there are many myths and misconceptions in the world of meditation. many people teach wrong meditation techniques and some times the technique they teach has nothing to do with meditation.
if one can learn to meditate properly then his whole life will be transformed. right meditation is a greatest blessing in life. but it is important that we learn the right meditation technique and not learn anything else in the name of meditation.
top meditation myths or misconceptions about meditation:
myth 1 – meditation improves concentration
meditation is not concentration but it is opposite of concentration. in concentration, we narrow down our attention to a single object, mantra or deity. whereas in meditation, we don’t focus our attention on any object. instead, we expand our consciousness and does not choose anything. in words of enlightened mystic jiddu krishnamurti ‘meditation is choiceless awareness’. in meditation, we become aware of object where our consciousness goes. in meditation we don’t choose anything or try to narrow down all our energies on one single point as we do in concentration. so meditation is not concentration and it also does not improve your concentration. yes, its another fact that meditation makes your mind sharp and gives a lot of clarity and makes your mind more penetrating. with meditation, you can make better use of your mind. so meditation has many benefits but it is not a concentration.
myth 2 – meditation is prayer
most of the time our prayers are nothing but asking for favors from god. in fact, meditation is the real prayer where we become rich within our self and are totally content. any thing that has its origin in mind can not be meditation. mind always desires or seek for something or the other and meditation is to observe all this activity of mind with passive awareness. real meditation is to watch the mind which is seeking favors from god via prayers.
myth 3 – meditation is to chant mantras
this is not correct. chanting mantras is a good spiritual practice but it is not meditation. chanting mantra can become meditation provided there is a distance between chanting and the person who chants. which means that you are aware of the chanting process. this is a very rare phenomena and 99.99% of the cases chanting is not meditation. continuous chanting makes the mind dull, sleepy and one pointed. whereas meditation is to go beyond the mind. for some people chanting works and many people have attained to god via chanting. so there is nothing wrong in chanting but it is not meditation.
myth 4 – meditation is contemplation
contemplation if done by mind and is again not meditation. in contemplation, we again use mind to think or to contemplate. whereas in meditation we just become a witness to the thinking process. so meditation and contemplation are two different things.
myth 5 – meditation is relaxation
relaxation helps in meditation but it is not meditation. i will define meditation as a state of relaxed awareness. so apart from relaxation you need alert consciousness or awareness. meditation = relaxation + awareness.
myth 6 – meditation is self-hypnotism
meditation has nothing to do with hypnotism or self-hypnotism. meditation is to become more conscious and more alert about oneself. that is to be conscious about your thoughts, feelings and actions. meditation actually de-hypnotizes you from your old thinking pattern. it makes you think clearly on any given situation.
myth 7 – meditation is for old people
this is one of the most common excuse people used to avoid meditation. many people have postponed meditation to old age. in fact, when you are young then it easier to learn meditation than when you become old. it is because young person mind is alert and not conditioned much. so if you want to learn meditation then start learning it now. as you grow old, it will become more difficult to learn meditation.
myth 8 – for practicing meditation, i have to take sannyas or renounciation
its not necessary to leave your home to learn meditation. many people around the world are practicing meditation from home. one of the famous enlightened disciple of gautam buddha was a householder. his name is vimalakirtiย and there is a very famous buddhist text in his name ‘vimalakirti nirdesa sutra’. so many people have attained samadhi while meditating at home.
myth 9 – meditation is to control the mind
mind can never be controlled. one need to understand the mechanism of mind by witnessing it. more you try to control the mind, more it becomes out of control. soย in meditation we don’t control the mind but we go beyond it by understanding its mechanism. witnessing is the golden key to understand the mind. in face, witnessing is the essence of all meditation techniques.
myth 10 – meditation is difficult and takes years of continuous practice
meditation is neither difficult nor easy. meditation is like a knack. some people get it easily and some will take time to learn. it also depends how much you have meditated in your previous life. if you have practiced meditation in previous life times then meditation will come to you spontaneously and easily in this life. it helps to practice and learn meditation with a guru.
myth 11 – meditation is for people born in certain religion or sect or families or for eastern people
meditation is for everybody irrespective of you religion, sect, caste, sex, age, country of birth, belief system… what is needed to learn meditation is a innocence and openness from your part. be sincere in meditation.
myth 12 – to practice meditation is to run away from life problems
real meditator does not run away from any life situation. he faces the problem with his awareness or wisdom. by the way, where ever you go… problems will always be there. its better to face the problems than to run away from them. more you run away from problems, more they increase in life and also makes you coward.
myth 13 – meditation solves all problems and will make you rich
law of karma is applicable to everybody. every person has some or other problem in life. so a meditator also has problems in life. but meditation gives you more clarity and wisdom and thus you are able to handle your problems more easily and wisely than other people. secondly, meditation makes you inwardly rich and to become outwardly rich, one has to follow the rules of materialistic world. in fact, meditation will make you so content that you might not work so hard in your job as you do now. because meditation gives you so much bliss that you would like to go more deep in it than to make more money.
myth 14 –ย meditation will make you happy all the time
meditation makes you blissful. but that is true only for people who have achieved samadhi or satori or no-mind state. so, bliss is there when you are mind is utterly silent and relaxed. otherwise, for people who are still on the path, all sorts of emotions like jealousy, anger, sex, hatred, happiness, love etc comes into their mind as they come in the mind of non-meditators. but the difference is that the meditator tries his best to watch or witness the emotionsย and does not get identified with them. so these emotions does not affect him so much as they affect non-meditators.
myth 15 –ย meditation is for celibates or brahamcharis
avoiding sex helps in the meditation. as sex energy is the basic energy which needs to be transformed. so if you have energy then only you can take it to higher chakras. so being celibate helps in making quick progress in meditation. in other words, as you go deeper in meditation then automatically you will lose interest in sex. so you don’t need to be a celibate to start learning meditation. but as you start learning meditation then being a celibate will be great help in your meditation practice. focus more on your meditation than on having sensual pleasures.
myth 16 – there are shortcuts in meditation
in meditation, there are no shortcuts. in the outer world, we can manipulate things. but in inner world there is no short cut. you need to have patience in the inner world. more patience you have, more quick will be your progress and more impatience you are, more slow will be your progress. so have patience and be sincere in meditation.
myth 17 – meditation is for buddhist people
meditation is the main teaching of gautam buddha. but it has been taught by many enlightened masters of various sects and religion. anybody can practice meditation irrespective of his religion or belief system.
myth 18 – transcendental meditation is a meditation technique
many people think that TM is a ideal meditation technique but it is not true. although it is very popular and known to many people. in reality transcendental method of chanting mantra is not meditation as explained above. chanting mantra and meditation are two different religious practice.