Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Meditation ( Part 2)


Western context

Meditating in Madison Square Park, New York City
In the late 19th century, Theosophists adopted the word "meditation" to refer to various spiritual practices drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism and other Indian religions. Thus the English word "meditation" does not exclusively translate to any single term or concept, and can be used to translate words such as the Sanskrit dhāraṇā, dhyana, samadhi and bhavana.[citation needed]
Meditation may be for a religious purpose, but even before being brought to the West it was used in secular contexts.[citation needed] Beginning with the Theosophists meditation has been employed in the West by a number of religious and spiritual movements, such as Yoga, New Age and the New Thought movement.
Meditation techniques have also been used by Western theories of counseling and psychotherapy. Relaxation training works toward achieving mental and muscle relaxation to reduce daily stresses. Jacobson is credited with developing the initial progressive relaxation procedure. These techniques are used in conjunction with other behavioral techniques. Originally used with systematic desensitization, relaxation techniques are now used with other clinical problems. Meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback-induced relaxation are a few of the techniques used with relaxation training. One of the eight essential phases of EMDR (developed by Francine Shapiro), bringing adequate closure to the end of each session, also entails the use of relaxation techniques, including meditation. Multimodal therapy, a technically eclectic approach to behavioral therapy, also employs the use of meditation as a technique used in individual therapy.[141]
From the point of view of psychology and physiology, meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness.[142] Such altered states of consciousness may correspond to altered neuro-physiologic states.[143]

[edit]Meditation, religion, and drugs

Main articles: Entheogens and Religion and drugs
Many traditions in which meditation is practiced, such as Transcendental Meditation,[144] Buddhism,[145] Hinduism,[146] and other religions, advise members not to consume intoxicants, while others, such as the Rastafarian movements and Native American Church, view drugs as integral to their religious lifestyle.
The fifth of the five precepts of the Pancasila, the ethical code in the Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist traditions, states that adherents must not ingest, "intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness."
On the other hand, the ingestion of psychoactives has been a central feature in the rituals of many religions, in order to produce altered states of consciousness. In several traditional shamanistic ceremonies, drugs are used as agents of ritual. In the Rastafari movement, cannabis is believed to be a gift from Jah and a sacred herb to be used regularly, while alcohol is considered to debase man. Bob Marley meditated daily on his long hammock in a corridor-like room with wooden floor and shutters.[citation needed] Native Americans use peyote, as part of religious ceremony, continuing today.[147] In India, the soma drink has a long history of use alongside prayer and sacrifice, and is mentioned in the Vedas.
During the 1960s, both eastern meditation traditions and psychedelics, such as LSD, became popular in America, and it was suggested that LSD use and meditation were both means to the same spiritual/existential end.[148] Many practictioners of eastern traditions rejected this idea, including many who had tried LSD themselves. In The Master Game, Robert S de Ropp writes that the "door to full consciousness" can be glimpsed with the aid of substances, but to "pass beyond the door" requires yoga and meditation. Other authors, such as Rick Strassman, believe that the relationship between religious experiences reached by way of meditation and through the use of psychedelic drugs deserves further exploration.[149] Also see Psychedelic psychotherapy.

[edit]Physical postures

Main article: Meditative postures
For bodily positions applied during yoga, see Asana.
Various postures are taken up in meditation. Sitting, supine, and standing postures are used. Popular in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism are the full-lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, and kneeling positions. Meditation is sometimes done while walking, known as kinhin, or while doing a simple task mindfully, known as samu.

[edit]Scientific studies

Main article: Research on meditation
Meditation has been linked to a variety of health benefits. A study of college students by Oman et al. (2008) found that meditation may produce physiological benefits by changing neurological processes. This finding was supported by an expert panel at the National Institutes of Health. The practice of meditation has also been linked with various favourable outcomes that include: “effective functioning, including academic performance, concentration, perceptual sensitivity, reaction time, memory, self control, empathy, and self esteem.”(Oman et al., 2008, pg. 570) In their evaluation of the effects of two meditation-based programs they were able to conclude that meditating had stress reducing effects and cogitation, and also increased forgiveness. (Oman et al., 2008)
In a cross-sectional survey research design study lead by Li Chuan Chu (2009), Chu demonstrated that benefits to the psychological state of the participants in the study arose from practicing meditation. Meditation enhances overall psychological health and preserves a positive attitude towards stress. (Chu, 2009)
Mindfulness Meditation has now entered the health care domain because of evidence suggesting a positive correlation between the practice and emotional and physical health. Examples of such benefits include: reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, headaches, pain, elevated blood pressure, etc. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that those who meditated approximately half an hour per day during an eight week period reported that at the end of the period, they were better able to act in a state of awareness and observation. Respondents also said they felt non-judgmental. (Harvard’s Women’s Health Watch, 2011)
"Meditation as Medicine" (American Academy of Neurology) [150] cites scientific evidence from various studies which claim that meditation can increase attention span, sharpen focus, improve memory, and dull the perception of pain. The article lists as common types of meditation: Attention Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation, Passage Meditation and Benevolent Meditation.
