Meditation

Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the mind and/or induces a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit,[1] although it can be argued that meditation is a goal in and of itself.[2] The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports), which range from techniques designed to promote relaxation, contacting spiritual guides, building internal energy (chi, ki, prana, etc.), receiving psychic visions, getting closer to God, seeing past lives, taking astral journeys, and so forth, to more technical exercises targeted at developing compassion,[3] love, patience, generosity, forgiveness and more far-reaching goals such as effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration,[4] single-pointed analysis,[5] and an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any and all of life's activities. Thus, it is essential to be specific about the type of meditation practice under investigation. Failure to make such distinctions would be akin to the use of the word 'sport' to refer to all sports as if they were essentially the same. For example, the overly generic description of meditation as a mere relaxation technique becomes problematic when one attends to the details of many practices. In contrast, we should think about the term "Meditation" as referring to several neighborhoods of New Age practices, shamanistic lucid dreaming and astral journeying, theistic-concentration meditations (clinging to god, Gnosis), contemplation, visualization, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, chakra clearing, kundalini, breathing exercises, training of single-pointed attention, training in mindfulness, training in single-pointed analysis, vision questing, chi building exercises, and so on, developed for various ends."[6][7] Meditation often involves an internal effort to self-regulate the mind in some way. It may be done sitting, or in an active way, for instance Buddhist monks involve awareness in their day-to-day activities as a form of mind-training. Prayer beads or other ritual objects are commonly used during meditation in order to keep track of or remind the practitioner about some aspect of the training. Meditation may involve generating an emotional state for the purpose of analyzing that state such as anger, hatred, etc. or cultivating particular mental response to various phenomena, such as compassion. The term "meditation" can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state.[8] In brief, there are dozens of specific styles of meditation practice;[7] the word meditation may carry different meanings in different

contexts. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity as a component of numerous religious traditions and beliefs

What happens when you meditate? The Transcendental Meditation technique allows your mind to settle inward beyond thought to experience the source of thought pure awareness, also known as transcendental consciousness. This is the most silent and peaceful level of consciousness your innermost Self. In this state of restful alertness, your brain functions with significantly greater coherence and your body gains deep rest. How many people practice the TM technique? More than five million people worldwide have learned this simple, natural technique people of all ages, cultures, and religions. How much scientific research has been done on the TM technique? Over 600 research studies have been conducted at more than 200 universities and research centers (including Harvard, UCLA, and Stanford). These studies have been published in more than 100 journals Where did the TM technique come from? The Transcendental Meditation technique is based on the ancient Vedic tradition of enlightenment in India. This knowledge has been handed down by Vedic masters from generation to generation for thousands of years. About 50 years ago, Maharishi the representative in our age of the Vedic tradition introduced Transcendental Meditation to the world, restoring the knowledge and experience of higher states of consciousness at this critical time for humanity. When we teach the Transcendental Meditation technique today, we maintain the same procedures used by teachers thousands of years ago for maximum effectiveness.