For millennia we have been told that meditation is a very special mystical practice that benefits body and mind, and that allows us to reach a unique state of union with God. Is meditation really a panacea, a solution to human problems? Keep reading.
Today's life is changing, surprising and dizzying. Every time we have less control over reality and this uncertainty confuses us, worries us and can make us sick. Terms such as neurosis, psychosis, depression, anxiety, anguish or stress, now make up the jargon, not medical, but common, public and everyday.
In the midst of this situation, logic dwarfs and loses meaning, traditional explanations contribute little to clarification, and we are left with two paths: Seek answers and peace in idols, teachers and external references, or seek as advised by ancient spiritual traditions, within one, in the private world, in the so-called "path of Being", where the promise of finding peace and greater awareness lies, which displaces fear, confusion and discomfort. The vehicle to reach that peaceful and luminous depth is meditation.
Meditation is often viewed in two ways. A more western one, which assumes it as a novelty, as a practical mechanism to achieve serenity and psychophysical health. Another more oriental, as an ancient and sacred discipline that allows us to awaken to new forms of reality, in which everything takes on a new meaning, and also enables access to a spiritual dimension in which, according to some, individual consciousness is unified. with the universal consciousness. It unites the individual with God. Fantastic? Let us see fragments of Udo Reiter's transcription of the mystical experience that Pandit Dopi Krisna, a well-known Indian yogi, lived during an episode of meditation, which he performed in Cahemira one Christmas morning in 1937.
He was sitting cross-legged, motionless and upright. Thoughts flowed without interruption as I focused my attention on a lotus flower. The intensity of concentration interrupted my breathing, which was calm and imperceptible. For seconds I lost contact with my own body and I had the impression that I was suspended in midair. Suddenly I felt a stream of fluid light roaring like a waterfall penetrating my spine and brain. The light grew brighter and brighter and the crash resonant like an earthquake. In that I noticed that I was escaping from my own body wrapped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe that experience in detail. I was no longer myselfbut an immeasurably large circle of consciousness in which the body was a point bathed in light in conditions of indescribable rapture and happiness. Then the circle began to narrow and I became smaller until I began to realize the limits of my own body and returned to the normal conscious existence of my body and the surrounding environment.
With these words, a meditator with 17 years of experience describes the transcendent experience lived in meditation. Others claim to have healed from old diseases and some witness a permanent change in their relationship with themselves and with the world. For the Indian mystic Sai Baba, he points out that without meditation it is not possible to rule the mind, while for Osho, meditation can replace the need for medication. Do not tell me that it is not enough to think about it and, more so, to live it.
In practical terms, there are various ways of meditating that include devotional chants, repetition of mantras (a word of special content, used to stimulate concentration) and dancing. The traditional way is to sit in a comfortable and quiet place, breathe slowly and deeply without doing anything else and without thinking. It can be started by concentrating on the flame of a candle, on your own breathing, or on some sound or noise in the environment, as long as you do not judge or interpret what you hear. Rather, those sounds are treated as if they weren't there.
The benefits of meditation are so many that it surprises most that something so simple can produce such powerful and abundant effects. Among its physical benefits are mentioned: reduction of stress and its derived psychosomatic reactions, strengthening of the immune system, delay of aging, recovery from bronchial asthma, reduction of heart conditions, and reduction and easier control of pain.
Meditating psychologically produces calm, mental clarity, and a sense of personality integration. It also favors the development of personal confidence; reduces worries; improves the ability to concentrate, memory, learning and creativity; increases tolerance and patience; reduces and sometimes eliminates addictive tendencies to cigarettes, coffee, alcohol and other substances; incorporates a more productive view of pleasure and fun, and promotes greater work performance. The mind is also unconditioned and automatisms and compulsions are broken.
Meditating is not visualizing. It is visualized inducing the mind towards a goal with mental images. You meditate by relaxing and reducing the flow of thoughts to the minimum possible. Visualization has a specific objective, meditation does not, since it is a method and an end in itself. You only want to experiment and each experience is different for each individual.
As we can see, meditation is a complex issue that connects with the physical, the psychological, the energetic and the spiritual, so it is recommended to research and learn to obtain a greater benefit from this powerful practice that for many is nothing less than a panacea., the sacred solution for the problems of the human being, that as Buddha once said, all and always emerge from our own mind. Thanks for reading me. www.laexcelencia.com
Recommended books: “Learn to meditate” by Louis Proto. "From Medication to Meditation" by Osho. "The mystical experience", by Maslow, Wats and others.