Over 1,000 publications on meditation have appeared to date.[citation needed] Many of the early studies lack a theoretically unified perspective, often resulting in poor methodological quality,[151] as discussed above in the section Definition and scope.
A review of scientific studies identified relaxation, concentration, an altered state of awareness, a suspension of logical thought and the maintenance of a self-observing attitude as the behavioral components of meditation;[67] it is accompanied by a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body that alter metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain activation.[46][152] Meditation has been used in clinical settings as a method of stress and pain reduction. Meditation has also been studied specifically for its effects on stress.[153][154] Despite the large number of scientific publications on meditation, its measurable effect on brain activity is still not well understood.
In June, 2007 the United States National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine published an independent, peer-reviewed, meta-analysis of the state of research on meditation and health outcomes.[155] The report reviewed 813 studies in five broad categories of meditation: mantrameditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, T'ai chi and Qigong. The result was mixed. The report concluded that "firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. However, the results analyzed from methodologically stronger research include findings sufficiently favorable to emphasize the value of further research in this field."[155]:210 More rigor in future studies was called for.[155]:v
More recent research suggests that meditation may increase attention spans. A recent randomized study published in Psychological Science reported that practicing meditation led to doing better on a task related to sustained attention.[156]
A 2007 study by the U.S. government found that nearly 9.4% of U.S. adults (over 20 million) had practiced meditation within the past 12 months, up from 7.6% (more than 15 million people) in 2002.[157]
Since the 1960s, meditation has been the focus of increasing scientific research of uneven rigor and quality.[155] In over 1,000 published research studies, various methods of meditation have been linked to changes in metabolism, blood pressure, brain activation, and other bodily processes.[46][152] Meditation has been used in clinical settings as a method of stress and pain reduction.[44][158]
Meditation and intelligence
Recent investigations of mediation have linked it to increased intelligence through physical growth of the brain. Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and MIT conducted brain scans that reveal an increased thickness in the parts of the brain that deal with attention and sensory input processing. Using magnetic resonance imaging, they visualized variations in the thickness of the cerebral cortex of experienced Buddhist Insight meditation practitioners. The data show that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to somatosensory, auditory, visual and interoceptive processing. Further, regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex, leading to longer lasting executive functioning.[159]
Another study investigated the effects of Transcendental Meditation on Cattell’s Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) and Hick’s reaction time, which are both correlated with general intelligence. In the study 100 men and women who meditated showed significant improvement on the tests compared to the control group of non-meditators, which showed no improvement. The results indicated that participation in meditation results in improvements to intelligence.[160]
A study by Keith Wallace, David Johnson, and Paul Mills investigated the relationship between the paired H-reflex and the academic success of students practicing Transcendental Meditation. The paired H-reflex correlated significantly with GPA, but not with sat scores or any of three IQ measurements. The results suggest that meditation may be a useful indicator of academic achievement by "improving awareness and wakefullness".[161]
Self-discipline, a trait linked to the practice of meditation has also been linked to increases in IQ scores. In a behavioral delay-of-gratification task with 8th graders, self-discipline accounted for more than twice as much variance as IQ in final grades, high school selection, school attendance, hours spent doing homework, hours spent watching television and the hour of the day students began their homework. The effect of self-discipline on final grades stayed even when controlling for grades, achievement-test scores, and measured IQ.[162]

[edit]Popular culture

Main article: Meditation in popular culture
Various forms of meditation have been described in popular culture sources. In particular, science fiction stories such as Frank Herbert's Dune, Star Trek, Artemis Fowl, Star Wars, Maskman, Lost Horizon by James Hilton, and Stargate SG-1 have featured characters who practice one form of meditation or another. Meditation also appears as overt themes in novels such as Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ Lutz et. al; Slagter, HA; Dunne, JD; Davidson, RJ (2008). "Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation". Trends in cognitive sciences 12(4): 163–9. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.005. PMC 2693206. PMID 18329323.
  2. ^ Watts, Alan. "11 _10-4-1 Meditation." Eastern Wisdom: Zen in the West & Meditations. The Alan Watts Foundation. 2009. MP3 CD. @4:45
  3. ^ University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008, March 27). Compassion Meditation Changes The Brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326204236.htm
  4. ^ Gen. Lamrimpa (author); "Calming the Mind." Snow Lion Publications. 1995. Book on Buddhist methods for developing single pointed concentration.
  5. ^ Gen.Lamrimpa (author); "Calming the Mind." Snow Lion Publications. 1995. Includes basic instructions for analysis of reality.
  6. ^ a b c Feuerstein, Georg. "Yoga and Meditation (Dhyana)." Moksha Journal. Issue 1. 2006. ISSN 1051-127X, OCLC 21878732
  7. ^ There are many different types of activity commonly referred to as "meditation", at least dozens, or perhaps many more: For descriptions of some of the more prominent approaches, both eastern and western, see Goleman's (1988) Meditative Mind, ISBN 0-87477-833-6 and Shear's (2006)Experience of Meditation, ISBN 978-1-55778-857-3, both listed in this article's bibliography.
