There are as many ways to meditate as there are to prepare an egg -- perhaps even more. I love all of them. Meditation is the way to the peace within you, and sometimes meditation can be the peace itself. Why is it important to cultivate your inner peace? It is as important as you are. Your every thought, action and creation ripples through existence with a power and influence that is beyond the comprehension of a human mind. Can the world become more peaceful and harmonious without the people who populate it also embodying these qualities? Something that I love about meditation is its ability to help me remember that I am powerful. We are all powerful, and yet through failures, false beliefs and tragedies, it's easy to forget. Meditation is just one way to connect, empower and embody with the power inherent in each of us.
There is a type of meditation that seems to span the scope of human existence, and it has many different names. It's commonly and nearly universally known as mantra meditation, although you may have heard of it in other contexts, belief systems and languages as rosary prayer, TM, konvoskini, japa, chanting, subhah, tzitzit, among many others. While there are significant differences between all of these practices, what they share is crucial, and the topic of many scientific studies done at Harvard University for over 30 years: repetition.
The charismatic and passionate Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi popularized his mantra practice, called TM, in the U.S. in the 1970s. Many people felt the profound peace and clarity his teachings and practice awakened in their lives. One scientist at Harvard University, Herbert Benson, Ph.D., became curious and decided to see if it was the repetition of the Mahirishi's mantra, with his blessing, that was the key, or if those who were under the influence of differing belief systems, or no belief system at all, could have benefits as well. He studied repetition and scientifically documented benefits in practitioners of repetitive prayer, words, Tibetan mantras and even song. In his findings, it didn't seem to make much of a difference what was repeated, as long as it was repeated for a length of time on a regular basis.
His findings have been conclusive, and his work at Harvard is ongoing. Repetition for 10-20 minutes leads the human being into a relaxation response, that is to say, out of stress, and into a state that is conducive to the healing of the body and mind. Regardless of the type of repetition practice you have, and regardless of the word or words you choose to repeat, these benefits are certain: lower blood pressure, pain relief, increased motivation and productivity, better decision making, improved sleep, less anxiety, lower stress hormones, ease of awakening, increased immunity and the prevention of stress-related illness.
TM, the inspiration for Benson's research, continues on, even after Maharishi's death in 2008. TM is heavily organized, and this group has conducted their own studies on Maharishi's branded form of mantra practice, with remarkable and extensive findings.
To learn more about mantra repetition meditation, watch my video about the basics of mantra repetition meditation. Also, enjoy my Skype conversations with friends who practice in various ways: japa with the guidance of Ammachi, parts 1 and 2, mantra with the guidance of Baba Hari Dass, parts 1, 2 and 3, Catholic rosary, Greek Orthodox konvoskini and yogic mantra. I am also including links to various organizations that offer personal assistance in starting a mantra practice, which, if you are drawn to this type of meditative practice, I highly recommend seeking.
Part 1 of my Skype chat with Aaron Kahn, mantra meditator for one year, and an artist living in Paris, France:
Part 1 of my Skype chat with Jeanine Orci, Psy. D., mantra meditator for more than 30 years, Skyping from Los Angeles:
Resources for more repetition/mantra meditation (just a few ideas to start with):
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What most people don't know is that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was sending groups of volunteers to Trouble Spots around the world to attempt to diffuse various situations. For example, a friend of my recounts the time he watched the buildings burn in Tehran from the roof of the hotel where his meditation group was staying during the fall of the Shah of Iran.
In the past 3 decades, the TM organization has focused on creating large, permanent groups in far more safe locations.
You can track the presence of the main group for the USA at this webpage: http://invincibleamerica.org/tallies/ The goal is to get 2000 people practicing together permanently.
The TM organization will pay people who already have learned the techniques as much as $800 per month to move to Fairfield, IA to participate in the twice-daily group meditation sessions.
You can track the presence of the main group for the entire world on this webpage: http://www.vedicpandits.org/
The near-term goal is to establish at least one permanent group of 8000 people to practice together in order to affect the entire world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO8HI884_zI
Since the 1970's, the TM organization has published research on the effects of group meditation on the surrounding communities where the group practice took place. More interestingly, many times, TM-founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi simply instructed groups of TM volunteers who were working full-time for the organization to go to some trouble spot somewhere in the world and meditate as a group in order to have a calming effect on the situation.
I recall one story by a participant in one such group, who recounts sitting on the roof of the hotel where his group was staying, watching the buildings burn in Tehran, as the Shah of Iran fell...
Over the past 2-3 decades, the focus has been on establishing permanent groups in rather more safe places, in order to affect entire countries, and hopefully, once the groups get large enough, the entire world.
For the USA, you can track the progress here: http://invincibleamerica.org/tallies/
The TM organization will pay up to $800 a month for people who are already trained in the techniques to move to the town and participate. The goal is to have at least 2000 people practicing in one place morning and evening, every day.
For the world, you can track the progress here: http://www.vedicpandits.org/
The near-term goal is least 8000 practicing morning and evening.
love this Olivia-
"There are as many ways to meditate as there are to prepare an egg -- perhaps even more. I love all of them. Meditation is the way to the peace within you, and sometimes meditation can be the peace itself."
Treasure yourself,
Ed
TM is designed to transcend the activity of meditation itself, as opposed to practices like the RR technique, designed to keep the mind engaged in the activity of meditation.
