insight, or seeing things as they are) meditation, the mind is trained to notice each perception or thought that passes without "stopping" on any one. This is a characteristic form of meditation in Buddhism.
However, in at least some forms of vipassana, notably the Burmese Theravada school as taught by S. N. Goenka, one does not attend to whatever perceptions arise, but purposely moves one's attention over their body part by part, checking for sensations, being aware and equanimous with them, and moving on. This form of meditation has some resemblance with "choiceless awareness" — the kind of meditation that J. Krishnamurti addressed.
Buddhist meditation
The Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Buddhist methods of meditation include both samatha, and vipassana. While Vipassana consist in seeing the reality, Samatha consist in attaining highly developed stages of concentration by focusing on any object: anapana, mettā bhāvanā, being the more popular of 40 traditional objects (see: Kammathana).
Zen (Chinese : Chan) buddhism refers to Zazen and Koan mediation practices. Tibetan buddhism include more various methods.
Christian meditation
Jesus, according to the New Testament, often left his apostles and the crowds to distance himself in the wilderness areas of Palestine to engage in long periods of prayer, spiritual meditation and fasting wherein he is reported to have communicated with God. The 40 days following his baptism were spent in such a manner, although, as described in the Bible this period was a difficult one of struggle and temptation. Saint Francis would also retreat to the wilderness in isolation for periods of prayer and meditation. Christian traditions have varying approaches to the subject of meditation, they are especially to be found in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, often associated with monastic practices. The meditation of the Jesus prayer is akin to the Hindu mantra meditation. The meditation of the Christian hesychasts is a silent form of meditation centered on the navel, similar to Taoist or Zen meditation focusing on the hara region (hence the term contemplating one's navel).
See also the article Christian meditation.
Osho on meditation
Osho introduced meditation that is very different from whatever is written on the rest of this page. According to him, it is a state beyond mind. It is not concentration! It is not about any spiritual thoughts, it is a state of thoughtlessness. It is something that can just happen, it is a state that one can be in, it is not something that one can do. But he said that it is very difficult for modern man to just sit and be in meditation. So he devised some active meditation techniques which naturally take one into meditation. These techniques allow a person to express whatever is repressed in him. Many of his techniques involve dancing too. But the meditaion technique is not meditation. Meditation technique is just a method which takes one into a state of meditation.
Health applications and clinical studies of meditation
In the recent years there has been a growing interest within the medical community to study the physiological effects of meditation (Venkatesh et al., 1997; Peng et al., 1999; Lazar et al., 2000; Carlson 2001). Many concepts of meditation have been applied to clinical settings in order to measure its effect on somatic motor function as well as cardiovascular and respiratory function. Also the hermeneutic and phenomenological aspects of meditation are objects of growing interest. Meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. For example, in an early study in 1972, transcendental meditation was shown to affect the human metabolism by lowering the biochemical byproducts of stress, such as lactate (lactic acid), and by decreasing heart rate and blood pressure and inducing favorable brain waves. (Scientific American 226: 84-90 (1972)) The meditative aspects of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and some forms of yoga have also become increasingly popular as means of healthful stress management in recent years.
As a method of stress reduction, meditation is often used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress including a depressed immune system. There is a growing consensus in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund and do research in this area (e.g. the establishment by the NIH in the U.S. of 5 research centers to research the mind-body aspects of disease.) Dr. James Austin, a neurophysiologist at the University of Colorado, reported that Zen meditation rewires the circuitry of the brain in his landmark book Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). This has been confirmed using sophisticated imaging techniques which examine the electrical activity of the brain.
Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response" (Lazar 2003). The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains. Among other well-known studies within this particular field of interest we find the research of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts who have done extensive research on the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress (Kabat-Zinn 1985; Davidson 2003).
One of the most important invitations to study the clinical effects of meditation comes from The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has had many dialogues with Western scientists about this subject and it was at the top of the agenda when he visited Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September 2003 for the "Investigating the Mind conference".
Meditation and the Brain
Mindfulness meditation and related techniques are intended to train attention for the sake of provoking insight. Think of it as the opposite of attention deficit disorder. A wider, more flexible attention span makes it easier to be aware of a situation, easier to be objective in emotionally or morally difficult situations, and easier to achieve a state of responsive, creative awareness or "flow".
One theory, presented by Daniel Goleman & Tara Bennett-Goleman, suggests that meditation works because of the relationship between the amygdala, the part of the brain that handles emotions (sometimes referred to as the "emotional brain"), and the neocortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which handles reasoning and is also known as the inhibitory centre of the brain.
The neocortex processes information very deeply--so it's smart and flexible, but also very slow. Meanwhile, the amygdala, which is a simpler structure (and older in evolutionary terms), makes rapid guesses about our perceptions, and triggers an appropriate emotional response. These emotional responses are very powerful--often because they are related to our immediate survival needs. In other words, if you're an early human standing on the savannah and a lion jumps out at you, your amygdala will have you running and screaming long before your neocortex can figure out what's happening.
In making snap judgments, our amygdalas are prone to error, seeing danger where there is none. This is particularly true in contemporary society where social conflicts are far more common than encounters with predators. A basically harmless but emotionally charged situation can trigger our amygdala's fight or flight reflexes before we know what's happening, causing conflict, stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Certain kinds of meditation (also, martial arts, yoga, etc.) train attention to watch the entire experience, so it's possible to catch emotional reflexes before they take over--but at the same time without squashing or denying the emotion (which would only cause additional frustration). The trick is that there is very little time to do this (roughly a quarter of a second) before the amygdala takes over and the person is flooded with emotion. But the idea is that a skilled meditator can quickly reframe fear and anger, and mould them into constructive responses and perhaps even good cheer.
The different roles of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex can be easily observed under the influence of various drugs. Alcohol depresses the brain generally, but the complicated prefrontal cortex is more affected than the comparatively simple and robust amygdala, resulting in lowered inhibitions, decreased attention span, and increased influence of emotions over behaviour. Likewise, the controversial drug ritalin has the opposite effect, because it stimulates activity in the prefrontal cortex.
Some other studies of meditation have linked the practice to increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex, which is associated with concentration, planning, meta-cognition (thinking about thinking), and with positive affect (good feelings). There are similar studies linking depression and anxiety with decreased activity in the same region, and/or with dominant activity in the right prefrontal cortex. Meditation increases activity in the left prefrontal cortex, and the changes are stable over time--even if you stop meditating for a while, the effect lingers.
Electroencephalographs (EEG) recordings of skilled meditators showed gamma wave activity that gradually expanded across the brain during meditation. Gamma waves indicate synchrony between sections of the brain. These meditators had 10 to 40 years of training in Buddhist-based mental training. EEGs done on meditators who had received recent training turned up considerably less synchrony.
The experienced meditators also showed increased gamma activity while at rest and not meditating. The results of the study do not make clear whether meditation training creates this activity or if individuals with high gamma activity are attracted to meditation. (Lutz & Davidson, 2004)
Meditation and quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics when an observer views a system they may collapse the wavefunction of the system , that is reduce the possibility states of the system. This effect is related to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The Uncollapsing theorem is an unproven conjecture considered to be highly speculative that says a person in a deep meditative state may also be able to uncollapse the quantum wavefunction. The possibility states then increases. This is formalised in the Uncollapsing theorem
Adverse effects of meditation
Predominantly, studies of meditation report positive effects. However, some studies report that meditation may have adverse effects in certain circumstances.
If practiced improperly or too intensely, meditation can lead to considerable psychological and physiological problems, for example, the symptoms of kundalini or shamanic 'illness'. It is not uncommon for teachers of meditation to warn their students about the possible pitfalls of a contemplative path. It is also not uncommon for teachers of meditation to be totally ignorant of the potential negative side-effects and incompetent or ineffective in dealing with them when they do arise.
