Many people associate Meditation with religion, mostly with eastern religions – Buddhism and Hinduism. Often correctly, as meditation is a big part of these religions, what more, the historical data is recording the evidence of the practice going back to several thousand years BCE in Hinduism. While we cannot deny its origin, and obviously there is no reason to, we often forget that this practice was quickly adopted by others and formed a part of many religions including Christianity. The fact that meditation practice extended to many, if not all religions, only confirms its universal character and places meditation as one of the most effective tools used by many religions.
My view is that meditation can form part of the religion, but the religion does not have to be part of meditation. Meditation is a spiritual practice, and this is the reason why it is often used in religious context, but it doesn’t have to be, it can be done regardless of your religious beliefs.
Some will try to define meditation types and the most common ones would be mindfulness meditation, transcendental, spiritual, guided, loving & kindness meditation, chakra meditation, yoga meditation etc. I find it hard to separate one from the other and in my opinion, it depends on the individual’s approach.
Meditation might have many purposes: healing, self-awareness, mental clarity, relaxation, spiritual experience, well-being and many more. As much as all of these are a big words the individual approach will impact the purpose of your practice and the outcome of it will be serving the purpose that you require. Furthermore, as meditation will bring purification into your mind, it will create a calm and balanced state of your mind that will open you to the experience of the present moment with no judgment but acceptance.
In my experience this exact point of my journey was the start of reconnecting with myself and through this with the Source. For many the source can be a Universe, for others Faith, or God, some may like to associate it with religion but for me it was the feeling of belonging, of being part of God’s amazing creation. Comfort of being in the right place at the right time, living the life that serves a purpose, understanding and truly feeling that I AM ENOUGH… Loved by God, protected and safe… I believe that this is the core of spiritual experience, and if anyone would like to associate it with religion this is the most beautiful part of it - it is open for your own individual experience.
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