What is your favorite style of meditation; of what culture?

Answer 1

The best form for me is to pray with full concentration and read the Holy Quran. It gives a sense of peace and serenity and the assurance that Allah is listening to you and will make all your problems go away. It's the best meditation form for me! =)

Answer 2

Kirtan meditation. (kirtan is a style where music is played meditatively and a lead singer sings/chants the verse and then the group repeats it. this is done over and over again and usually is one, two, or atleast three verses but always very simple usually just the name of the divine, sometimes can be an expression). This is chanting and singing the divine name over and over and over again. It has its roots in Hinduism...more specifically in the bhakti movement (bhakti yoga) of Hinduism. My second favorite is japa meditation in which you recite the divine name or a mantra over and over again while using a mala (prayer beads). Both of these styles of meditation work very well for me out of all the various styles of meditation I have practiced (from not only Hinduism, but other religions as well).

Krishna Das and Jai Uttal are two examples of kirtan singers/musicians that are also westerners. Jagjit Singh is an example of a kirtan singer/musician who is from India. In case you wanted to perhaps look them up on the internet and hear an example.

Japa meditation usually uses mantras or the divine name. A very common one is Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram....... These are divine names (Ram is the Hindi version of Rama and both Sita and Rama are the reflections of God in the Ramayana). Pronounced Seetah Rahm.
Another common one which is a lot longer is the Gayatri Mantra (the most ancient of all the mantras, considered to be the first mantra..it is found in the Rig Veda...the world's oldest sacred text having been written down in 5000BCE and by then was already considered ancient after having been chanted for thousands of years prior to being written down).

The Gayatri Mantra is
Om bhur bhuvah svah tat Savitr vareneeyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dheeyo yonah prachodayat
It is usually translated as
We meditate on the Supreme Effulgence of that Shining One who vivifies and awakens the world. May that One shine down upon us and awaken us.

Answer 3

Even though I am a Christian I love the way the Jewish people prayed in the days of David and Noah, we hardly see the same passion anymore.

Answer 4

The active western style as my ancestors are Caucasian. Celtic