Since the practice of meditation might include a powerful confrontation with existential questions it is not considered wise to engage in intense meditation techniques without an extended period of psychological preparation. Preferably in contact with a credible teacher or clinician. In the case of Asian contemplative traditions there often exist major challenges connected to the way the particular tradition is to be applied to a Western culture, or a Western mindset. The import of eastern contemplative concepts into popular Western culture has not always been sensitive to, or familiar with the cultural matrix that the meditative concept originated from.
As with any practice, meditation may also be used to avoid facing an ongoing problem or emerging crisis in the meditator's life. In such a case, it may be helpful to apply the mindful attitude from meditation while actively engaging with current problems.
A growing body of clinical literature is now starting to address the phenomenon of meditation-related problems (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998; Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes, 2000). Several side-effects have been reported, among these we find uncomfortable kinaesthetic sensations, mild dissociation and psychosis-like symptoms (Craven, 1989). From a clinical study of twenty-seven long term meditators, Shapiro (1992) reported such adverse effects as depression, relaxation-induced anxiety and panic, paradoxical increases in tension, impaired reality testing, confusion, disorientation and feeling 'spaced out'. The possibility that meditation might trigger strong emotional reactions is also reported by Kutz, Borysenko & Benson (1985). Within the context of therapy, meditation is usually contraindicated when the therapeutic goal is to strengthen ego boundaries, release powerful emotions, or work through complex relational dynamics (Bogart, 1991). The tendency of meditation to disturb object-relations and release unconscious material implies that the beginning meditator should approach the practice with moderation. It usually takes years of dedication to become stable in a contemplative practice, a perspective that is often overlooked by many new religious movements and New Age therapies.
Specific traditions
· Sikhism encourages the divine meditation on God's name, through simran.
· Hinduism's two major meditation traditions evolved with the schools of Yoga and Vedanta, two of the six limbs of Hindu philosophy.
· There are three main branches of Buddhism:
o Theravada or "elders' tradition", established from 500BCE to the time of Christ. Today present mainly in Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. It is the monastic system most closely related to the system set up by the Buddha. Practice involves both samadhi or concentration, and vipassana or insight, as well as the development of metta or loving-kindness.
o Mahayana or "great vehicle" tradition, established from the time of Christ to 700CE. Includes Zen. Today present mainly in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Practice involves various forms of dhyana (Chan or Zen), visualizations, koans, invocation and chanting. Two main branches of Zen Buddhism are Rinzai and Soto.
o Vajrayana or "diamond thunderbolt" tradition established 700-1200CE. This is the Tibetan branch of Buddhism, whose best-known exponent is the Dalai Lama. Concentration is cultivated through highly structured ritual, leading to deep meditative states. Compassionate action is also emphasized.
· There are religious meditations associated with Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
· Taoism has a long history of meditative studies.
· Many martial arts schools teach forms of meditation, especially based on Buddhist or Taoist models.
See also
· Advaita Vedanta
· Buddhist meditation
o Zazen
· Christian meditation
· Hesychasm
· Kinemantra Meditation
· mantra
· mandala
· meditation (alternative medicine)
· MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy)
· New Age
· Passage Meditation
· Psychology of religion
· Qigong
· Samatha
· Silva Method
· Sufism
· Tae Eul Ju Meditation
· Tai Chi Chuan
· Tao Yin
· The Whirling Dervishes
· Transcendental meditation
· Naam
· Kundalini
· Yoga
References
Academic and clinical
· Austin, James (1999) Zen and the Brain, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999, ISBN 0262511096
· Azeemi, Khwaja Shamsuddin (2005) Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation, Houston: Plato, 2005, ISBN 0975887548
· Bogart G. (1991) The use of meditation in psychotherapy: a review of the literature. American Journal of Psychotherapy. 1991 Jul;45(3):383-412. PubMed abstract PMID 1951788
· Carlson LE, Ursuliak Z, Goodey E, Angen M, Speca M. (2001) The effects of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction program on mood and symptoms of stress in cancer outpatients: 6-month follow-up. Support Care Cancer. 2001 Mar;9(2):112-23.PubMed abstract PMID 11305069
· Craven JL. (1989) Meditation and psychotherapy. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 1989 Oct;34(7):648-53. PubMed abstract PMID 2680046
· Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Urbanowski F, Harrington A, Bonus K, Sheridan JF. (2003) Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine 2003 Jul-Aug;65(4):564-70. PubMed abstract PMID 12883106
· Bennett-Goleman, T. (2001) Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart, Harmony Books, ISBN 0-609-60752-9
· Kabat-Zinn J, Lipworth L, Burney R. (1985) The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain. J Behav Medicine. 1985 Jun;8(2):163-90. PubMed abstract PMID 3897551
· Kutz I, Borysenko JZ, Benson H. (1985) Meditation and psychotherapy: a rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy, the relaxation response, and mindfulness meditation. Am J Psychiatry. 1985 Jan;142(1):1-8. PubMed abstract PMID 3881049
· Lazar, Sara W.; Bush, George; Gollub, Randy L.; Fricchione, Gregory L.; Khalsa, Gurucharan; Benson, Herbert (2000) Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation [Autonomic Nervous System] NeuroReport: Volume 11(7) 15 May 2000 p 1581–1585 PubMed abstract PMID 10841380
· Lukoff, David; Lu Francis G. & Turner, Robert P. (1998) From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38(2), 21-50,
· 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
· Peng CK, Mietus JE, Liu Y, Khalsa G, Douglas PS, Benson H, Goldberger AL. (1999) Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques. Int J Cardiol. 1999 Jul 31;70(2):101–7. PubMed Abstract PMID 10454297
· Shapiro DH Jr. (1992) Adverse effects of meditation: a preliminary investigation of long-term meditators.Int J Psychosom. 1992;39(1-4):62-7. PubMed abstract PMID 1428622
· Venkatesh S, Raju TR, Shivani Y, Tompkins G, Meti BL. (1997) A study of structure of phenomenology of consciousness in meditative and non-meditative states. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1997 Apr;41(2): 149–53. PubMed Abstract PMID 9142560
· Lutz, A. . . . and R.J. Davidson (2004). "Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0407401101)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101 (November 16): .
External links
· Articles on meditation ( http://spiritual.com.au <link updated to site home> )
· Active Meditations (http://www.activemeditation.com/)
Research on meditation
· The McGovern Institute at MIT and The Mind & Life Institute present...Investigating the Mind ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· MIT Technology review - Meditation and the Brain (http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...newton0204.asp)
· Harvard University Gazette - Meditation changes temperatures (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/.../09-tummo.html)
· Harvard University News - His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama visits Harvard ( http://harvard.edu <link updated to site home> )
· E-Sangha Meditation Forum ( http://lioncity.net <link updated to site home> )
· University Of Wisconsin News - The Dalai Lama and scientists unite to study meditation ( http://wisc.edu <link updated to site home> )
· The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation ( http://noetic.org <link updated to site home> ) (subtitle) A Review of Contemporary Research, Michael Murphy and Steven Donovan, Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1999-2004, full text of e-book with extensive searchable bibliography (type * into search box to retrieve entire list of over 1800 citations)
· MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) (http://cebmh.warne.ox.ac.uk/csr/mbct.html)
· Vipassana Research Institute (http://www.vri.dhamma.org)
Miscellaneous
· New York Times Article on the increasing use of meditation in hospitals (http://www.nytimes.com/library/natio...editation.html)
· Harvard University Gazette - How not to get hooked ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· The Meditation Doctor: Solutions to Common Problems in Meditation (http://www.meditationdoctor.org/)
· Medical Observer - Making Sense of Meditation ( http://medicalobserver.com.au <link updated to site home> )
· Spiritual Practices (Training Aid) (http://swami-center.org/en/text/Practices.html) Online book describing practical meditative methods of spiritual self-development.
· Meditative Trainings (http://swami-center.org/en/chpt/ecology/page_36.shtml)
· DailyOM (http://www.dailyom.com/) Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy & fulfilling day. Includes many articles about meditation.