TM is just as secular and non-religious as Benson's technique; even more so in the sense that the process allows the mind to directly, effortlessly go beyond all dogma, theory and belief to experience pure consciousness. Benson's practice, per his instructions, is controlled focus, which keeps the mind active and engaged on the surface. research shows it is nowhere near as effective as transcending. Benson became rather irrelevant long ago. It's time to move on.
Meditation research is always progressing and it's important for proponents of meditation to appreciate the wide body research as it is and not as interpreted by a particular person or group to aggrandize a certain practice.
Researchers identify three major types of meditation. TM is not in the same methodological class as Benson's technique or any other known mantra practices. The research classifications are based on the type of cognitive processing involved and the EEG signature of the three categories: controlled focus, open monitoring, and automatic self-transcending.
When TM rose as a global cultural phenomenon, many scientists got interested in researching it. Benson was one of hundreds. He never published comparative, peer-reviewed studies with controls to determine if different meditation practices had different effects on brain waves, metabolic rate, rest levels or mind-body health. Many other scientists have. The current scientific paradigm identifies the three categories and acknowledges their well established differences. There's no general "relaxation response" elicited by the various practices, and levels of relaxation produced by Benson's technique are not as 'deep' as TM: http://meditationasheville.blogspot.com/2011/03/transcendental-meditation-technique-and.html
Because TM uses a mantra, some assume it's similar to other mantra practices. But how one uses a mantra makes a difference. With TM, mantra is not the object of meditation, it's used in a specialized way as a vehicle for transcending (experiencing pure consciousness)—what mantra one uses also matters: http://meditationasheville.blogspot.com/2010/12/is-tm-just-another-mantra-meditation.html
Benson doesn't even mention pure consciousness.
When you say, "Researchers identify three major types of meditation", I wonder if you can clarify which researchers you are speaking of? Thanks.
The term 'open monitoring' is used to describe general mindfulness type practices. The research by Cahn & Polich (2006) identifies the EEG signature of this type of meditation, which is primarily theta. Also, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661308000521 Some of the well known meditation researchers in this area are Rael Cahn, Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne, Richard J. Davidson.
Controlled focus meditation is also widely researched -- you can do a Google Scholar search on any of the three categories.
Of course, there are hundreds of studies on the automatic self-transcending technique of TM, most notably see the paper by Travis and DuBois (Cognitive Processing, 11:1, 2010) which gives a history and bibliography of research on the three categories.
Ken Wilbur also speaks of "open" and "closed" categories, but TM does not fit either description, which is why researchers have placed in the automatic self-transcending class.
Hope this helps.
Second, TM is not the same cognitive process as Benson's technique or the other mantra meditations you mention. TM engages the mind very differently, and the body of research shows that TM has a much broader range of effects on mind, body and behavior, compared to Benson's technique. The different practices engage the mind differently and have different effects on the brain: http://www.physorg.com/news198836667.html
Third, you say the "TM group" has conducted its own studies. There have been over 600 studies on TM, and the vast majority of these studies were not conducted by the TM organization or researchers associated with it. They were conducted at 250 independent institutions and medical schools worldwide, by more than 360 scientists. (See the bibliography at the first link above).
It's important for writers to know the current state of meditation research, because it is always advancing, and it has come a long way since Benson's early studies.
UNderstand: almost no researchers do meditation research unless they have some motivation beyond pure scientific curiosity. THere's very little grant money for meditation research, and it isn't a well-respected field by any means. The people who do research on Buddhist forms of meditation almost always have ties to Buddhism, even if they themselves claim they aren't Buddhists -the practice the techniques that they study and are often close friends and associates with religious leaders such as the Dali Lama. Its just the nature of such an esoteric research field that this is the case.
The practice and experience of the TM technique differs greatly from other "mantra meditations" and from "the relaxation response" protocol as do the benefits.
For one example, here is a chart from a published study looking at various techniques and their effect on anxiety. TM was found to be 2 to 4 times more effective in reducing anxiety than any technique ever studied. All other techniques were about equivalent to or less than placebo.
http://www.tm.org/images/meta_09_anxiety_full.jpg
The brain wave studies of Dr. Fred Travis are also very illuminating.
physiological correlates of pure consciousness found during TM practice:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7045911
Breath suspension during the transcendental meditation technique.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10512549
Pure consciousness: distinct phenomenological and physiological correlates of "consciousness itself".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9009807
Autonomic patterns during respiratory suspensions: possible markers of Transcendental Consciousness.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10487785
Autonomic and EEG patterns during eyes-closed rest and transcendental meditation (TM) practice: the basis for a neural model of TM practice.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19862565
A self-referential default brain state: patterns of coherence, power, and eLORETA sources during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation practice.
physiological correlates of the stabilization of pure consciousness outside of meditation in long-term TM meditators:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12406612
Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and contingent negative variation characterize the integration of transcendental and waking states.
http://www.tm.org/american-psychological-association
Abstract for the 2007 Conference of the American Psychological Association
Brain Integration Scale: Corroborating Language-based Instruments of Post-conventional Development
As per your Skype chat with Jeanine Orci, I found the bhajan sung by her bird (parakeet?) inspiring
I envisioned entangled branches silhouetted against a distant sky where this bright green-blue feathered friend alighted to sing to the unseen one.
Om shanti, shanti, shanti