  8. ^ An universal etymological English dictionary 1773, London, by Nathan Bailey ISBN 1-00-237787-0. Note: from the 1773 edition on Google books, not earlier editions.[clarification needed]
  9. ^ Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 ISBN 0-8091-3660-0 page 88
  10. ^ The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 ISBN 0-8146-3176-2 page 115
  11. ^ http://viewonbuddhism.org/meditation_theory.html
  12. ^ The verb root "dhyai" is listed as referring to "contemplate, meditate on" and "dhyāna" is listed as referring to "meditation; religious contemplation" on page 134 of Macdonell, Arthur Anthony (1929 (1971 reprint)). A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation and etymological analysis throughout. London: Oxford University Press.
  13. ^ Mirahmadi, Sayyid Nurjan; Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani Naqshbandi, Muhammad Hisham Kabbani & Hedieh Mirahmadi (2005). The healing power of sufi meditation. Fenton, MI: Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order of America. ISBN 1-930409-26-5.
  14. ^ a b c d e Goleman, Daniel (1988). The meditative mind: The varieties of meditative experience. New York: Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-833-6.
  15. ^ Jonathan Shear, ed. (2006). The experience of meditation: Experts introduce the major traditions. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House. ISBN 978-1-55778-857-3.
  16. ^ Joel Stein (2003). "Just say Om". Time 162 (5): 48–56. In the print edition (pp. 54-55), the "Through the Ages" box describes "Christian Meditation", "Cabalistic (Jewish) Meditation", "Muslim Meditation", and others.
  17. ^ Jean L. Kristeller (2010). Ruth A. Baer & Kelly G. Wilson. ed. "Spiritual engagement as a mechanism of change in mindfulness- and acceptance-based therapies". Assessing mindfulness and acceptance processes in clients: Illuminating the theory and practice of change (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger): 152–184. ISBN 978-1-57224-694-2.. Page 161 states "In Christianity, the term 'contemplation' is parallel to the term 'meditation' as it has entered contemporary usage"
  18. ^ a b c A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response by George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 ISBN 0-306-46620-1 page 199
  19. ^ Joseph, M. 1998, The effect of strong religious beliefs on coping with stress Stress Medicine. Vol 14(4), Oct 1998, 219-224.[clarification needed]
  20. ^ Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace has argued that focused attention is a basis for the practice of mindfulness. He writes that "Truly effective meditation is impossible without focused attention... the cultivation of attentional stability has been a core element of the meditative traditions throughout the centuries" (p. xi) in Wallace, B. Alan (2006). The attention revolution: Unlocking the power of the focused mind. Boston: Wisdom.ISBN 0-86171-276-5.
  21. ^ Matt J. Rossano (2007). "Did meditating make us human?". Cambridge Archaeological Journal (Cambridge University Press) 17 (1): 47–58.doi:10.1017/S0959774307000054. This paper draws on various lines of evidence to argue that "Campfire rituals of focused attention createdBaldwinian selection for enhanced working memory among our Homo sapiens ancestors.... this emergence was [in part] caused by a fortuitous genetic mutation that enhanced working memory capacity [and] a Baldwinian process where genetic adaptation follows somatic adaptation was the mechanism for this emergence" (p. 47).
  22. ^ Hadot, Pierre; Arnold I. Davidson (1995) Philosophy as a way of life ISBN 0-631-18033-8 pages 83-84
  23. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: India and China by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0-941532-89-5 pages 15
  24. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: India and China by Heinrich DumIulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0-941532-89-5 pages 50
  25. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: Japan by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0-941532-90-9 page 5
  26. ^ Soto Zen in Medieval Japan by William Bodiford 2008 ISBN 0-8248-3303-1 page 39
  27. ^ The Cambridge History of Japan: Medieval Japan by Kōzō Yamamura, John Whitney Hall 1990 ISBN 0521223547646
  28. ^ a b Prayer: a history by Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski 2005 ISBN 0-618-15288-1 page 147-149
  29. ^ a b Global Encyclopaedia of Education by Rama Sankar Yadav & B.N. Mandal 2007 ISBN 978-81-8220-227-6 page 63
  30. ^ a b Spiritual Psychology by Akbar Husain 2006 ISBN 81-8220-095-4 page 109
  31. ^ An introduction to the Christian Orthodox churches by John Binns 2002 ISBN 0-521-66738-0 page 128
  32. ^ "Hesychasm". OrthodoxWiki. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  33. ^ "Mount Athos: History". Macedonian Heritage. Retrieved 12 May 2010.[dead link]
  34. ^ Christian Spirituality: A Historical Sketch by George Lane 2005 ISBN 0-8294-2081-9 page 20
  35. ^ Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 ISBN 0-8091-3660-0 page 38
  36. ^ The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 ISBN 0-8146-3176-2 page 109
  37. ^ After Augustine: the meditative reader and the text by Brian Stock 2001 ISBN 0-8122-3602-5 page 105
  38. ^ Abelson, Peter (April 1993) Schopenhauer and Buddhism. Philosophy East and West Volume 43, Number 2, pp. 255-278. University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved on: 12 April 2008.
