Can anyone give examples of interesting effects from meditation?

Question

I've read some people that say you can have strange experiences doing meditation. I'm skeptical but curious. What are these mystical effects?

Laptop Jesus, lol, what a great story! I don't know if I'd call it a mystic experience, but it's definately entertaining.

Answer 1

Here are some I've had:

Seeing patterns on the wall, images, faces, colors, sometimes moving pictures like a little movie. Hearing voices, strong feelings of "connecting the dots", rushes of understanding, often accompanied by strong physical sensations of rushing, tingling. Some experiences are much too strong to relate in any meaningful way.

In my daily life also experiences of "psychic" ability, precognition, hearing people's thoughts, feeling their emotions, a sense of being in control of reality, etc. etc.

Most traditions tend to regard these simply as "effects", although if you ask a New Ager, he/she might encourage you to develop them, try to contact entities, learn to channel or find out about your past lives, practice so you can "create your reality" and so on.

I tried the New Age route for a few years and found it going nowhere. I had started meditating and even visited a local Zen center to discuss my experiences, and was told by a compassionate practitioner who probably saw where I was headed: "It's a difficult path to walk alone. Beware of the effects!" At least I never forgot what he said. I like to think that it helped.

It can be particularly tricky because once you get over trying to convince everyone about all these cool things that are happening to you, they still may seem very real and continue to match perfectly, time after time. In that sense there may be a benefit in using them as signposts to check your progress, but I'd say it's a slippery slope.

I suspect a more healthy attitude is to regard them simply as glimpses of the whole, a tiny peek at the myriad ways in which every smallest thing is connected to every other. A limited outlook on the workings of consciousness, if you will. Perhaps something to be appreciated in that moment, but never interpreted, never held on to.

So, yeah... beware of the effects! Still, no worries. :)

Answer 2

Ya, for the most part, meditation just makes you a little better at everything. Your senses seem sharper, you think more clearly and faster, you remember and have more control of your dreams. Not to mention the relaxation and feeling of wholeness that go with it. I'm sure if you had a very specific regiment of meditation/training, you could get some very interesting results (like a Buddhist monk ).

Answer 3

Nothing odd for me. Meditation is really hard for me to do. I'm forever having to NOT think about my grocery list, a report that's due at work, my kid's trumpet lesson - WHATEVER. I've learned to do a couple of forms of meditation that work for me. Dancing meditation (with a mantra) - and walking meditation - (focusing on nature).

The only "mystical" effect that I have is that I feel more energized and in a better frame of mind on the days that I do it.

Answer 4

What I noticed about meditation is the effects it has had on my cognitive ability generally, a more disciplined and a sharper mind in general...also though, meditation has allowed me to open a part of my brain up to the mystical side of spirituality...such as psychic ability...

Answer 5

It made a lot of hair grow out of my ears. Also, there seemed to be a lot of rap music playing in my head. Not to mention the joke swap session I had with God. Must try meditiating again some time.

Answer 6

When living in Washington DC, I once took too many percocets. I forgot a dose and doubled it. I heard fire engines. I ran into the middle of the street (in my jammies) looking for those fire engines. Then it came to me, slowly, perhaps this isn't normal behavior and I should lie down?