Meditation, A way of life…
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BENEFITS OF MEDITATION “One is doing oneself good be reducing his attachment to visible things that are transitory and unreal and by experimenting reality." Golden rule of meditation Physical benefits We could write hundreds of pages on the benefits that meditation can bring to one applying oneself industriously to it. But we will only analyse here what is meditation per se and what this or those states can produce as results. Meditation is a deep state of attention and calm that automatically produces a beneficial mind and body relaxation. It is well known that targeting one's attention and relaxation will lower the metabolism and immediately reduce the level of stress. Lowering the level of stress, anxiety and tension, slows down the respiratory and cardiac rhythms, which gives both organs a resting moment that they need to restore their strength and energy to carry on their work efficiently. Modern medicine tells us that most diseases affecting us are due in great part to the state of stress in which our world is immersing us. Stress has the property to undermine our energy and to weaken our immune system, with the result that we become more vulnerable to diseases. Thus meditation is an excellent discipline to reduce this state which makes us prone to a life in poor health. Relaxation, intellectual and physical rest, better attention capacity, acknowledgment of reality, detachment from material things, acknowledgment of illusion, simplification of world issues, reduction of the emotional level, greater self-confidence, certainty, harmony, happiness, etc. These are some of the benefits that the practice of meditation can generate. Attention: Meditation is not a medical treatment. Meditation is a discipline permitting to improve our health, by giving the body in general and the immune system in particular the capacity to do their work of prevention and protection against health issues. Mental benefits “For a person of superior intelligence, the best meditation is to remain in a state of quiescence.” Golden rule of meditation Viewed differently, beyond the benefits of relaxation and of its physical influence, meditation by allowing us to reduce our attachment to our life issues, makes us more patient and more tolerant of others thus gives us the possibility to live in a more harmonious and less stressing environment. Furthermore, it gives us the capacity to better understand others and life in general, making us see the world from a more optimistic angle. The practice of deep concentration (meditation) generates an improved level of attention for things in life, whether at work or at home. Memory is the first faculty that the practice of meditation will improve. A better memory, a greater self-confidence and a better control of one’s emotions, these improvements allow one practicing meditation to lead a better life within oneself and with others. Attention: Meditation is not a psychological treatment. Meditation is a discipline allowing us to improve almost all aspects of our intelligence, thus our personal and social life. Meditation is a life practice allowing us to take advantage of a new vision of ourselves and the world. Spiritual benefits “Think with all your body” Taisen Deshimaru Meditation will generate several physical and mental benefits but in the end it will make one much less affected by emotions and a lot less enslaved to things of this world. When a person feels detached from what most of us are accepting as most important, it then becomes easy to be less affected by it, which frees us from its capacity to enslave us. We are attached (slaved) only to what we give importance to. We are free from all that we deem negligible, without importance. I believe that we should understand what this implies. Synthesis: If I give importance to something, it automatically becomes important to me and therefore will affect my life accordingly, the reverse will produce the opposite. Thus it is better to be neutral, or at least not attached or enslaved to what others and I personally may deem important. The result is that I am partially free of at least those things. Meditation allows one to experiment more or less detachment from the material world according to the purity of the meditation state. I should rather say that it allows one to see the material world from another perspective; it allows one to observe the world without being necessarily immersed in it. Material detachment is followed by an awakening of the consciousness. Consciousness awakening brings about the opportunity to see and evaluate our surrounding world, to deliver us from the egocentric ego (aggregate assemblies) and to allow us to see that some other beings exist outside of us who have as much importance as we do within the greater scheme of the universe. This awakening prompts us to understand that we do not have much importance within the greater scheme of life but that we have our space either more or less important than that of others. Specifically, it makes us realize that other individual worlds exist outside of our own and outside each of us. Egocentrism is over, since it becomes clear that the world is turning not around OURSELF but around the interpretation that we make of the world in which we live.
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About the Book
This book covers various aspects of meditation. It defines what meditation is and what it is not, as well as its origin, the source of unhappiness, confusion and despair that can affect anyone. It discusses the nature of a human being, what it is made of, and the laws dominating the universe. You will discover the benefits that meditation can bring at the physical, mental and spiritual levels. You will learn the specific steps of meditation, namely how to breathe, the body postures, how to concentrate, as well as the experiences that meditation can bring to you and how to avoid and remedy the errors often made by beginners. The teachings of this book are based on the MahaMudra (the Great Symbol), one of the most ancient and purest forms of meditation known to this day.
About the Author
During the course of his career, Julien Bouchard has spent over forty-five years visiting and working in many countries of Southern Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South and Central Americas, etc. All these voyages, aside from their professional purposes, were also the subjects of philosophical and spiritual research, particularly in India and northern Nepal. In the beginning, he visited ashrams in India and lamaseries in northern Nepal where he received philosophical and Buddhist initiations. He was intensely searching for a simple and pure meditation method, the one least altered by time and people. His search took him back in time, and finally, during a trip to northern Nepal, he met a hermit monk, master of the Kagyütpa school (an adept of the apostolic succession). The teaching of this guide was based on the Mahamudra, the Great Symbol (Modern Zen schools; derive from the Mahamudra). One of the oldest and purest forms of meditation known to this day. It is after all those years of study, research, reflection, and meditation, that Julien wrote this book, in a desire to share with sincere researchers his efforts at reaching a higher level of understanding of life, humanity, and finally himself.