admin_website Article published in the Asian Leader Newspaper (Edition 440)
Meditation is a practice which has been around for thousands of years yet is still a greatly misunderstood and tarnished by a number of myths and misconceptions about what it truly is. Most people associate meditation with a monk or a Zen master, sitting on top of a mountain or under a tree, cross-legged, eyes closed and in a state of stillness but we fail to understand that it is a practice that anyone can do and benefit from. There have been countless research done on the beneficial effects of meditation on our body, mind and spirit.
To gain a deeper understanding of what meditation is we must first take a look at our own lives and the way in which we as human beings function. There is something each and every one of us is doing every single day, for the majority of the day and which is impacting on the quality and experience of our lives. Thinking; We are always thinking. Eckhart Tolle and the best-selling author of the Power of Now even goes as far as saying that we are addicted to thinking. ‘Thinking is compulsive. You can’t stop, or so it seems. It is also addictive. You don’t even want to stop. At least, not until the suffering generated by the continuous mental noise becomes unbearable’. Minds, like monkeys, can’t seem to stay still. They jump from one place to another in unpredictable ways. One minute you are berating yourself for forgetting to buy the milk, the next you are thinking about what chores you have to do when you get in and the next you’re remembering how the neighbour didn’t offer you a lift the last time she saw you at the bus stop. The persistent and continuous barrage of thoughts can become torturous and meditation can help tame this monkey mind.
If you have ever tried stopping yourself from thinking, you will realise how difficult it is. It is estimated that the human brain processes between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts on average. Thoughts are buzzing away at the conscious and the subconscious level. Most of the repetitive thoughts are on autopilot and programmed deep into the recesses of the subconscious mind and beyond your conscious awareness. The conscious mind can process about 40 bits of information per second while the subconscious mind can process 40 Million bits of information per second. The sheer magnitude of thoughts and the incredible power of the subconscious mind make one wonder if we are ever in control. Can we control our thoughts though? And do we need to control our thoughts? Thinking isn’t a bad thing, is it? It’s good. It’s vital for our survival so why do we need to control our thoughts? This is true, but only to a certain degree. If you really sit down and take a look at it, the large proportion of your thinking isn’t as useful as you think it is. A simple observation of your thoughts for a few minutes will bring you to the realisation that the majority of the thoughts are repetitive, dwelling in the past, fearful of the future or simply utter nonsense. A lot of it is actually quite negative. Furthermore, thoughts have a direct correlation to the way you feel. Let’s say you are at a party and the following thought pops into your mind. What should I do with my hands? I should be talking to people. Am I being awkward? Is that group over there saying I’m anti-social? All of a sudden you start to feel the emotion of anxiety brewing inside you. Another such example, let’s say you are on the bus home from work and someone steps on your shoe by accident. You start thinking, she didn’t even say sorry, how dare she, she is so rude and all of a sudden you start to feel the emotion of anger simmering.
So we know we think a lot and we also know that most of our thoughts are either negative or not constructive and finally we know that our thoughts can affect how we feel. So now you can see how we came to the conclusion that thinking too much can make and does have an effect on the quality and the experience of our life. But what does thinking have to do with meditation? Well, there are hundreds of different ways that you can meditate. There is breath meditation, mantra meditation, guided meditation, transcendental meditation and mindfulness meditation to name just a few. All forms of meditation have one thing in common. They teach us how to slow down the number of thoughts entering our mind as well as the speed at which thoughts enter and with practice you may even reach points where you have no conscious thoughts for brief moments of time. This is why meditation has so many benefits. When you think less, you become more in control of your emotions. When you practice meditation, you are simply teaching your mind, how to turn off your thoughts like a switch, so the next time someone steps on your shoe – rather than thinking – how rude, you can simply silence the chatter in your mind. You can choose whether you want to express anger. In addition to this, when you start to think less, you spend less time in your head and more time outside and you start noticing things more. The trees are greener, the birds are beautiful, you notice the flowers on the ground, you start becoming less involved with your thoughts and more involved with real life and that is the beauty of meditation.
Mindfulness is the most well-researched type of meditation in which you bring your attention on the present moment, on the body and on the breath by just taking a few moments to check in and notice the state that your body and mind is in. As we are so focussed on daydreaming, distractions, ruminations and worries, with practice we can train ourselves to build a mindfulness muscle to be more focused, present and just enjoy the moment more. There is a great body of research on the benefits of meditation. Meditation is far more than just a religious practice; it is actually incredibly good for your mental, physical and emotional health. It is great for relieving stress and has no negative side effects. Meditation may even slow the ageing process. The benefits of practising meditation have been experienced by top-class athletes, and even taught in some of the most powerful corporations in the world.
Does meditation have any roots in Islamic spirituality?
‘Meditation is a practice at the core of Islamic spirituality yet it is not given the honour and focus that it deserves. Meditation is completely letting one go and immersing oneself in the Divine presence of God. Generally, human beings are in an active state of doing, whether that be physically or mentally and continuously trying to assert their will, the self. Through the practice of meditation, we learn to surrender the self. We learn to sit and simply ‘be’ in the present moment. In meditation, we are completely opening ourselves up to the light, to the presence, to the divine grace and mercy of God’s eternal Divine presence. Islam literally means to surrender. The root word for Islam is salam which means peace. The understanding and the implication, therefore, is that to arrive at the goal of Islam, we must follow the spiritual path of surrender.’ Emil-Ihsan Alexander Torabi (Creator of the Islamic Meditation Programme and founder of Spiritual Excellence)
Whether we look towards science or religion there is no denying that the benefits of meditation are far greater than what we had originally estimated and thus it is a practice well worth investing time in daily and experiencing at first hand the power of meditation in our lives.
For further information on the Islamic Meditation Programme by Spiritual Excellence click here.
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