  39. ^ Enlightenment and reform in 18th-century Europe by Derek Edward Dawson Beales 2005 ISBN 1-86064-949-1 page 13
  40. ^ Shakya, Tsering "Review of Prisoners of Shangri-la by Donald Lopez". online
  41. ^ A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response by George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 ISBN 0-306-46620-1 page 200
  42. ^ Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion by David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden, Stanton Marlan 2009 ISBN page 559
  43. ^ a b Murphy, Michael. "1". The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation: Scientific Studies of Contemplative Experience: An Overview.
  44. ^ a b A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress responseby George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 ISBN 0-306-46620-1 pages 201-202
  45. ^ a b Roger Walsh & Shauna L. Shapiro (2006). "The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue".American Psychologist (American Psychological Association) 61 (3): 227–239. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.227. ISSN 0003-066X.PMID 16594839.
  46. ^ a b c d B. Rael Cahn & John Polich (2006). "Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies". Psychological Bulletin (American Psychological Association) 132 (2): 180–211. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.180. ISSN 0033-2909. PMID 16536641.
  47. ^ a b R. Jevning, R. K. Wallace & M. Beidebach (1992). "The physiology of meditation: A review: A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response".Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 16 (3): 415–424. doi:10.1016/S0149-7634(05)80210-6. PMID 1528528.
  48. ^ Number of citations in PsycINFO: 69 for Walsh & Shapiro, 2006 (2 July 2010); 95 for Cahn & Polich, 2006 (2 July 2010); 57 for Jevning et al (1992) (3 July 2010); 103 for Goleman, 1988 (2 July 2010).
  49. ^ Claudio Naranjo (1972, originally published 1971), in: Naranjo and Orenstein, On the Psychology of Meditation. New York: Viking.
  50. ^ a b c d Kenneth Bond, Maria B. Ospina, Nicola Hooton, Liza Bialy, Donna M. Dryden, Nina Buscemi, David Shannahoff-Khalsa, Jeffrey Dusek & Linda E. Carlson (2009). "Defining a complex intervention: The development of demarcation criteria for "meditation"". Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (American Psychological Association) 1 (2): 129–137. doi:10.1037/a0015736. (a journal published by the American Psychological Association)
  51. ^ Mary Carroll (2005). "Divine therapy: Teaching reflective and meditative practices". Teaching Theology and Religion (Wiley) 8 (4): 232–238.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9647.2005.00249.x. ISSN 1467-9647.
  52. ^ a b Lutz, Dunne and Davidson, "Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction" in The Cambridge handbook of consciousness by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, 2007 ISBN 0-521-85743-0 page 499-551 (proof copy) (NB: pagination of published was 499-551 proof was 497-550).
  53. ^ a b "John Dunne's speech".
  54. ^ a b c d e Eugene Taylor (1999). Michael Murphy, Steven Donovan & Eugene Taylor. ed. "Introduction". The physical and psychological effects of meditation: A review of contemporary research with a comprehensive bibliography 1931-1996 (Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Sciences): 1–32.
  55. ^ Besides Lectio and Yoga, examples include Herbert Benson's (1975) Relaxation Response ISBN 0-380-00676-6, Jon Kabat-Zinn's (1990) Full Catastrophe Living ISBN 0-385-29897-8, and Eknath Easwaran's (1978) Passage Meditation ISBN 978-1-58638-026-7
  56. ^ This does not mean that all meditation seeks to take a person beyond all thought processes, only those processes that are sometimes referred to as "discursive" or "logical" (see Shapiro, 1982/1984; Bond, Ospina, et al, 2009; Appendix B, pp. 279-282 in Ospina, Bond, et al, 2007).
  57. ^ An influential definition by Shapiro (1982; republished 1984, 2008) states that "meditation refers to a family of techniques which have in common a conscious attempt to focus attention in a nonanalytical way and an attempt not to dwell on discursive, ruminating thought" (p. 6, italics in original); the term "discursive thought" has long been used in Western philosophy, and is often viewed as a synonym to logical thought (Rappe, Sara (2000). Reading neoplatonism : Non-discursive thinking in the texts of plotinus, proclus, and damascius. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65158-5.).
