Meditation's Most-Talked About Myths

According to the dictionary, meditation is one of the engagements in deep mental exercise directed toward an increased level of spiritual awareness. Many individuals have misinterpretations about this form of spiritual rejuvenation.

Here are a few of these myths and the true meaning of the science of meditation:

Myth #1: Meditation means that one's mind has to be a blank slate.

No, during the meditation process, the goal is mindfulness. During the time that individuals are mindful, the mind is definitely not a blank slate. Meditation is about awareness of the emotional and physical thoughts and how they correspond to one another. Since the mind is full of the at-the-moment experience, pointless thinking has no opportunity. As a result, our experience is full of positive aspects, in which is often overlook because of negative thinking.

Myth #2: Meditation is about escaping from reality.

Just to be honest, if an individual is constantly busy and hardly having any time for self, then he/she is escaping from reality. When individuals meditate, he/she is faced with dealing with anger, delusion, craving, pain, and selfishness. Meditation is about facing life's everyday challenges. In fact, there are various forms of meditation that allows us to deal with transforming our relationship with the world by spreading love and understanding other individuals. Many people who practice meditation often have professions such as social work, psychotherapy, and prison work.

Myth #3: Meditation is "Eastern."

According to various practices from Tibet, visualizing different figures are usually involved and in the case of mantra meditation, Sanskrit words and/or phases are often repeated. With the mantra meditation, repeating words and phrases is just half of these meditation practices.

Myth #4: Meditation is connected with religious activities.

Although it is not referred to as a practice of religion, this type of practice is originated from many different spiritual and/or religious traditions. The breath sensations are by far the most common meditation practice that exists. However, there are various meditation forms that have the usage of religious words and/or phrases, generally used as focus of concentration, as in Transcendental and Buddhist meditation. Most meditation forms do not have a religious connection.

Myth #5: It is required that individuals must be seated in lotus position.

It is very common for people in most Asian countries to sit cross-legged and have hips that are flexible. These individuals sit in lotus position for meditation purposes because this is a very common position. Most Westerners feel very uncomfortable to sit in this position. The bottom line: individuals should find a comfortable position for meditation.

Myth #6: The most common type of meditation is the Transcendental meditation.

This is not true. In the Western world, the most common type of meditation is the Mindfulness, or Insight meditation, which originates from South and Southeastern Asia. This type of meditation is derived from Theradavin Buddhism. Zen meditation usually refers to the visualization aspect is another common meditation practice.

Myth #7: Self-hypnosis is part of the meditation process.

During self-hypnosis, the practitioner uses a visualization that can be easily remembered to boost up the relaxation process and/or to gain better confidence. Visualization and various meditation forms include the usage of repeated words. However, in some meditation forms, these methods are not used. Patience is the key during hypnosis and meditation.

Myth #8: Meditation is all about relaxing.

That is part of it! Since meditating plays a huge role in dealing with stress management, there are many individuals that think that tensions will go away with just a practice of meditation. In this practice, individuals should start off releasing tension in the body. Meditation takes forth and effort.

There are many methods in the meditation process. Many occupations, such as sports and medicine, use it as a guiding tool. Due to the popularity of meditation and individuals signing up for stress management classes for balance in his/her life, it is used on a global basis.

Source:

http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-top-ten-myths-about-meditation