In all the stress and craze over 9th week and the plethora of projects, papers, and other homework due, I decided to write this week about something we all can use to calm ourselves when on the edge of a nervous breakdown: meditation. I knew that meditation was common in Buddhism and I once participated in a Quaker service that consisted of mostly meditation, however it was not until doing some extended research that I realized what a trans-religious activity meditation is. Forms of meditation are used in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Taoism, Baha’i, and others. The general purpose of meditation is to put a person into a deeper state of awareness and relaxation. It can be used for contemplation on a specific spiritual idea or a means of achieving a different state of consciousness.
My own experience meditating is usually in a non-religious setting, such as for relaxation after yoga. In religious context, I once attended a Quaker ceremony. My brother went to a Quaker boarding school, and as part of his graduation ceremony, there was an hour long meditation. At first I was very annoyed to see that on the program, because it seemed very stupid and boring to me to have to s it in silence for an hour. However, once it started, I really began to see the value in it. In Quaker meditation, when someone feels that God has sent them a meaningful message, they are encouraged to break the silence and share it with the other worshipers. In the case of my brother’s graduation, the comments people made were mostly not religious, but simply in praise of the graduates and what that day meant to all the families there. Traditionally Quaker meditation is about listening to God, but I really enjoyed the meditation just as a chance to sit and listen to myself. When given the time to sit and meditate on our thoughts, many enlightening feelings and ideas come up.
This may be a little off topic, but I often wonder when I hear about people of religion talk about listening to God and what God tells them to do if it’s just a matter of where one is looking for spiritual guidance. While I use self-reflection and look to myself for answers, some people look to God. I understand the value in looking to God for this kind of guidance—when one is unsure of himself it’s a lot easier to follow someone else’s advice and trust in someone else. I do a fair amount of meditating now. Not yoga meditating or Buddhist mediating where I’m looking for an new state of being or even Christian meditating where I listen for advice from God. Even without religion, I find that mediation can be a spiritual experience, by which I mean, there is something very good for the soul in self-reflection. Our society is very busy and it is important to stop and sit and think every now and then—to think about something or nothing. It’s a nice when, when feeling bogged down by homework, to reconnect to other people or to the earth. It’s a way to reconnect with what’s real.
Meditation--infoplease.com
Meditation--wikipedia
I also wrote about meditation and using that as a spiritual experience. Nice job.
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