  58. ^ Bond, Ospina et al (2009) -- see fuller discussion elsewhere on this page -- report that 7 expert scholars who had studied different traditions of meditation agreed that an "essential" component of meditation "Involves logic relaxation: not 'to intend' to analyze the possible psychophysical effects, not 'to intend' to judge the possible results, not 'to intend' to create any type of expectation regarding the process" (p. 134, Table 4). In their final consideration, all 7 experts regarded this feature as an "essential" component of meditation; none of them regarded it as merely "important but not essential" (p. 234, Table 4). (This same result is presented in Table B1 in Ospina, Bond, et al, 2007, p. 281)
  59. ^ Robert Ornstein (1972, originally published 1971), in: Naranjo and Orenstein, On the Psychology of Meditation. New York: Viking. LCCN 76149720
  60. ^ "members were chosen on the basis of their publication record of research on the therapeutic use of meditation, their knowledge of and training in traditional or clinically developed meditation techniques, and their affiliation with universities and research centers.. Each member had specific expertise and training in at least one of the following meditation practices: kundalini yoga, Transcendental Meditation, relaxation response,mindfulness-based stress reduction, and vipassana meditation" (Bond, Ospina et al, 2009, p. 131); their views were combined using the "TheDelphi technique... a method of eliciting and refining group judgments to address complex problems with a high level of uncertainty" (p. 131).
  61. ^ The full quotation from Bond, Ospina et al (2009, p. 135) reads: "It is plausible that meditation is best thought of as a natural category of techniques best captured by 'family resemblances' (Wittgenstein, 1968) or by the related prototype model of concepts (Rosch, 1973; Rosch & Mervin, 1975)."
  62. ^ Lutz, A., Slagter, H. Dunne, J. and Davidson, R. (8 March 2010). Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. "The term ‘meditation’ refers to a broad variety of practices...In order to narrow the explanandum to a more tractable scope, this article uses Buddhist contemplative techniques and their clinical secular derivatives as a paradigmatic framework (see e.g., 9,10 or 7,9 for reviews including other types of techniques, such as Yoga and Transcendental Meditation). Among the wide range of practices within the Buddhist tradition, we will further narrow this review to two common styles of meditation, FA and OM (see box 1–box 2), that are often combined, whether in a single session or over the course of practitioner’s training. These styles are found with some variation in several meditation traditions, including Zen, Vipassanā and Tibetan Buddhism (e.g. 7,15,16)....The first style, FA meditation, entails voluntary focusing attention on a chosen object in a sustained fashion. The second style, OM meditation, involves non-reactively monitoring the content of experience from moment to moment, primarily as a means to recognize the nature of emotional and cognitive patterns"
  63. ^ The full quote from Bond, Ospina et al (2009, p. 130) reads: "The differences and similarities among these techniques is often explained in the Western meditation literature in terms of the direction of mental attention (Koshikawa & Ichii, 1996; Naranjo, 1971; Orenstein, 1971): A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object (so-called concentrative mediation), on all mental events that enter the field of awareness (so-calledmindfulness meditation), or both specific focal points and the field of awareness (Orenstein, 1971)."
  64. ^ Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation by Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson online athttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693206/
  65. ^ a b Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne & Richard J. Davidson (2008). "Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation". Trends in Cognitive Sciences 12 (4): 163–169. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.005. PMC 2693206. PMID 18329323.
  66. ^ a b Fred Travis & Jonathan Shear (2010). "Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions". Consciousness and Cognition 19 (4): 1110–8. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007.PMID 20167507.
  67. ^ a b c Perez-De-Albeniz, Alberto; Jeremy Holmes (March 2000). "Meditation: concepts, effects and uses in therapy". International Journal of Psychotherapy 5 (1): 49–59. doi:10.1080/13569080050020263. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  68. ^ Dietrich Lehmann, P. L. Faber, Peter Achermann, Daniel Jeanmonod, Lorena R. R. Gianotti & Diego Pizzagalli (2001). "Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self". Psychiatry Research 108(2): 111–121. doi:10.1016/S0925-4927(01)00116-0. PMID 11738545.
  69. ^ a b "Prayer, Meditation, and Fasting". Bahá'í International Community. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  70. ^ a b c d Smith, Peter (2000). "Meditation". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 243–44. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  71. ^ Smith, Peter (2000). "Prayer". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 274. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  72. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1983). Hornby, Helen (Ed.). ed. Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, New Delhi, India. p. 506.ISBN 81-85091-46-3.
  73. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1973). Directives from the Guardian. Hawaii Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 28.
  74. ^ For instance, Kamalashila (2003), p. 4, states that Buddhist meditation "includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as itsultimate aim." Likewise, Bodhi (1999) writes: "To arrive at the experiential realization of the truths it is necessary to take up the practice of meditation.... At the climax of such contemplation the mental eye ... shifts its focus to the unconditioned state, Nibbana...." A similar although in some ways slightly broader definition is provided by Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 142: "Meditation – general term for a multitude of religious practices, often quite different in method, but all having the same goal: to bring the consciousness of the practitioner to a state in which he can come to an experience of 'awakening,' 'liberation,' 'enlightenment.'" Kamalashila (2003) further allows that some Buddhist meditations are "of a more preparatory nature" (p. 4).
  75. ^ The Pāli and Sanskrit word bhāvanā literally means "development" as in "mental development." For the association of this term with "meditation," see Epstein (1995), p. 105; and, Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 20. As an example from a well-known discourse of the Pali Canon, in "The Greater Exhortation to Rahula" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62), Ven. Sariputta tells Ven. Rahula (in Pali, based on VRI, n.d.):ānāpānassatiṃ, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvehi. Thanissaro (2006) translates this as: "Rahula, develop the meditation [bhāvana] of mindfulness of in-&-out breathing." (Square-bracketed Pali word included based on Thanissaro, 2006, end note.)
