what is meditation? and how to meditate??

Question

I m juz quite confused with meditation. Some ppl said juz to focus on nothing and some of them said juz focus on your words or mantra.

My friend said that his senior's soul are come out of body during meditation. Becoz he can saw his own body below him. But he dun encourage ppl meditate without proper guidance.

Is this a hoax??

Answer 1

Meditation... Towards a Stress Free Life


Meditation: What it is !!!
An ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so. Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. "Watching your breath" is meditation; listening to the birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.

Meditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'to join together or to yoke' . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one.

A Tibetan Lama was being monitored on a brain scan machine by a scientist wishing to test physiological functions during deep meditation. The scientist said - "Very good Sir. The machine shows that you are able to go very deep in brain relaxation, and that validates your meditation". "No", said the Lama, "This (pointing to his brain) validates the machine!".

These days it is commonly understood to mean some form of spiritual practice where one sits down with eyes closed and empties the mind to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some people use the term as "my gardening is my meditation" or for jogging or art or music, hence creating confusion or misunderstanding.

The word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari(to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal). Its Sanskrit derivation 'medha' means wisdom.

Many years ago meditation was considered something just not meant for modern people, but now it has become very popular with all types of people. Published scientific and medical evidence has proved its benefits, but it still needs to be much understood.

Traditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is simultaneous application of a little of all stages together.

Commonly today, people can mean any one of these stages when they refer to the term meditation. Some schools only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. Some call it meditation without giving credence to yoga for fear of being branded 'eastern'. But yoga is not something eastern or western as it is universal in its approach and application.

With regular practice of a balanced series of techniques, the energy of the body and mind can be liberated and the quality of consciousness can be expanded. This is not a subjective claim but is now being investigated by the scientists and being shown by an empirical fact.

Answer 2

There are many forms of mediation.

This is an easy one for beginners.

Sit in a comfortable position, with a straight spine, and the eyes either closed, or out of focus.

This is a good one to teach our mind to concentrate, called the twenty-four second meditation. It involves picturing numbers made up of dots as shown on large digital displays. We commence by picturing the digits 24. When we can clearly visualise each dot which makes each of the two digits two and four, then we move to 23, and 22. The concentration on the dots helps to eliminate other thoughts from the mind, and with a little practice over a few days, we are able to move from 24 down through all the digits to 0. If another thought enters our mind during this process, then we must start again. This is why it takes a few days before we are able to succeed Once we can succeed then we are achieving an alpha state of mind, which is relaxed, and free of the linear thought process. This is the state of mind required for deep meditation, which we discuss later.
From a book by Wayne Dyer.
http://dgwa1.fortunecity.com/mind/fastrack119.html

Answer 3

it all depends on the type of meditation that you practice, if it is religious meditation then being in a quiet place i.e your room, you can meditate on many aspects of Gods love for you or on some episode of the life of Jesus,just by giving time in deep thought.
I have yet to find much good from other types of meditation that focus on one`s curious desire, to experiment with the unknown, which can be dangerous for the soul.

Answer 4

There are two distinct type of meditation, psychic and biblical. The Mystic religions (eastern like yoga) teach a type of meditation that turns your mind inward. I am not into it, so I cannot answer much about it, only to say that the Bible says it is worng to do.
The Biblical type is meditation on the Bible, and it is really based on the Hebrew word for a cow, "chewing the cud". It means that we study, read, and memorize the Bible and then in times of quietness, we "bring it up" into our minds and rethink it over and over again. Actually in the bible there are promises that if we do this everything that we do will prosper.

Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers"

Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."

Answer 5

best mantra for this age is Gouranga, shout it really loud and you feel happy! check it out.