· Wuxi Meditation from Dr Shen Hongxun ( http://buqi.net <link updated to site home> )
· Original translations from Sanskrit; quotes from Ramana Maharshi; the practice of Self-enquiry. (http://acalayoga.blogspot.com/)
· Instructions in Passage Meditation ( http://easwaran.org <link updated to site home> )
· Article about meditation from 40 year practitioner with links to try various styles of meditation (http://meditation.3d.net/)
· Learning to meditate in prison ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) by Ozay Rinpoche
· Healing through Meditation ( <link no longer exists - removed> )
· How to Meditate (http://www.zader.com/treats/how-to-meditate.html) A beginner's guide to meditation.
· A Meditation Primer ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) Clearly describes the fundamental meditation techniques: observation, focus, and vacancy.
· What is Meditation ( <link no longer exists - removed> ) how to meditate and what are the benefits.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations
Translations for: Meditation
Nederlands (Dutch)
meditatie, overpeinzing
Français (French)
méditation, réflexion
Deutsch (German)
n. - Nachdenken, Meditation
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. αυτοσυγκέντρωση, διαλογισμός, στοχασμός, συλλογισμός
Italiano (Italian)
meditazione
Português (Portuguese)
n. - meditação (f)
Русский (Russian)
размышление, созерцание, медитация
Español (Spanish)
n. - meditación
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - meditation, grubbel
中国话 (Simplified Chinese)
n. - 沉思, 冥想
中國話 (Traditional Chinese)
n. - 沈思, 冥想
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 熟考, 瞑想, 瞑想録
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) تأمل, تفكر
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - הגות, התבוננות, שקיעה בהרהורים, מחשבה, שרעפים, מדיטציה
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Best of the Web
Some good "meditation" pages on the web:
American Sign Languagecommtechlab.msu.edu
Mentioned In
meditation is mentioned in the following
From India, Delhi
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Hi Vinisha,
In addition to what Alok has mentioned, I would like to add that sometimes relaxing the body first physically and then mentally through meditation is easier and more comfortable.
You can relax with a lying-down posture - lying openly on the floor (on a sheet preferably) with the back to the floor and the hands slightly away from the body or in "Shavasana" as the posture is called in Yoga. One can totally relax and feel rejuvenated.
I have found it more relaxing to meditate after this relaxation session, though most people do it the other way around.
Happy meditating!
June
From India, Bellary
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In addition to what Alok has mentioned, I would like to add that sometimes relaxing the body first physically and then mentally through meditation is easier and more comfortable.
You can relax with a lying-down posture - lying openly on the floor (on a sheet preferably) with the back to the floor and the hands slightly away from the body or in "Shavasana" as the posture is called in Yoga. One can totally relax and feel rejuvenated.
I have found it more relaxing to meditate after this relaxation session, though most people do it the other way around.
Happy meditating!
June
From India, Bellary
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Hi,
A lot of people lately have started realizing the importance of meditation. I am undoubtedly one of these people. But getting hold of a good meditation technique and the process of meditation, the requirements, etc., is something I am blank on. I have been trying to get hold of a book on meditation, but not many people around me seem to know about it. I am a student, so the many people are mostly students who don't agree with meditation, and some actually ridicule the concept. Anyway, can you tell me of sources where I would find the details on the same? I wanted to start right away because my stress levels are increasing day by day, and I need to deal with it.
Thanks
Regards,
Vinisha.
Namaskar.
Like most other seekers now, Vinisha has to make decisions at four levels. At level A:
1. Whether meditation is essential in life or
2. Whether meditation is desirable in life or
3. Whether meditation is just a queer pursuit/practice.
At level B:
Which meditation path is to be followed as there are plenty and not one.
At level C:
To which guide to listen and follow. Here itself she finds quite a number of guides.
At level D:
Are thoughts on meditation just trash and obsessions and be abandoned?
Regards
From India, Delhi
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A lot of people lately have started realizing the importance of meditation. I am undoubtedly one of these people. But getting hold of a good meditation technique and the process of meditation, the requirements, etc., is something I am blank on. I have been trying to get hold of a book on meditation, but not many people around me seem to know about it. I am a student, so the many people are mostly students who don't agree with meditation, and some actually ridicule the concept. Anyway, can you tell me of sources where I would find the details on the same? I wanted to start right away because my stress levels are increasing day by day, and I need to deal with it.
Thanks
Regards,
Vinisha.
Namaskar.
Like most other seekers now, Vinisha has to make decisions at four levels. At level A:
1. Whether meditation is essential in life or
2. Whether meditation is desirable in life or
3. Whether meditation is just a queer pursuit/practice.
At level B:
Which meditation path is to be followed as there are plenty and not one.
At level C:
To which guide to listen and follow. Here itself she finds quite a number of guides.
At level D:
Are thoughts on meditation just trash and obsessions and be abandoned?
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Good day all,
I agree with Dr. J. We have to determine where meditation is prioritized in our lives.
I practice aikido, and to me, aikido places me in a meditative plane because of the focus and concentration, including the deep diaphragm breathing, the relaxation, and calmness that we experience when practicing aikido. Years ago, I decided that aikido is not just a path to walk, but rather a part of who I am.
There are many forms of meditation, and we should always be open to discovering the meditative form that is comfortable for us. In my opinion, there is no one type of form that is better than the next. Putting meditation into such a context is unnecessary and immature.
I stated my commitment to the way of Aikido just to share how I view meditation. We ourselves have to determine its priority in our lives. There may be a thousand and one excuses why we cannot practice meditation, but it only takes one step to start.
I want to share another form of meditation that can be done anywhere and at any time. All we have to do is put our awareness into everything we do. For example, when washing the dishes, try to feel the foam, water, scrub, etc. Notice the texture of the items touching your skin. Be aware of their existence. Remember to breathe. Relax. The more you relax (not limp, there is a difference), the more you will be aware of the items and your surroundings. Try it; it will improve your concentration and awareness. 😊
Love and Peace.
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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I agree with Dr. J. We have to determine where meditation is prioritized in our lives.
I practice aikido, and to me, aikido places me in a meditative plane because of the focus and concentration, including the deep diaphragm breathing, the relaxation, and calmness that we experience when practicing aikido. Years ago, I decided that aikido is not just a path to walk, but rather a part of who I am.
There are many forms of meditation, and we should always be open to discovering the meditative form that is comfortable for us. In my opinion, there is no one type of form that is better than the next. Putting meditation into such a context is unnecessary and immature.
I stated my commitment to the way of Aikido just to share how I view meditation. We ourselves have to determine its priority in our lives. There may be a thousand and one excuses why we cannot practice meditation, but it only takes one step to start.
I want to share another form of meditation that can be done anywhere and at any time. All we have to do is put our awareness into everything we do. For example, when washing the dishes, try to feel the foam, water, scrub, etc. Notice the texture of the items touching your skin. Be aware of their existence. Remember to breathe. Relax. The more you relax (not limp, there is a difference), the more you will be aware of the items and your surroundings. Try it; it will improve your concentration and awareness. 😊
Love and Peace.
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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Great post. Lots of interaction on the subject of Meditation. I am learning a lot. Special thanks to Dr Ji for all his relevant and useful messages. Thanks Bala
From India, Madras
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From India, Madras
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Thank you, Jogji, for welcoming us. We are around and will keep disturbing you for detailed information on meditation. Please provide feedback as and when.
"It's right," said the heaven of kranti is, of course, the human brain, which leads to all evolutions and miniature revolutions.
From India, Delhi
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"It's right," said the heaven of kranti is, of course, the human brain, which leads to all evolutions and miniature revolutions.
From India, Delhi
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Good day all,
I agree with Dr. J. We have to determine where meditation is prioritized in our lives. I practice aikido, and to me, aikido places me in a meditative plane because of the focus and concentration, including the deep diaphragm breathing, the relaxation, and calmness that we experience when practicing aikido. I decided years ago that aikido is not just a path to walk but a part of who I am.
There are many forms of meditation, and we should always be open to discovering the meditative form that is comfortable for us. To me, there is no type of form that is better than the next. Putting meditation into such a context is unnecessary and immature.
I shared my commitment to the way of Aikido just to express how I view meditation. We ourselves have to determine its priority in our lives. There may be a thousand and one excuses why we cannot practice meditation, but it only takes one step to start.