  76. ^ See, for example, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), entry for "jhāna1"; Thanissaro (1997); as well as, Kapleau (1989), p. 385, for the derivation of the word "zen" from Sanskrit "dhyāna." PTS Secretary Dr. Rupert Gethin, in describing the activities of wandering asceticscontemporaneous with the Buddha, wrote:
    "...[T]here is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technical term in English, be referred to as 'altered states of consciousness'. In the technical vocabulary of Indian religious texts such states come to be termed 'meditations' ([Skt.:] dhyāna / [Pali:] jhāna) or 'concentrations' (samādhi); the attainment of such states of consciousness was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper knowledge and experience of the nature of the world." (Gethin, 1998, p. 10.)
  77. ^ Goldstein (2003) writes that, in regard to the Satipatthana Sutta, "there are more than fifty different practices outlined in this Sutta. The meditations that derive from these foundations of mindfulness are called vipassana..., and in one form or another — and by whatever name — are found in all the major Buddhist traditions" (p. 92). The forty concentrative meditation subjects refer to Visuddhimagga's oft-referenced enumeration. Regarding Tibetan visualizations, Kamalashila (2003), writes: "The Tara meditation ... is one example out of thousands of subjects for visualization meditation, each one arising out of some meditator's visionary experience of enlightened qualities, seen in the form of Buddhas andBodhisattvas" (p. 227).
  78. ^ Examples of contemporary school-specific "classics" include, from the Theravada tradition, Nyanaponika (1996) and, from the Zen tradition, Kapleau (1989).
  79. ^ These definitions of samatha and vipassana are based on the "Four Kinds of Persons Sutta" (AN 4.94). This article's text is primarily based on Bodhi (2005), pp. 269-70, 440 n. 13. See also Thanissaro (1998d).
  80. ^ See, for instance, AN 2.30 in Bodhi (2005), pp. 267-68, and Thanissaro (1998e).
  81. ^ The Rosary: A Path Into Prayer by Liz Kelly 2004 ISBN 0-8294-2024-X pages 79 and 86
  82. ^ Christian Meditation for Beginners by Thomas Zanzig, Marilyn Kielbasa 2000, ISBN 0-88489-361-8 page 7
  83. ^ An introduction to Christian spirituality by F. Antonisamy, 2000 ISBN 81-7109-429-5 pages 76-77
  84. ^ Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney, 1979 ISBN 1-57383-227-8 page 12
  85. ^ Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney, 1979 ISBN 1-57383-227-8 pages 12-13
  86. ^ The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3 by Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley 2003 ISBN 90-04-12654-6 page 488
  87. ^ EWTN: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Letter on certain aspects of Christian meditation (in English), October 15, 1989
  88. ^ Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 New Age Beliefs Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds
  89. ^ BBC Feb 4, 2003 Vatican sounds New Age alert
  90. ^ Vatican website
  91. ^ Simple Ways to Pray by Emilie Griffin 2005 ISBN 0-7425-5084-2 page 134
  92. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 51. The earliest reference is actually in the Mokshadharma, which dates to the early Buddhist period.
  93. ^ The Katha Upanishad describes yoga, including mediation. On meditation in this and other post-Buddhist Hindu literature see Randall Collins, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Harvard University Press, 2000, page 199.
  94. ^ a b Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
  95. ^ "Swami Vivekananda. Complete Works Vol 4".
  96. ^ Sainthood and revelatory discourse by David Emmanuel Singh 2003 ISBN 81-7214-728-7 page 154
  97. ^ Dwivedi, Kedar Nath. Review:Freedom from Self, Sufism, Meditation and Psychotherapy. Group Analysis, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 434-436, December 1989
  98. ^ Khalifa, Rashad (2001). Quran: The Final Testament. Universal Unity. pp. 536. ISBN 1-881893-05-7.
  99. ^ "01.01 Traditions of shramanas". Bhagwan Mahavira. JVB, Ladnun, India. 1995. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  100. ^ "1 History and Tradition". Introduction to Jainism. JVB, Ladnun, India. 2007.
  101. ^ "04.04 accomplishment of sadhana". Bhagwan Mahavira. JVB, Ladnun, India. 1995. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  102. ^ Ahimsa — The Science Of Peace: by Surendra Bothra 1987
  103. ^ "Achraya Bhadrabahu Swami". Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  104. ^ Jain Yoga by Acharya Mahapragya 2004
  105. ^ "Foreword". Jain Yog. Aadarsh Saahitya Sangh. 2004.
  106. ^ "blessings". Sambodhi. Aadarsh Saahitya Sangh. 2004.
