In Sam Harris's book "Waking Up - A guide to spirituality without religion" focuses on, as the title states, spirituality without religion. My question to the atheist republic forum is have any of you tried secular mediation?
Meditation can be seen extremely beneficial to the mind and body. I'll list some examples below of the few benefits of mediation.
- It helps increase immune function(http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/2003/07000/Altera...)
- It makes you happier(Can't find exact citation atm, but will do when I have the time to do so.)
- Decreases stress(http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/2000/09000/A_Rand...)
- Increases your attentiveness(http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.005... /\/\ http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/CABN.7.2.109#page-1)
-Increases Memory! (Again, can't find direct link atm, will update ASAP)
These benefits are inarguable and have the ability to be appreciated by everyone. Sam focus's on Vispassana mediation, which is completely secular in nature. I myself, meditate about 15minutes a day. The benefits are immense and I live a happier life because of it. (I am a Buddhist, but the benefits of meditation are still completely beneficial for whatever belief system, or lack of). So, for all the secularist on the forum, I urge you to maybe try to meditate. I will link Sam's guide on it(http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/how-to-meditate).
But, if you have meditated, please share your benefits, or lack of, that you have received from it. What did you enjoy about it? Did it have benefits? If so, which benefits? If it did not have benefits then share vice versa.
Thanks for your time, have a nice day.
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Johnathan Graham - "These benefits are inarguable"
I don't know much about the topic, but that statement scares me.
True, should've had a different selection of words. I should've said the benefits are their. Not inarguable. That was a fault of my own.
Thanks for the post, I have just scratched the surface of this and indeed there are promising benefits to meditation.
I have a lot of stress with college, whereas I take 18 credits usually. So, this could be helpful! Thank you..... Kelly
Yes, I actually do practice daily meditation. I don't have the patience for long sessions, but I usually find 10-15 minutes a day to do so. Instead of a mantra or koan I usually focus on something new or troubling that I learned, and even that happened, or something similar and attempt to view it from a place of utter detachment and from multiple angles. I find that since I started the practice, my memory and comprehension has increased, and I have also been less prone to anger or frustration. As someone who has a history of hypertension, it has also had the unintended effect of lowering my blood pressure by about 10 points on average, and even such a small difference is a welcome one as it has been as a high as 190/130 in the past.
So, yes, I would consider the benefits of meditation to be real. I would also recommend it.
I have found meditation to be helpful, though I have struggled to keep with the routine of it, which is where the real benefits come in.
It can be an exceptional challenge to quiet my mind.