I want to share another form of meditation that can be done anywhere and at any time. All we have to do is put our awareness into everything we do. For example, when washing the dishes, try to feel the foam, water, scrub, etc. Notice the texture of the items that touch your skin. Be aware of their existence. Remember to breathe. Relax. The more you relax (not limp, there is a difference), the more aware you will be of your surroundings. Try it; it will improve your concentration and awareness. 😊
Love and Peace.
Thank you, Noel, for your balanced view. Progress or regress is the law of nature. Nothing is stagnant. Meditation is the only way to keep oneself on the path of progress.
Not only should one be open to others' meditation practices, but one may also continue to acquire because no system is perfect in itself. For example, in India, regardless of the meditation order, closing eyes during meditation is conventional, but Brahma Kumaris practice open-eyed meditation, which I consider to hold great wisdom. Similarly, mindfulness in Buddhism offers not only spiritual benefits but also the potential for material gain. It can help prevent significant material losses, which the corporate world has yet to realize.
Wishing you the best progress in life.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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I agree with Dr. J. We have to determine where meditation is prioritized in our lives. I practice aikido, and to me, aikido places me in a meditative plane because of the focus and concentration, including the deep diaphragm breathing, the relaxation, and calmness that we experience when practicing aikido. I decided years ago that aikido is not just a path to walk but a part of who I am.
There are many forms of meditation, and we should always be open to discovering the meditative form that is comfortable for us. To me, there is no type of form that is better than the next. Putting meditation into such a context is unnecessary and immature.
I shared my commitment to the way of Aikido just to express how I view meditation. We ourselves have to determine its priority in our lives. There may be a thousand and one excuses why we cannot practice meditation, but it only takes one step to start.
I want to share another form of meditation that can be done anywhere and at any time. All we have to do is put our awareness into everything we do. For example, when washing the dishes, try to feel the foam, water, scrub, etc. Notice the texture of the items that touch your skin. Be aware of their existence. Remember to breathe. Relax. The more you relax (not limp, there is a difference), the more aware you will be of your surroundings. Try it; it will improve your concentration and awareness. 😊
Love and Peace.
Thank you, Noel, for your balanced view. Progress or regress is the law of nature. Nothing is stagnant. Meditation is the only way to keep oneself on the path of progress.
Not only should one be open to others' meditation practices, but one may also continue to acquire because no system is perfect in itself. For example, in India, regardless of the meditation order, closing eyes during meditation is conventional, but Brahma Kumaris practice open-eyed meditation, which I consider to hold great wisdom. Similarly, mindfulness in Buddhism offers not only spiritual benefits but also the potential for material gain. It can help prevent significant material losses, which the corporate world has yet to realize.
Wishing you the best progress in life.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Namaskar Balaji,
Thank you for your appreciation. Till now, we, the practitioners of meditation, have succeeded in impressing only you. I think we still lack impressive presentation skills to bring about a revolution. Can you please help identify the missing gaps in our communication?
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Thank you for your appreciation. Till now, we, the practitioners of meditation, have succeeded in impressing only you. I think we still lack impressive presentation skills to bring about a revolution. Can you please help identify the missing gaps in our communication?
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Namaskar, umalme ji.
You and others are at liberty to ask any number of questions, and I am at liberty to answer as many questions as I can. Research not only shows that meditation restructures the brain but also rearranges DNA. Your address of "Jogji" is ecstatic for me.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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You and others are at liberty to ask any number of questions, and I am at liberty to answer as many questions as I can. Research not only shows that meditation restructures the brain but also rearranges DNA. Your address of "Jogji" is ecstatic for me.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Dear Dr. J,
I am curious, what is the meaning of heaven of kranti?
Meditation is actually very important in a person's life. I think it is more than meets the eye. After all, how much do we really know and understand about our mind and body? Already we have some understanding that meditation helps develop our brain activities, but what else?
I personally believe that we are witnessing a coming of a new age, where the understanding of technical science and "natural science" (can't think of a better term to use) will merge, and soon we will have evidence that they are actually the same.
Love and peace.
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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I am curious, what is the meaning of heaven of kranti?
Meditation is actually very important in a person's life. I think it is more than meets the eye. After all, how much do we really know and understand about our mind and body? Already we have some understanding that meditation helps develop our brain activities, but what else?
I personally believe that we are witnessing a coming of a new age, where the understanding of technical science and "natural science" (can't think of a better term to use) will merge, and soon we will have evidence that they are actually the same.
Love and peace.
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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Dear Dr. J,
I am curious, what is the meaning of heaven of kranti? Meditation is actually very important in a person's life. I think it is more than meets the eye. After all, how much do we really know and understand about our mind and body? We already have some understanding that meditation helps develop our brain activities, but what else?
I personally believe that we are witnessing the coming of a new age, where the understanding of technical science and "natural science" (can't think of a better term to use) will merge, and soon we will have evidence that they are actually the same.
Love and peace,
Noel
Namaskar Noel ji,
Thank you again for your perception. Babas and matas repeatedly say that heaven and hell are within the self. In fact, I perceive two heavens and one hell. "Kranti" is a Sanskrit word which means revolution and "shanti" means peace. Creativity is associated with gamma waves, and peace/deep sleep is associated with delta waves. So, you are in the heaven of kranti when your brain generates gamma waves, and you are in the heaven of shanti/peace when you are in deep sleep.
The beta state is as good as hell unless balanced. The purpose of meditation is not necessarily physical feats. These are incidental on the way of progress - to reverse and prevent pain, suffering, and decay of the body, that is, to bring it under perfect conscious command for achieving further goals.
Wishing you the best of progress in life.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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I am curious, what is the meaning of heaven of kranti? Meditation is actually very important in a person's life. I think it is more than meets the eye. After all, how much do we really know and understand about our mind and body? We already have some understanding that meditation helps develop our brain activities, but what else?
I personally believe that we are witnessing the coming of a new age, where the understanding of technical science and "natural science" (can't think of a better term to use) will merge, and soon we will have evidence that they are actually the same.
Love and peace,
Noel
Namaskar Noel ji,
Thank you again for your perception. Babas and matas repeatedly say that heaven and hell are within the self. In fact, I perceive two heavens and one hell. "Kranti" is a Sanskrit word which means revolution and "shanti" means peace. Creativity is associated with gamma waves, and peace/deep sleep is associated with delta waves. So, you are in the heaven of kranti when your brain generates gamma waves, and you are in the heaven of shanti/peace when you are in deep sleep.
The beta state is as good as hell unless balanced. The purpose of meditation is not necessarily physical feats. These are incidental on the way of progress - to reverse and prevent pain, suffering, and decay of the body, that is, to bring it under perfect conscious command for achieving further goals.
Wishing you the best of progress in life.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Dear friends,
Namaskar.
By the time I was writing the post in this thread yesterday, the news was already circulated in the newspapers that Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureate, is scheduled to address the Society for Neuroscience next month on this subject, and 544 protesters have petitioned against this. I read the news after I posted my yesterday's message here.
Today in The Hindu, I read the news again, but it says there are 700+ protesters, and the ground is also different. Here I am answering to both the grounds.
To 544 protesters:
Their ground is that the research content of speech, which is based on the research of Dr. Davidson and his team, needs replication. It is a premature claim at this stage.
Looking into the list of publications of Dr. Davidson, I find that quite a number of research papers are already published in professional journals.
Moreover, what is said gamma wave now was known as fast beta in the 1960s and was discovered by Hirai and Kasamatsu, both Japanese neurologists, in Zen meditators. The results are reported in professional journals and texts. No objection has been raised so far. So what Dr. Davidson and his team are finding is more or less replication of the findings of Hirai and Kasamatsu. So the replication objection does not stand.
To 700+ protesters:
Their ground is that Dalai Lama, being a religious leader, should not address a scientific society.
