Meditation in the Religious World

1816 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: 123 essays abouut mediation

Imagine the ability for one to manipulate the body, impacting physical healing or stress management by just using the mind with the power of thought and great focus. Meditation is the practice of quiet reflection, visualization, or worship. It consists of systematic thinking, or focus, on a specific topic. Types of meditation include religious prayer, Chinese Tai Chi, Hindu yoga, or overall mindfulness. Throughout history, meditation has been practiced by people of various religions in the world. Being mindful can help people cope with change and uncertainty, becoming more comfortable with the unknown, and avoid rigid, scattered thinking (Hall 16). Scientific studies have proven meditation is beneficial to the human body causing happier, healthier people who are less stressed and more attentive; thus using any of these various types of meditation is an effective way to improve quality of life, reduce stress, influence mood, boost healing, and even physically modify the size of structures in the brain.
Meditation encompasses a range of methods. Christians meditate by using prayer to reflect on themselves, theology, and other daily life topics by visualizing mental images that empathize with God or other biblical figures and topics. Indian cultures developed the practice of Buddhism, constantly seeking good karma, inner peace, and total enlightenment. Buddhists strive to achieve ultimate purification and lead a good life. The practice of yoga, which stemmed from the Buddhist religion, has been used as a method of stress reduction, weight loss, and healing. It is believed by many that envisioning peace and healing during yoga, combined with deep focused breathing and flowing movements, meditation is beneficial to the human body. Chin...

... middle of paper ...

..., Jon E. Seskevich, and Carl F. Pieper. “Brief Meditation Training Can Improve Perceived Stress And Negative Mood." Alternative Therapies In Health & Medicine 13.1 (2007): 38-44.Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Lengacher, Cecile, et al. "Mindfulness based stress reduction in post-treatment breast bancer patients: an examination of symptoms and symptom clusters." Journal Of Behavioral Medicine 35.1 (2012): 86-94. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Oswal, Pragati, et al. "The Effect Of Add-On Yogic Prana Energization Technique (YPET) On Healing Of Fresh Fractures: A Randomized Control Study." Journal Of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 17.3 (2011): 253-258. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Wei, Gao-Xia, et al. "Can Taichi Reshape The Brain? A Brain Morphometry Study." Plos ONE 8.4 (2013): 1-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • The Benefits of T'ai Chi

    3696 Words  | 8 Pages

    Jin, P. (1992). Efficacy of Tai Chi, brisk walking, meditation, and reading in reducing mental and emotional stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 36, 361-369.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Christian Meditation

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Meditation helps Christians pull closer to God by forming Holy images and words. Researchers, (Klinger, Kosslyn, Neisser & Zenon, 1981) have found that if you experience something mentally, it is similar to actually experiencing that mental image in real life. Imagery and physical visions have the same physiological mechanism. In meditation, you are in control of your own thinking; God isn’t controlling it; this is them thinking to themselves, purposely producing images or thoughts to form in their mind (Shepard & Finke 1980). This is the original way that is encouraged by most Christian spiritualists. The meditator will reach a point where they turn over their thinking to God and He creates the images and words for them. This is communication from God, and it moves them from the state of meditation to the state of contemplation. Contemplation means to see God or to have the Vision of God in their mind (Palamas, 2005). With ...

    Read More

  • Suffering In Buddhism In Stephen Prothero's God Is Not One

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, meditation is not as common within Buddhism as most believe. There is a large assumption “that Buddhism and meditation go hand in hand”, but the majority of Buddhists have focused on “cultivating moral behavior, preserving the Buddha’s teachings (dharma), and acquiring good karma”(Braun 2014, p.1). Meditation and Buddhism are often assumed to be one and same, but this is also not true. As Buddhism has gained popularity among lay people it’s practices have changed Buddha’s teaching of the middle path has adapted to meditation being “possible in the city” rather than with monks in jungles and caves (p.4). As seen in Burma, in less than 75 years Buddhism and meditation were able to grow “from a pursuit of the barest sliver of the population to a duty of the ideal citizen” (p.5). While meditation is not the core of Buddhism it has encouraged the growth of Buddhism as it’s practice of mindfulness has been inspiring an approachable model (p.6). Meditation and mindfulness are easily manipulated to secularization, but still have significance in Buddhism and following the patterns of your

    Read More

  • Meditations in First Philosophy

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rene Descartes was born in 1596. At the age of 10, he began school at College Henri IV. Descartes received a classical education at College Henri IV and learned many subjects, including math, at the Jesuit institution. Many years later, he received his baccalaureate and licentiate degrees in law and then joined the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau. Descartes never served combat, but he did have a life changing moment while in the army. While meditating about the uncertainty and disunity of knowledge, he had an epiphany about how he could make knowledge more certain and unified, such as mathematics. After a period of not focusing on how to make his idea a reality, he finally sat down and focused after receiving encouragement from Cardinal de Berulle. In 1637, he wrote “A Discourse on the Method for Conducting One’s Reason Well and Searching for the Sciences” Part IV of this book explored the beginnings of how knowledge could be unified and have absolute certain. After many questions and comments on Part IV he wrote “Meditations in First Philosophy” to expand on his ideas in 1640. “Meditations” was a very controversial book and made a lot of people outraged. Descartes went on to write more books before passing away from pneumonia in 1650.