  107. ^ a b "07 Yoga and Meditation (2)". Introduction To Jainism. Prakrit Bharti Academy, jaipur, India. 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  108. ^ "07 Yoga and Meditation (2)". Introduction To Jainism. Prakrit Bharti Academy, jaipur, India. 2006. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  109. ^ Preksha Dhyana: Yogic Exercises. Jain Vishva Bharati. 2007. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  110. ^ "Preksha Meditation". Preksha International. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  111. ^ The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 ISBN 978-1-56821-522-8 page 1
  112. ^ Jacobs, L. (1976) Jewish Mystical Testimonies, Jerusalem, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd.
  113. ^ Kaplan, A. (1978) Meditation and the Bible, Maine, Samuel Weiser Inc, p 101.
  114. ^ The history and varieties of Jewish meditation by Mark Verman 1997 ISBN 978-1-56821-522-8 page 45
  115. ^ Kaplan, A. (1982) Meditation and Kabbalah, Maine, Samuel Weiser, Inc.
  116. ^ Matt, D.C. (1996) The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, San Francisco, HarperCollins.
  117. ^ Scholem, G. G. (1988) Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York, Schocken Books, pp 244-286
  118. ^ Kaplan, A. (1985) Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, New York Schocken Books.
  119. ^ Kaplan, A. (1978) op cit p2
  120. ^ Kaplan, (1982) op cit, p13
  121. ^ Time Magazine, Youth: The Hippies Friday, Jul. 07, 1967
  122. ^ Barnia, George (1996). religioustolerance.org The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators. Dallas TX: Word Publishing.
  123. ^ Harper, Donald; Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (1999/2007). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC.. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. pp. 880. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
  124. ^ Mair, Victor H., tr. (1994), Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu, Bantam Books, p. 64.
  125. ^ a b Mysteries of the Rosary by Stephen J. Binz 2005 ISBN 1-58595-519-1 page 3
  126. ^ a b The everything Buddhism book by Jacky Sach 2003 ISBN 978-1-58062-884-6 page 175
  127. ^ For a general overview see Beads of Faith: Pathways to Meditation and Spirituality Using Rosaries, Prayer Beads, and Sacred Words by Gray Henry, Susannah Marriott 2008 ISBN 1-887752-95-1
  128. ^ a b Meditation and Mantras by Vishnu Devananda 1999 ISBN 81-208-1615-3 pages 82-83
  129. ^ "Meditation: An Introduction". NCCAM.
  130. ^ Herbert Benson, Miriam Z. Klipper. The Relaxation Response. William Morrow Paperbacks, Exp Upd edition (February 8, 2000). ISBN 0-517-09132-1. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  131. ^ "The Healing History of EEG Biofeedback". Eagle Life Communications. Retrieved March 2007.
  132. ^ "In the last 20 years, mindfulness has become the focus of considerable attention for a large community of clinicians and, to a lesser extent, empirical psychology." - Mindfulness: A Proposed Operation Definition
  133. ^ Jon Kabat-Zinn, Elizabeth Wheeler, Timothy Light, Anne Skillings, Mark J. Scharf, Thomas G. Cropley, David Hosmer & Jeffrey D. Bernhard (1998). "Influence of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention on rates of skin clearing in patients with moderate to severepsoriasis undergoing phototherapy (uvb) and photochemotherapy (puva)". Psychosomatic Medicine 60 (5): 625–632. ISSN 0033-3174.PMID 9773769.
  134. ^ Kabat-Zinn gives the body scan and food meditations in "Mindfulness for Beginners" the 2CD set, and Matthieu Ricard gives the letting thoughts arise and pass away in his 2CD set "Happiness: A Guide to Cultivating Life's Most Important Skill"
  135. ^ "Jon Kabat-Zinn gives a Google Tech Talk about introductory mindfulness practice online". YouTube.
  136. ^ see Progressive muscle relaxation from where these two references were taken showing that this method reduces extreme anxiety, 1) Craske & Barlow (2006). Worry. Oxford University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-19-530001-7 and 2) Chen WC; Chu H; Lu RB; Chou YH; Chen CH; Chang YC; O'Brien AP; Chou KR. (Aug 2009). "Efficacy of progressive muscle relaxation training in reducing anxiety in patients with acute schizophrenia". Journal of Clinical Nursing 18 (15): 2187–96. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02773.x. PMID 19583651.
  137. ^ Gustave Reininger, ed. (1997). Centering prayer in daily life and ministry. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1041-2.
  138. ^ The organization Contemplative Outreach, which teaches Christian Centering Prayer, has chapters in non-Western locations in Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea (accessed 5 July 2010)
  139. ^ Keating, Thomas (1986/1997). Open mind, open heart. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-0696-3.
  140. ^ Taylor (1999, p. 7) stated that "the increased Soviet influence in India, the Cultural Revolution in China, the Communist Chinese takeover of Tibet and Mongolia, and the increased political influence of Chinese Communism in Korea and Southeast Asia were key forces that collectively set the stage for an influx of Asian spiritual teachers to the West. An entirely new generation of them appeared on the American scene and they found a willing audience of devotees within the American counter-culture. Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Swami Satchitananda, Guru Maharaji, Kerpal Singh, Nayanaponika Thera, Swami Rama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chogyam Trungpa, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Swami Muktananda, Sri Bagwan Rujneesh, Pir Viliyat Kahn, and the Karmapa were but a few of the names that found followers in the United States... [and] the most well known and influential... today remains Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989."