In 1935, a French lady cardiologist traveled to the Himalayan region to study the effect of oriental practices. In certain sadhus, she found that they could lower their heart rate to the extent that her portable cardiograph equipment could not detect it. Since then, there have been thousands of scientific researches on the effects of religious practices. Here is an article on the future of endocrinology:
(Seven Centers of Consciousness - After Arthur Avalon)
In the late 1950s, when Dr. Kimura found success in biofeedback in altering brain wave levels, someone informed him that what he thinks as his first discovery is known to the orient from time immemorial. Then he checked up on certain Zen meditators and exclaimed:
"We are knocking at the back doors of the age-old tradition of the Orient."
So my projection is that the pleas of the protesters will fall in favor of scientific temper.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Namaskar.
By the time I was writing the post in this thread yesterday, the news was already circulated in the newspapers that Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureate, is scheduled to address the Society for Neuroscience next month on this subject, and 544 protesters have petitioned against this. I read the news after I posted my yesterday's message here.
Today in The Hindu, I read the news again, but it says there are 700+ protesters, and the ground is also different. Here I am answering to both the grounds.
To 544 protesters:
Their ground is that the research content of speech, which is based on the research of Dr. Davidson and his team, needs replication. It is a premature claim at this stage.
Looking into the list of publications of Dr. Davidson, I find that quite a number of research papers are already published in professional journals.
Moreover, what is said gamma wave now was known as fast beta in the 1960s and was discovered by Hirai and Kasamatsu, both Japanese neurologists, in Zen meditators. The results are reported in professional journals and texts. No objection has been raised so far. So what Dr. Davidson and his team are finding is more or less replication of the findings of Hirai and Kasamatsu. So the replication objection does not stand.
To 700+ protesters:
Their ground is that Dalai Lama, being a religious leader, should not address a scientific society.
In 1935, a French lady cardiologist traveled to the Himalayan region to study the effect of oriental practices. In certain sadhus, she found that they could lower their heart rate to the extent that her portable cardiograph equipment could not detect it. Since then, there have been thousands of scientific researches on the effects of religious practices. Here is an article on the future of endocrinology:
(Seven Centers of Consciousness - After Arthur Avalon)
In the late 1950s, when Dr. Kimura found success in biofeedback in altering brain wave levels, someone informed him that what he thinks as his first discovery is known to the orient from time immemorial. Then he checked up on certain Zen meditators and exclaimed:
"We are knocking at the back doors of the age-old tradition of the Orient."
So my projection is that the pleas of the protesters will fall in favor of scientific temper.
Regards
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear friends. Namaskar. I have detected a mistake in my above quote. In place of Dr. Kimura please read as Dr. J. Kamiya. regards
From India, Delhi
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From India, Delhi
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Dear friends! Namaskar.
A science of human neuroplasticity has already emerged to study how meditation changes the structure of neurons leading to better harmony. Daniel Goleman, who coined and propagated the term "emotional intelligence," is now in the field of human neuroplasticity. So, I suppose Professor Udai Parrek's courses on emotional intelligence will include human neuroplasticity, and fees may be higher.
Protests against Dalai Lama's lecture at the Society for Neuroscience have failed. Below is the NPR News dated November 11, 2005.
"The Links Between The Dalai Lama And Neuroscience
This weekend, the Dalai Lama will deliver a keynote address to the world's largest group of brain scientists at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C. Some researchers are profoundly unhappy. But the Dalai Lama and brain scientists have more in common than you might expect."
Oh friends! Will you be far behind?
Regards
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
A science of human neuroplasticity has already emerged to study how meditation changes the structure of neurons leading to better harmony. Daniel Goleman, who coined and propagated the term "emotional intelligence," is now in the field of human neuroplasticity. So, I suppose Professor Udai Parrek's courses on emotional intelligence will include human neuroplasticity, and fees may be higher.
Protests against Dalai Lama's lecture at the Society for Neuroscience have failed. Below is the NPR News dated November 11, 2005.
"The Links Between The Dalai Lama And Neuroscience
This weekend, the Dalai Lama will deliver a keynote address to the world's largest group of brain scientists at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C. Some researchers are profoundly unhappy. But the Dalai Lama and brain scientists have more in common than you might expect."
Oh friends! Will you be far behind?
Regards
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear CiteFriends,
Read this article yesterday, and thought I should share it with all, especially those who are interested in the Dalai Lama talk as mentioned by DrJi.
Source: The Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com <link updated to site home>
AR2005111201080_pf.html
Dalai Lama Gives Talk On Science
Monk's D.C. Lecture Links Mind, Matter
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 13, 2005; C01
In an unusual marrying of science and spirituality, the Dalai Lama addressed thousands of the world's top neuroscientists yesterday, telling them that society is falling behind in its efforts to make sense of their groundbreaking research.
Speaking sometimes in Tibetan and sometimes in halting English to a receptive audience at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the Tibetan spiritual and political leader said scientists and moral leaders need each other.
"It is all too evident that our moral thinking simply has not been able to keep pace with such rapid progress in our acquisition of knowledge and power," he said in a prepared text.
The speech at the Washington Convention Center had been opposed by some members of the society who objected to a religious leader addressing neuroscientists, who research the brain, emotions, and human behavior. Nearly 800 people had signed an online petition demanding that the Dalai Lama's invitation be withdrawn.
Many of the petition signers were Chinese Americans, leading to countercharges that they opposed him on political grounds. Relations between China and once-independent Tibet have been badly strained for a half-century, and the Dalai Lama is at the center of the dispute.
But except for minor protests yesterday -- one woman held a sign that read "Dalai Lama not qualified to speak here" -- that conflict was barely visible at the conference. Some attendees stayed away from his talk, and others left early in what a few described as a protest of sorts.
For most of the 14,000 conference participants who watched in the lecture hall or from overflow rooms, the Dalai Lama's enthusiastic embrace of science and promotion of meditation were warmly received. His 10-day visit to Washington, which included a meeting with President Bush last week, will continue today at MCI Center, where he is scheduled to give a public talk on "Global Peace Through Compassion."
The author of a new book on the convergence of Buddhism and science, the Dalai Lama has met with prominent scientists around the world for almost 20 years and has encouraged an increasingly fruitful collaboration between brain researchers and Tibetan monks.
Because of the controversy over his speech to the neuroscientists in Washington, his aides said he would keep to a prepared text, something quite unusual for him. But he often diverged from the text, despite saying with a smile that he was feeling unusual "stress."
His talk focused on how he developed his interest in science as a boy in Tibet, within a closed and isolated society, and on his view that morality and compassion are central to science. He pointed out in his prepared text, for instance, that although the atom bomb was great science, it created great moral problems.
"It is no longer adequate to adopt the view that our responsibility as a society is to simply further scientific knowledge and enhance technological power and that the choice of what to do with this knowledge and power should be left in the hands of the individual," he said.
"By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call 'secular ethics' that embrace the key ethical principles, such as compassion, tolerance, a sense of caring, consideration of others, and the responsible use of knowledge and power -- principles that transcend the barriers between religious believers and nonbelievers, and followers of this religion or that religion," he said.
He acknowledged that some might wonder why a Buddhist monk is taking such an interest in science.
"What relation could there be between Buddhism, an ancient Indian philosophical and spiritual tradition, and modern science?" he said. His answer was that the scientific empirical approach and the Buddhist exploration of the mind and world have many similarities.
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, however, the Dalai Lama is known as the reincarnation of a major force for compassion, and his strongest words yesterday were directed at religious people who might lack that trait.
"People who call themselves religious without basic human values like compassion, they are not really religious people," he told the audience, offering no names. "They are hypocrites." The words were unusually critical for a speaker who likes to emphasize the positive and productive.
The single protester outside his follow-up news conference at the convention center was Pei Wang, a neuroscience graduate student at the State University of New York at Buffalo. "This is supposed to be a scientific talk," she said. "If he is not presenting data, he should not speak. This should be about research, not about some politician giving a speech."
The Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, which will continue through Thursday and has attracted 31,000 people, features scores of papers on research into human behavior.