    Read More

  • Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over twenty-five hundred years ago, Buddha Guatama practiced meditation and came to what is known as “The Four Noble Truth,” an important principle in Buddhism (Elder, 2010). This principle informs the reader of what suffering is and how affect is. This is a great example of how valuable meditation is- on the very first session ever recorded, the awareness that came from it would later be the foundation of a new religion. This proves how powerful meditation can be. Furthermore, some form of meditation can be found in various religions. Although the styles, techniques, and ideology behind the meditation can vary per religion, personal transformation is the key goal (Modi, Singh, 2012). Today, in Western society, mindful meditation (a form of meditation) has grown in popularity, used for relaxation and to help treat those who suffer from mental illness’ and mood disorders. Viewed as alternative medicine for the mind and soul, it is beneficial for our emotional and mental

    Read More

  • Christian Meditation And Meditation

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose is to investigate the following; “Meditation in Christianity and Buddhism are different pathways leading to the same destination.” Buddhism is a philosophy than a religion was originated about 2,500 years ago in India and about 376 million followers worldwide. Prince Siddhartha Gotama (Buddha) worshipped for years to enlighten himself and found a “middle way” between his two lives, meaning finding moderation and balancing life’s extremes. Whereas, Christianity has about 2.4 billion followers worldwide and based on his teachings of Jesus, who lived about 2000 years prior. In Christian meditation, metaphysics and transcendentalism are used as philosophies because individuals think during their prayer to reflect on unseen things in a spiritual way, including Holy spirit and are observed to connect with God intellectually and spiritually. Nevertheless, Buddhist meditation is to focus on relaxing the brain by forgetting about the meaningless things.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Mindfulness And Meditation

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meditation is essentially an umbrella term. It includes basically any practice that helps concentration and reaching enlightenment. In a sense, it includes techniques for self-regulating the mind and your desires. This means that meditation can include a number of different practices like love, compassion, mindfulness, breathing, emptiness, tantra or patience.

    Read More

  • Buddhism and Modern Psychology Final Exam Essay

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Works Cited "Research on Meditation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 May 2014. Web. 06 May 2014.

    Read More

  • Meditation

    4152 Words  | 9 Pages

    Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.

    Read More

  • Essay On The New Age Movement

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    Meditation is a way to open up all areas of the body and release anything that may be toxic to the spirit. Channeling the spirit through meditation is another familiar practice due to the fact that is believed that the spirit is never dead, only the shell. Through meditation, people believe that they are able to channel their minds so that they might have a more intimate experience with God. People who practice the religion believe that there are more ways to reach God than through Jesus alone. Yes, Jesus is the central avenue but when a soul sees God in all things then they are able to experience the euphoria that comes with being one with

    Read More

  • Meditation Essay

    2077 Words  | 5 Pages

    When one thinks of meditation, what comes to mind? Does one think of group of 1970’s hippies sitting in a circle singing about peace? How about relaxing music being played? How about trying to form one’s body into a pretzel-like shape? What if meditation has nothing to do with the background music being played or what position one’s body is in? Meditation is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the act or process of spending time in quiet thought” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation). Meditation is just simply sitting in a quiet room and thinking about one’s life. The act of meditating is much simpler than many people think. Through deep concentration and relaxation, meditation becomes an altered state of consciousness.

    Read More

  • Grant Proposal

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Understanding the brain and the different signs will help acknowledge the issues within a person to help them cope with the issue. It is important for one to be aware of their selves and their reactions/behaviors. On the other hand, the studies address the different types of mediation and possible consequences. When introducing a specific technique, there are always pros and cons, and people that are for or against the matter. Meditation is known as healing of the body and/or mind and can be religious. Those different types were address and justified for the understanding of the use for the

    Read More

  • How to Cope with Stress from College

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Meditation

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    What are your thoughts, views, musings and experiences etc. regarding meditation? As we all can learn from each other when it comes to sharing ways of creating a healthy, happy and vibrant life work balance.

    Read More

  • Meditation Is Medicine For The Body

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oshita, D., Hattori, K., & Iwakuma, M. (2013). A Buddhist-based meditation practice for care and healing: An introduction and its application. International Journal Of Nursing Practice, 15-23. doi:10.1111/ijn.12040

    Read More

More about Meditation in the Religious World

Open Document