by Domnall Óg
Home >> Om Mane Padme Hum
Anyone who remembers The Beatles will remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He had a tremendous influence on the band; especially on George Harrison. The Maharishi taught Transcendental Meditaion or TM.
TM conists of meditating for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening. Members of the TM community claim that it reduces stress, makes you more productive and more creative. It’s true. I’ve done it and it does. Some more extreme members of the TM community claim you can levitate.That’s not true. That’s stupid.
Meditation is thinking about nothing. You give yourself something to do (repeating a word or a phrase – called a ‘mantra’). This distracts your conscious mind and lets your subconscious take out the rubbish bags, so to speak. But is the mantra important?
When I studied TM I was given my mantra by the teacher. I can’t tell you what it is because it’s supposed to be a secret. The most famous mantra in the world is ‘Om mani padme hum’(pronounced OM MANI PEDME HUNG) This comes from Tibetan Buddhist meditation. It is said that the 84,000 sections of Buddha’s teaching are contained in those six syllables. So, yes, mantras are important.
Christian mediation uses similar techniques such as concentrating on a candle’s flame or repeating the name of ‘Jesus’. Anyone who has heard devout Catholics reciting “Dios te salve, María. Llena eres de gracia: El Señor es contigo…etc” might confuse the rhythmic repetition with a mantra.
Meditation existed before Christ and yet people today see a book about ‘Mental Control’ and think it is the latest thing and spend over 1,000 Є for a course. As we say in English, “A fool and his money are soon parted”. There is nothing new under the sun.
Meditation can help your health too. It has been clearly proved that regular meditation helps with chronic pain, anxiety and panic, sleep disturbance, family stress, skin disorders, high blood pressure and stress factors in heart disease. So even Western chauvinist atheists can benefit from regular meditation.
To meditate you need four basic things :-- A quiet place to meditate,
- A comfortable or poised posture,
- An object to look at or mantra to repeat.
- A passive attitude
I’d love to know what YOU think about all this. And remember – jai guru deva om!
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Posted on http://www.weeklyletter.com at 2009-05-21 00:27:00 +0200
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Hi guys
This a great article.I reckon it is very important to take sometime meditating.This a way to get our targets and can help us to get rid of bad things around us.The more concentrated we feel when we have meditation the better and succesfully will be.
Differents cultures all over the world take this custom as a rutine and even some companies make their employers to take at less 20 minutes to find the right way to improve the efecience
So, perhaps doing things rightly is consecuences of a meditation time before that.
I consider that taking this option seriusly is a good advantage of increasing our succesful
Greetings
Thanks for your comments Ivan.
I think many companies could benefit from meditation sessions. Especially before meetings!
“Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, ... and inviting me!”
“Across the Universe” – This reminds me too, of the days (several of them) in which I have engaged in deep meditation. I have actually taken 1 hour a day since the age of 17 to do just that. The meditation many times had to do with daily life and what God wanted of me, the meaning of my work at the time and also my vocation in life. Now I am experiencing the fruit of the interior life granted to me through meditation. I am happily married with three lovely children and my life not only has meaning for me, but for those around me.
Meditation .. mente – that means mind in English. Most people don’t like to think these days… in fact, most do everything in their power to avoid it. How else would any injustice such as homelessness, poverty, genocide for comfort …you know what I mean… exist in the world.
I love to think! A few more moments of meditation, and a few less hours of marketing – that’s my advice for any meeting!
Great article Dónal!
Interesting, challenging and sincere comments, Paul.
I admire anyone who can have three kids and find time to meditate! Or maybe having three kids makes meditation all the more necessary!
I think the difference between prayer and mediation is that the latter tries to silence the inner voice. I am sure you remember Psalm 46:10 -‘Be still and know that I am God.’
Be still + know = meditation.