  141. ^ Corey, G. (March 2000). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (6th ed.).. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.. pp. 550.ISBN 0-534-34823-8.
  142. ^ Deane Shapiro "Towards an empirical understanding of meditation as an altered state of consciousness" in Meditation, classic and contemporary perspectives by Deane H. Shapiro, Roger N. Walsh 1984 ISBN 0-202-25136-5 page 13
  143. ^ New developments in consciousness research by Vincent W. Fallio 2006 ISBN 1-60021-247-6 page 151
  144. ^ Denise Denniston and Peter McWilliams, The TM Book: How to Enjoy the Rest of Your Life, pp. 179-180, Three Rivers Press, ISBN 0-8431-0520-8
  145. ^ O'Brien, Barbara. "The Buddhist Precepts. An Introduction". buddhism.about.com.
  146. ^ Weil, Andrew (1998). The natural mind: an investigation of drugs and the higher consciousness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 68–69. ISBN 0-395-91156-7, 9780395911563.
  147. ^ "PUBLIC LAW 103-344 [H.R. 4230; October 6, 1994"]. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  148. ^ "A Zen Life" a documentary film about the life of D.T. Suzuki
  149. ^ Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, ISBN 0-89281-927-8
  150. ^ "Meditation as Medicine", Amy Paturel M.S., M.P.H, online athttp://journals.lww.com/neurologynow/Fulltext/2012/08040/Meditation_as_Medicine.9.aspx
  151. ^ Lutz, Dunne and Davidson, "Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction" in The Cambridge handbook of consciousness by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, 2007 ISBN 0-521-85743-0 pages 498-499
  152. ^ a b A. B. Newberg & J. Iversen (2003). "The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: Neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations". Medical Hypotheses (Elsevier) 61 (2): 282–291. doi:10.1016/S0306-9877(03)00175-0. ISSN 0306-9877. PMID 12888320.
  153. ^ Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Lipworth L, Burney R. (1985). "The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain". Journal of Behavioral Medicine 8 (2): 163–190. doi:10.1007/BF00845519. PMID 3897551.
  154. ^ Davidson, Richard J.; Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Schumacher, Jessica; Rosenkrantz, Melissa; Muller, Daniel; Santorelli, Saki F.; Urbanowski, Ferris; Harrington, Anne; Bonus, Katherine; Sheridan, John F. (2003 July–August). "Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation". Psychosomatic Medicine 65 (4): 564–570. doi:10.1097/01.PSY.0000077505.67574.E3. PMID 12883106.
  155. ^ a b c d Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M, et al. (June 2007). "Meditation practices for health: state of the research" (pdf). Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) (155): 1–263. PMID 17764203.
  156. ^ Katherine A. MacLean, Emilio Ferrer, Stephen R. Aichele, David A. Bridwell, Anthony P. Zanesco, Tonya L. Jacobs, Brandon G. King, Erika L. Rosenberg, Baljinder K. Sahdra, Phillip R. Shaver, Alan Wallace, George R. Mangun & Clifford D. Saron (2010). "Intensive Meditation Training Improves Perceptual Discrimination and Sustained Attention". Psychological Science 21 (6): 829–839. doi:10.1177/0956797610371339.ISSN 0956-7976. PMC 3132583. PMID 20483826. "Our findings suggest that training-related improvements in perception can decrease resource demands and thus improve vigilance" (p. 836). Study participants in the meditation condition practiced 5 hours per day over 3 months.
  157. ^ "NCAAM, Meditation: An Introduction "Uses of Meditation for Health in the United States". nccam.nih.gov. A 2007 national Government survey that asked about CAM use in a sample of 23,393 U.S. adults found that 9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months—compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002. The 2007 survey also asked about CAM use in a sample of 9,417 children; 1 percent (representing 725,000 children) had used meditation in the past 12 months."
  158. ^ Wilkinson, G. Understanding Stress, Poole, Family Doctor Publications in association with British Medical Association, p111.
  159. ^ Cranson, Robert W., et al. "Transcendental Meditation and improved performance on intelligence-related measures: a longitudinal study." Personality and Individual Differences 12.10 (1991): 1105-1116.
  160. ^ MICHAEL, C. DILLBECK, et al. "LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAM ON COGNITIVEABILITY AND COGNITIVE STYLE." Perceptual and Motor Skills 62.3 (1986): 731-738.
  161. ^ Wallace, R. Keith, et al. "Academic achievement and the paired Hoffman reflex in students practicing meditation." International Journal of Neuroscience 24.3-4 (1984): 261-266.
  162. ^ Duckworth, Angela L., and Martin EP Seligman. "Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents." Psychological Science 16.12 (2005): 939-944.

 


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