Transcendental Meditation
August 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under Meditation
We are all aware that human being has different states of consciousness like dreaming, waking and sleeping states of consciousness. However scientists have now mapped another fourth state of consciousness called by some cultures as Samadhi or Nirvana. Scientists vouch that this fourth state, named by them as Transcendental Consciousness, can be acquired from practicing Transcendental Meditation.
This fourth state of consciousness was first discovered by the scientists, almost three decades ago, during a transcendental meditation, when they witnessed slowing down of heart beat, reduced resistance in the skin, etc. However when this state is linked to the religion or spirituality, the practitioners sees divinity in everything around him, and correlates his existence to the belief that he is harboring. However, the process has been scientifically examined through brain mapping, and thus we have scientific evidence before us about the state of conscience.
During the course of last 30 years, scientists were able to examine the brain waves of practitioners of Transcendental Meditation, and found these waves to be appreciably more consistent through the entire brain, more so, in the prefrontal cortex. This activity has now been subjected to a sort of measurement called brain mapping, through the process called multiple electroencephaolographic (EEG), which correctly understands brain wave patterns, produced during different states of consciousness like dreaming, sleeping, wakeful, and meditative.
An astounding fact is that when someone experiences this fourth state of consciousness, his brain function improves. Decades of experimentation holds out with scientific confirmation, a definite correlation of the Transcendental Meditation to the enhancement in the mind-body health, longevity, happiness and increased intelligence (IQ).
This has led to the truth that almost anyone can attain this fourth state of consciousness, through Transcendental Meditation. If we accept Samadhi propounded by some cultures, as a form of Transcendental Meditation, should we therefore conclude that anyone can achieve this state of Samadhi? Is this the ultimate of meditation, even as you are able to bring pain relief not only to yourself but to those around you, though briefly through this fourth state of consciousness?
Some scientists have conducted brain mapping demos to volunteers to get at the truth of this state. One such demo conducted in Honolulu, clearly gave forth the following result during Transcendental Meditation.
During this demo session, the volunteer’s brain waves started scrolling on the screen. They exhibited about 6-% of coherence activity, while the average coherence levels in human beings are only 30 to 40%. It was amazing to find that when the volunteer closed his eyes to meditate, his coherence levels shot to 95%, and continued to be there. Once the volunteer stopped meditation, the brain waves came back to coherence level of 60%. This scientific evidence suggests that Transcendental Meditation brings about a new state of consciousness, with high brain wave coherence.
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I do TM and don’t know if I’ve had the fourth state yet, but I sure like the way I feel after I do it.
Thank you for this article highlighting the fact that now higher states of consciousness are no longer just subjects for philosophers. We now have clear evidence of the concrete and unique changes that occur in the brain with the practice of the Transcendental Meditation Technique as well as the scientific validation of the reality of higher states of consciousness.