In keeping with the Dalai Lama's involvement with meditation and the physical and mental implications of the contemplative life, one of the higher-profile papers reports on how regular meditation appears to produce structural changes in areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing. An imaging study led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers showed that particular areas of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, were thicker in participants who were experienced practitioners of a type of meditation commonly practiced in the United States.
"Our results suggest that meditation can produce experience-based structural alterations in the brain," said Sara Lazar of the hospital's Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and lead author of the study, which will appear in the journal NeuroReport. "We also found evidence that meditation may slow down the aging-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain."
Smiles and Peace
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Read this article yesterday, and thought I should share it with all, especially those who are interested in the Dalai Lama talk as mentioned by DrJi.
Source: The Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com <link updated to site home>
AR2005111201080_pf.html
Dalai Lama Gives Talk On Science
Monk's D.C. Lecture Links Mind, Matter
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 13, 2005; C01
In an unusual marrying of science and spirituality, the Dalai Lama addressed thousands of the world's top neuroscientists yesterday, telling them that society is falling behind in its efforts to make sense of their groundbreaking research.
Speaking sometimes in Tibetan and sometimes in halting English to a receptive audience at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the Tibetan spiritual and political leader said scientists and moral leaders need each other.
"It is all too evident that our moral thinking simply has not been able to keep pace with such rapid progress in our acquisition of knowledge and power," he said in a prepared text.
The speech at the Washington Convention Center had been opposed by some members of the society who objected to a religious leader addressing neuroscientists, who research the brain, emotions, and human behavior. Nearly 800 people had signed an online petition demanding that the Dalai Lama's invitation be withdrawn.
Many of the petition signers were Chinese Americans, leading to countercharges that they opposed him on political grounds. Relations between China and once-independent Tibet have been badly strained for a half-century, and the Dalai Lama is at the center of the dispute.
But except for minor protests yesterday -- one woman held a sign that read "Dalai Lama not qualified to speak here" -- that conflict was barely visible at the conference. Some attendees stayed away from his talk, and others left early in what a few described as a protest of sorts.
For most of the 14,000 conference participants who watched in the lecture hall or from overflow rooms, the Dalai Lama's enthusiastic embrace of science and promotion of meditation were warmly received. His 10-day visit to Washington, which included a meeting with President Bush last week, will continue today at MCI Center, where he is scheduled to give a public talk on "Global Peace Through Compassion."
The author of a new book on the convergence of Buddhism and science, the Dalai Lama has met with prominent scientists around the world for almost 20 years and has encouraged an increasingly fruitful collaboration between brain researchers and Tibetan monks.
Because of the controversy over his speech to the neuroscientists in Washington, his aides said he would keep to a prepared text, something quite unusual for him. But he often diverged from the text, despite saying with a smile that he was feeling unusual "stress."
His talk focused on how he developed his interest in science as a boy in Tibet, within a closed and isolated society, and on his view that morality and compassion are central to science. He pointed out in his prepared text, for instance, that although the atom bomb was great science, it created great moral problems.
"It is no longer adequate to adopt the view that our responsibility as a society is to simply further scientific knowledge and enhance technological power and that the choice of what to do with this knowledge and power should be left in the hands of the individual," he said.
"By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call 'secular ethics' that embrace the key ethical principles, such as compassion, tolerance, a sense of caring, consideration of others, and the responsible use of knowledge and power -- principles that transcend the barriers between religious believers and nonbelievers, and followers of this religion or that religion," he said.
He acknowledged that some might wonder why a Buddhist monk is taking such an interest in science.
"What relation could there be between Buddhism, an ancient Indian philosophical and spiritual tradition, and modern science?" he said. His answer was that the scientific empirical approach and the Buddhist exploration of the mind and world have many similarities.
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, however, the Dalai Lama is known as the reincarnation of a major force for compassion, and his strongest words yesterday were directed at religious people who might lack that trait.
"People who call themselves religious without basic human values like compassion, they are not really religious people," he told the audience, offering no names. "They are hypocrites." The words were unusually critical for a speaker who likes to emphasize the positive and productive.
The single protester outside his follow-up news conference at the convention center was Pei Wang, a neuroscience graduate student at the State University of New York at Buffalo. "This is supposed to be a scientific talk," she said. "If he is not presenting data, he should not speak. This should be about research, not about some politician giving a speech."
The Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, which will continue through Thursday and has attracted 31,000 people, features scores of papers on research into human behavior.
In keeping with the Dalai Lama's involvement with meditation and the physical and mental implications of the contemplative life, one of the higher-profile papers reports on how regular meditation appears to produce structural changes in areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing. An imaging study led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers showed that particular areas of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, were thicker in participants who were experienced practitioners of a type of meditation commonly practiced in the United States.
"Our results suggest that meditation can produce experience-based structural alterations in the brain," said Sara Lazar of the hospital's Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and lead author of the study, which will appear in the journal NeuroReport. "We also found evidence that meditation may slow down the aging-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain."
Smiles and Peace
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Namaskar Noel ji.
I am extremely glad to see your article on Dalai Lama's talk. Of course, the entry of meditation into neuroscience is not new; it will now be pursued more vigorously, and a kranti is a must.
Next, I would like to share the future of endocrinology too because so far we are up to EEG. Here is an article on the subject.
The Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine System
(Seven Endocrine Glands - After Ray Stanford)
The endocrine system stands at the heart of human opportunity and human dis-ease. This is the case because the major glands are the transmitting agents for social, emotional, mental, and spiritual forces that underlie the whole of our physical worlds.
This idea may seem a bit farfetched to the uninitiated, simply skeptical, or strictly scientific. Many such folks believe that human beings are just peculiar masses of protoplasm that are somewhat controlled by brain impulses and nervous system patterns.
But, there is growing evidence that we are really this and much more. Research is appearing which will eventually validate that, "The mind is not so much in the body, as the body is in the mind."
This saying has roots both in the Eastern Hindu tradition and among Western mystics, such as Meister Eckhardt. The aphorism suggests firstly that the mind is more than the brain (an obvious part of the body) and secondly that the body is a dense projection of a deeper energy field called the mind.
Dr. Candace Pert, a researcher at the National Institutes for Mental Health, says, "... it is possible now to conceive of mind and consciousness as an emanation of emotional information processing, and as such, mind and consciousness would appear to be independent of brain and body."
Social forces, emotions, thoughts, and spiritual energies stand hidden beyond, above, and within what we know to be the outer physical body and material world. These powers work through the physical and do not emanate from them. The reverse is actually the true case as the physical mechanism is an endpoint and not a beginning for anything.
Our health and our dis-ease are not simply due to physical allergens and microbes, accidents and mishaps, but to a host of forces that lie beyond yet within our material midst. There is rhyme and reason to the course of universal momentum and so to in our own lives on planet Earth.
The midway or meeting point for these invisible forces and the outer physical human form is the endocrine system, and, more specifically, the psycho-neuro-endocrine system. The concept of this system is really quite simple while the practical working out of it may be in the opposite direction.
Direct support for this view is now coming from the new medical discipline called psycho-neuro-immunology. Psycho-neuro-immunology springs from the earlier arena of psycho-somatic medicine and will eventually form the foundation of psycho-neuro-endocrinology.
The immune system backed by the nervous apparatus and the brain is receiving increasing emphasis in evaluation and treatment of disease. The following suggestions arise to help in the correlation of the components of a new psycho-physiological system:
1) The immune system is centered in the thymus gland located in the center of the chest cavity.
2) The thymus gland is one of seven major human endocrine glands.
3) All of the glands, through their hormones which are secreted directly into the bloodstream, have profound effects upon the physical body.
4) The glands are interconnected and interrelated through feedback mechanisms, the 'master' gland, and the nervous system.
5) The nervous apparatus and the endocrine glands actually make up one whole neuro-endocrine system.
6) The brain is the most important, but not the only nerve center, which influences the endocrine glands and the immune system and total health.
7) The brain and other nerve centers and the endocrine glands are dependent upon emotions, the mind and the soul through the whole of the psycho-neuro-endocrine system.
