avatarShashi Sastry

Summary

The article "Reflections on Meditation — I — How Does It Help Us?" discusses the multifaceted benefits of meditation, including emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical improvements.

Abstract

In "Reflections on Meditation — I — How Does It Help Us?", the author reflects on the personal value they've found in meditation, detailing its positive effects across various aspects of human experience. Emotionally, meditation is credited with fostering calmness, happiness, self-control, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Intellectually, it is said to enhance understanding, intelligence, and problem-solving abilities. Spiritually, the practice is believed to deepen one's connection with the divine and nature, while physically, it is linked to increased self-control, pain tolerance, and overall health. The author acknowledges the subjective nature of these benefits and invites readers to share their own experiences with meditation.

Opinions

  • Meditation is perceived as a tool for achieving emotional balance and happiness.
  • The author suggests that meditation can lead to intellectual growth and better workplace performance.
  • There is a belief that meditation can enhance spirituality and provide answers to deep spiritual questions.
  • Meditation is thought to improve physical health and encourage the adoption of complementary practices like yoga.
  • The author is open to the idea that the benefits of meditation may vary from person to person.
  • The article implies that meditation is not merely a fad but a practice with substantial value.
  • The author expresses hope that their meditation practice positively affects those around them.
  • The article encourages readers to explore meditation further through additional resources provided.

Reflections on Meditation — I — How Does It Help Us?

The value of meditation

Image courtesy John Hain on Pixabay

Since I started meditating, I’ve been asking myself regularly — what is the value of meditation? In looking for the answer, I considered the possibilities in the usual four areas of human composition and came up with the following.

Emotionally

  • It makes us calmer
  • It makes us happier, more optimistic, more cheerful, more hopeful
  • It increases our emotional self-control
  • It increases our ability to bear the emotional pain
  • It increases our empathy
  • It increases our ability to forgive others and ourselves
  • It reduces our egoism and increases our humility and modesty
  • It increases our emotional intelligence
  • It helps us solve our most difficult emotional issues

Intellectually

  • It increases our understanding of people, life and the world
  • It increases our intelligence
  • It helps us solve our most difficult practical problems
  • It makes us better at our work or occupation

Spiritual Value

  • It enhances our spirituality
  • It brings us closer to understanding God
  • It helps us know Nature
  • It helps us answer our most difficult spiritual questions

Physically

  • It increases our physical self-control (diet, exercise, habits, etc.)
  • It increases our ability to bear pain
  • It re-energises our mind
  • It makes us physically healthier
  • It encourages us to take up closely aligned practices such as yoga or tai chi

Or

  • All of the above
  • One or more of the above, varying by individual
  • It is not helpful and is just a long-running fad
  • It has some other value

As I’ve meditated steadily over the years, it certainly seems to be helping me in all three ways, although I’ve not worked out exactly how or how much. I am also hopeful that my meditation is doing something good for the people around me.

I would love to hear about the benefits you’ve gained from meditation. Please do write in.

Shashi / June 16, 2014

If you are interested in meditation, you can read the stories below to explore it from different viewpoints.

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Shashi on LinkedIn and quality-thinking.com.

Meditation
Self Improvement
Mindfulness
Life
Illumination
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