‘Brahmacharya’ is a monastic discipline centered on controlling the senses and directing attention toward spiritual practice.
Articles on Meditation
Displaying 1 - 20 of 136 articles
While meditation has been shown to have health benefits, it may not always be the right practice for all people.
Thai Buddhism involves daily rituals and collective acts of worship, unlike the individual-focused emphasis on meditation often found in Western Buddhist communities.
Mindfulness can improve health and well-being, but it may not work for everyone. Buddhist teachings suggest that how it is practiced – and who guides it – matters.
Buddhist meditation and Pentecostal speaking in tongues could hardly look more different. But not to the brain.
A high-pressure work environment can exacerbate headaches, but taking steps to manage stress throughout the day can help.
Facing your own thoughts and sensations, without trying to suppress them, is harder than it may seem. But learning to do it can boost your mental health.
The Burmese meditation master Sayagyi U Ba Khin played a key role in shaping the meditation retreats that are popular today.
Mindfulness is usually taught through stillness and silence. But for some, full presence is easier to achieve in movement, and even in risk.
Mindfulness is taught everywhere, from schools to workplaces. But scientists define and measure it in very different ways. Here’s why that matters.
The practice of this meditation often involves quietly reciting to oneself several phrases that evoke and visualize the beings who will receive loving-kindness.
Meditation can change our perceptions about things we encounter in our daily lives − revealing the interconnectedness of reality.
The phenomenon of awakening experiences.
A growing body of research suggests that mindfulness has applications well beyond mental health, and that people who meditate are more likely to fulfill their health goals.
Western theories of consciousness tend to assume consciousness is about information.
Beach vacations became popular only around the 19th-20th centuries – as part of the lifestyle of the wealthy.
You don’t need silence, incense, or hours of free time to benefit from mantra meditation. A few repeated words can shift your mind, and find a moment of presence.
A scholar of Buddhism explains authentic ways to engage deeply with the tradition, ranging from short meditation retreats to full ordination as a monastic.
If you’re feeling disconnected from others, or just disenchanted with the day, you might consider trying loving-kindness meditation, writes a scholar of mindfulness.
The point of mindfulness is not to be more productive at work or just to relax − it is inner transformation.
Top contributors
-
Liberal Arts Endowed Professor of Communication, Penn State
-
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College
-
Professor of Asian History & Health Humanities, Penn State
-
Associate Professor, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne
-
Head and Professor, Religious Studies Department, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
-
Visiting Scholar of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
-
Professor, Research in Complementary Medicine, University of Tübingen
-
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University
-
Associate Professor in Psychology in Education, Department of Education, University of York
-
Senior Research Fellow in Mental Health, Victoria University
-
Visiting Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada. Assistant Professor, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, India, Simon Fraser University
-
Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College
-
Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Coastal Carolina University
-
Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz
-
Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University