Reversing field, the psycho-neuro-endocrine system, composed of the Soul (psyche comes from the Greek word which means soul) and its agents - the chakras (Sanskrit for invisible vortices of consciousness) - works through the mental, emotional, and subtle bodies to manifest effects in brain and nerve centers, endocrine glands, organs and organ systems, body regions and parts towards illness or health. The following list approximates the relationships within the tracts which compose the chakra system:
This system, with the centers of consciousness as focal points, will be demonstrated to be the integrating, synthesizing, and animating force in the human body. The chakras will eventually be recognized for their vital functions in the reproductive process, in the creative capacity, and in the recreative and regenerative power within every human being. These centers as agents of the Soul potentially provide us with every quality, energy, attribute, and force which is active or latent in the universe. The psycho-physical energy centers are constantly and progressively working to draw the deeper, subtler, and more expressive energies of creation into the human organism and into the human community.
The psycho-neuro-endocrine system is the symbol par excellence of the sevenfold nature of the universe. It makes possible the whole of the creative process within the human organism and within human society. And it is the living agency for the movement of energy and consciousness in our world.
"While, according to Western conceptions, the brain is the exclusive seat of consciousness, yogic experience shows that our brain-consciousness is only one among a number of possible forms of consciousness, and that these, according to their function and nature, can be localized or centered in various organs in the body." Lama Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism
The unity of the nervous and endocrine systems has been hypothesized and demonstrated for many years in the West as well as in the East. "Hence in the largest sense the autonomic nervous system and the various endocrine glands (merged through the hypothalamus) represent a single neuroendocrine system that has evolved to integrate and coordinate the metabolic activities of the organism." (Williams 'Textbook of Endocrinology) Yet, these systems remain separated in medical practice and specialization. This will assuredly be modified in the future.
The relatively new discipline of psycho-neuro-immunology has already begun to explore the connections between mind-emotions and neuro-endocrine functions, especially focusing on the thymus gland and white blood cell parameters. Dr. Pert's work (not discussed in this article) takes a further step in generalizing emotional energy throughout the body and theorizing mind-consciousness as an underlying foundation for the whole body. The next step will require a leap in courage and faith to include the psyche - the soul - in the quest for scientific and medical knowledge of the human organism.
Practically speaking, understanding of the psycho-neuro-endocrine system can help explain most any ailment. Paul Solomon has said that, "all disease processes and syndromes, not only are psychosomatic in their form . . . but also are symbolic of that process clinging to that which is obsolete for the nature and for the self."
Consideration of the body area of any condition, the systems and centers involved, the quality of energies focused in the illness, the relationships to past dis-ease and problems, and the symbolic nature of the challenge to health can create an opportunity for growth and healing and not just a struggle for recovery or survival.
(Seven Centers of Consciousness - After Arthur Avalon)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return to Whole Works Page
So friends! you will not have to buy medicines from outside. Your body is the biggest apothecary.
Regards
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
I am extremely glad to see your article on Dalai Lama's talk. Of course, the entry of meditation into neuroscience is not new; it will now be pursued more vigorously, and a kranti is a must.
Next, I would like to share the future of endocrinology too because so far we are up to EEG. Here is an article on the subject.
The Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine System
(Seven Endocrine Glands - After Ray Stanford)
The endocrine system stands at the heart of human opportunity and human dis-ease. This is the case because the major glands are the transmitting agents for social, emotional, mental, and spiritual forces that underlie the whole of our physical worlds.
This idea may seem a bit farfetched to the uninitiated, simply skeptical, or strictly scientific. Many such folks believe that human beings are just peculiar masses of protoplasm that are somewhat controlled by brain impulses and nervous system patterns.
But, there is growing evidence that we are really this and much more. Research is appearing which will eventually validate that, "The mind is not so much in the body, as the body is in the mind."
This saying has roots both in the Eastern Hindu tradition and among Western mystics, such as Meister Eckhardt. The aphorism suggests firstly that the mind is more than the brain (an obvious part of the body) and secondly that the body is a dense projection of a deeper energy field called the mind.
Dr. Candace Pert, a researcher at the National Institutes for Mental Health, says, "... it is possible now to conceive of mind and consciousness as an emanation of emotional information processing, and as such, mind and consciousness would appear to be independent of brain and body."
Social forces, emotions, thoughts, and spiritual energies stand hidden beyond, above, and within what we know to be the outer physical body and material world. These powers work through the physical and do not emanate from them. The reverse is actually the true case as the physical mechanism is an endpoint and not a beginning for anything.
Our health and our dis-ease are not simply due to physical allergens and microbes, accidents and mishaps, but to a host of forces that lie beyond yet within our material midst. There is rhyme and reason to the course of universal momentum and so to in our own lives on planet Earth.
The midway or meeting point for these invisible forces and the outer physical human form is the endocrine system, and, more specifically, the psycho-neuro-endocrine system. The concept of this system is really quite simple while the practical working out of it may be in the opposite direction.
Direct support for this view is now coming from the new medical discipline called psycho-neuro-immunology. Psycho-neuro-immunology springs from the earlier arena of psycho-somatic medicine and will eventually form the foundation of psycho-neuro-endocrinology.
The immune system backed by the nervous apparatus and the brain is receiving increasing emphasis in evaluation and treatment of disease. The following suggestions arise to help in the correlation of the components of a new psycho-physiological system:
1) The immune system is centered in the thymus gland located in the center of the chest cavity.
2) The thymus gland is one of seven major human endocrine glands.
3) All of the glands, through their hormones which are secreted directly into the bloodstream, have profound effects upon the physical body.
4) The glands are interconnected and interrelated through feedback mechanisms, the 'master' gland, and the nervous system.
5) The nervous apparatus and the endocrine glands actually make up one whole neuro-endocrine system.
6) The brain is the most important, but not the only nerve center, which influences the endocrine glands and the immune system and total health.
7) The brain and other nerve centers and the endocrine glands are dependent upon emotions, the mind and the soul through the whole of the psycho-neuro-endocrine system.
Reversing field, the psycho-neuro-endocrine system, composed of the Soul (psyche comes from the Greek word which means soul) and its agents - the chakras (Sanskrit for invisible vortices of consciousness) - works through the mental, emotional, and subtle bodies to manifest effects in brain and nerve centers, endocrine glands, organs and organ systems, body regions and parts towards illness or health. The following list approximates the relationships within the tracts which compose the chakra system:
This system, with the centers of consciousness as focal points, will be demonstrated to be the integrating, synthesizing, and animating force in the human body. The chakras will eventually be recognized for their vital functions in the reproductive process, in the creative capacity, and in the recreative and regenerative power within every human being. These centers as agents of the Soul potentially provide us with every quality, energy, attribute, and force which is active or latent in the universe. The psycho-physical energy centers are constantly and progressively working to draw the deeper, subtler, and more expressive energies of creation into the human organism and into the human community.
The psycho-neuro-endocrine system is the symbol par excellence of the sevenfold nature of the universe. It makes possible the whole of the creative process within the human organism and within human society. And it is the living agency for the movement of energy and consciousness in our world.
"While, according to Western conceptions, the brain is the exclusive seat of consciousness, yogic experience shows that our brain-consciousness is only one among a number of possible forms of consciousness, and that these, according to their function and nature, can be localized or centered in various organs in the body." Lama Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism
The unity of the nervous and endocrine systems has been hypothesized and demonstrated for many years in the West as well as in the East. "Hence in the largest sense the autonomic nervous system and the various endocrine glands (merged through the hypothalamus) represent a single neuroendocrine system that has evolved to integrate and coordinate the metabolic activities of the organism." (Williams 'Textbook of Endocrinology) Yet, these systems remain separated in medical practice and specialization. This will assuredly be modified in the future.
The relatively new discipline of psycho-neuro-immunology has already begun to explore the connections between mind-emotions and neuro-endocrine functions, especially focusing on the thymus gland and white blood cell parameters. Dr. Pert's work (not discussed in this article) takes a further step in generalizing emotional energy throughout the body and theorizing mind-consciousness as an underlying foundation for the whole body. The next step will require a leap in courage and faith to include the psyche - the soul - in the quest for scientific and medical knowledge of the human organism.
Practically speaking, understanding of the psycho-neuro-endocrine system can help explain most any ailment. Paul Solomon has said that, "all disease processes and syndromes, not only are psychosomatic in their form . . . but also are symbolic of that process clinging to that which is obsolete for the nature and for the self."
Consideration of the body area of any condition, the systems and centers involved, the quality of energies focused in the illness, the relationships to past dis-ease and problems, and the symbolic nature of the challenge to health can create an opportunity for growth and healing and not just a struggle for recovery or survival.
(Seven Centers of Consciousness - After Arthur Avalon)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return to Whole Works Page
So friends! you will not have to buy medicines from outside. Your body is the biggest apothecary.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Namaskar DrJi.
I have been pondering some thoughts with my close friends that we, as an entity, "may" have our eyes clouded from what is the actual truth concerning who we are and what we are. I remember during our history classes, we are always reminded that history is important because it tells us about our roots, our origins, and who we are. As I grew older, I began to see another line of thought: that history is relevant up to a certain era, and history beyond that is supposedly legends, myths, paganism, not history, just folklores, and children's tales. Now, having slightly more sense than when I was a teenager, I begin to see much more. Those supposedly legends, myths, folklores, stories are also our history, taking examples from the Akkadians, Egyptians, Sumerians, Incas lores. In fact, in some of these civilizations, it tells us more about who we are than even today's science can tell. From meditation, to martial arts, to astrology, to architecture, our ancestors have achieved more and understood more than we today. Industrialization as well as religion (in some ways) has somewhat blinded us to the truth, I feel (not a proper subject for this thread). I believe that we are going to see and discover many interesting and important things as science and technology progress. It is going to be an exciting new age, if the Shintoists are right. Of course, it was mentioned in Zacharia Stitchin's writing that we will be moving into a new age very soon.
I remember reading somewhere that in Shinto belief there is the world of spirituality that will give in to the world of materialism until an age where both will emerge. Could it be the same Age Zacharia is talking about? I think there may be some truth in this. We are actually seeing science researching and finding or already explaining things concerning spiritual (e.g., meditation), supernatural (e.g., energy healing), and much more.
In your explanation of the endocrine system, you have given me another piece of the life puzzle. I have been doing energy healing for a few months now. My instructor explains that what we are actually doing is to bring our hands to a higher resonance level, and when we touch the person, we help them entrain and bring their level up to match us. I am still trying to grasp all this, but a scientist friend who attended the same workshop told me that Dr. Edward (the instructor) was talking about quantum physics. Interesting. And DrJi, with your sharing on the endocrine system, it helps me understand a little more about our body. Thank you. And indeed, our body is a fully equipped apothecary.
This is a very interesting and informative thread for me. Thank you again DrJi.
Smiles and Peace
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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I have been pondering some thoughts with my close friends that we, as an entity, "may" have our eyes clouded from what is the actual truth concerning who we are and what we are. I remember during our history classes, we are always reminded that history is important because it tells us about our roots, our origins, and who we are. As I grew older, I began to see another line of thought: that history is relevant up to a certain era, and history beyond that is supposedly legends, myths, paganism, not history, just folklores, and children's tales. Now, having slightly more sense than when I was a teenager, I begin to see much more. Those supposedly legends, myths, folklores, stories are also our history, taking examples from the Akkadians, Egyptians, Sumerians, Incas lores. In fact, in some of these civilizations, it tells us more about who we are than even today's science can tell. From meditation, to martial arts, to astrology, to architecture, our ancestors have achieved more and understood more than we today. Industrialization as well as religion (in some ways) has somewhat blinded us to the truth, I feel (not a proper subject for this thread). I believe that we are going to see and discover many interesting and important things as science and technology progress. It is going to be an exciting new age, if the Shintoists are right. Of course, it was mentioned in Zacharia Stitchin's writing that we will be moving into a new age very soon.
I remember reading somewhere that in Shinto belief there is the world of spirituality that will give in to the world of materialism until an age where both will emerge. Could it be the same Age Zacharia is talking about? I think there may be some truth in this. We are actually seeing science researching and finding or already explaining things concerning spiritual (e.g., meditation), supernatural (e.g., energy healing), and much more.
In your explanation of the endocrine system, you have given me another piece of the life puzzle. I have been doing energy healing for a few months now. My instructor explains that what we are actually doing is to bring our hands to a higher resonance level, and when we touch the person, we help them entrain and bring their level up to match us. I am still trying to grasp all this, but a scientist friend who attended the same workshop told me that Dr. Edward (the instructor) was talking about quantum physics. Interesting. And DrJi, with your sharing on the endocrine system, it helps me understand a little more about our body. Thank you. And indeed, our body is a fully equipped apothecary.
This is a very interesting and informative thread for me. Thank you again DrJi.
Smiles and Peace
From Malaysia, Johor Bahru
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Namaskar Noel ji.
Your evolution of thought and practice really enchants me. In every source of knowledge, there are hoaxes. Yes, in science and medicine too. Every source of knowledge is being re-examined afresh. Only those knowledges will remain which will stand the test of time, and hoaxes will be screened out.
On the health front, a global health culture is emerging. Maybe by 2050, there will be no hospitals, and the items in the chemist shops will be completely replaced. We will have wellness education institutes in place of medical colleges. Fatty medical books will be replaced by petty books.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Your evolution of thought and practice really enchants me. In every source of knowledge, there are hoaxes. Yes, in science and medicine too. Every source of knowledge is being re-examined afresh. Only those knowledges will remain which will stand the test of time, and hoaxes will be screened out.
On the health front, a global health culture is emerging. Maybe by 2050, there will be no hospitals, and the items in the chemist shops will be completely replaced. We will have wellness education institutes in place of medical colleges. Fatty medical books will be replaced by petty books.
Regards
From India, Delhi
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Dear friends,
Namaskar.
You may like to go through the following article.
Meditation associated with increased grey matter in the brain
November 14, 2005
New Haven, Conn.-Meditation is known to alter resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes, but a new study by researchers from Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows meditation also is associated with increased cortical thickness.
The structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing, the researchers report in the November issue of NeuroReport.
Although the study included only 20 participants, all with extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation, the results are significant, said Jeremy Gray, assistant professor of psychology at Yale and co-author of the study led by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone’s grey matter,” Gray said. “The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don’t have to be a monk.”
Magnetic resonance imaging showed that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to sensory, auditory, visual and internal perception, such as heart rate or breathing. The researchers also found that regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.
“Most of the regions identified in this study were found in the right hemisphere,” the researchers said. “The right hemisphere is essential for sustaining attention, which is a central practice of Insight meditation.”
They said other forms of yoga and meditation likely have a similar impact on cortical structure, although each tradition would be expected to have a slightly different pattern of cortical thickening based on the specific mental exercises involved.
Yale University
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regards,
Jogeshwar
From India, Delhi
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Namaskar.
You may like to go through the following article.
Meditation associated with increased grey matter in the brain
November 14, 2005
New Haven, Conn.-Meditation is known to alter resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes, but a new study by researchers from Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows meditation also is associated with increased cortical thickness.
The structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing, the researchers report in the November issue of NeuroReport.
Although the study included only 20 participants, all with extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation, the results are significant, said Jeremy Gray, assistant professor of psychology at Yale and co-author of the study led by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone’s grey matter,” Gray said. “The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don’t have to be a monk.”
Magnetic resonance imaging showed that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to sensory, auditory, visual and internal perception, such as heart rate or breathing. The researchers also found that regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.
“Most of the regions identified in this study were found in the right hemisphere,” the researchers said. “The right hemisphere is essential for sustaining attention, which is a central practice of Insight meditation.”
They said other forms of yoga and meditation likely have a similar impact on cortical structure, although each tradition would be expected to have a slightly different pattern of cortical thickening based on the specific mental exercises involved.
Yale University
Print this page
E-mail this page to a friend
More articles about " meditation "
regards,
Jogeshwar
From India, Delhi
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