Meditation – To Do Or Not To Do. What is the Question?

Looks like more and more people are turning to mediation as a way to cope with everyday life and/or as a way to finding answers to purpose and the secret of life. As an avid Vipassana meditator, I found the attached article posted in NewScientist very interesting. 

What I found most interesting is the claim that 1/4 of the participants in the study reports "experienc[ing]e negative mental states", and that "those who only engaged in deconstructive types of meditation, such as Vipassanā and Zen Buddhist meditation, were more likely to report negative mental states than those who only practised other types, such as mindfulness." The mental states mentioned are "fear" and "anxiety". As a society most everything that we do is motivated by fear or anxiety. Fear or anxiety of what might or might not happen. We get insurance out of fear of what could happen. We suffer anxiety over what could happen, i.e ., rejection, loss of a loved one, etc.

What most people don't understand is that Vipassana and Zen techniques are designed to primarily purge the brain of negative reinforcements to behaviors/emotions that don't serve the body well , ie fear, anxiety, hate, craving etc. The very fact that negative thoughts surfaces is exactly what the techniques were designed to do.

Also what most people don't know is that the body stores every reaction to every experience it encounters to the body as a memory in the brain or the part of the body that is affected by external force. So you are in fact training your body/brain how to react should that experience happen again. Every time you experience that situation you automatically react the same way, i.e. rejection: your heart aches, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, difficulty breathing etc. Fear of losing your job brings about anxiety of losing the ability to care for yourself financially. By unearthing these emotions, the individual is now able to apply the other portion of the technique which is to observe the emotion/symptom without reacting to it. 

By so doing they starve the emotion/symptom of energy that is essential to its existence. As a result the emotion/symptoms is removed from the brain and body and the next time they experience rejection they will remain neutral. The absence of this step renders the technique ineffective. By purging the brain of automatic responses, you're now able to control your responses in a healthy way. However you have to make a conscious effort to choose your response wisely otherwise you run the risk of creating a response which will promote misery.

Clearly the participants who reported negative mental states stopped short of applying the technique in its entirety or properly. Vipassana is in no way a walk in the park. While simple in its application - focusing on the breath - it is a two-step process. It is a very intense process as it requires focus to keep the mind from wondering. It is an internal struggle that reveals a person’s true nature/self. At times the revelation can be quite surprising to the person themselves. It's not easy to discover the truth about yourself especially when the revealer is yourself and the revelation is less than desirable. There is no one pointing out your faults besides you. 

I once heard that the worst thing that could happen to a person who is incarcerated is to be placed in solitary confinement. I now understand why. It is because they are left to face who they are with no distractions and are forced to acknowledge who they really are. There is no one to blame and they must take responsibility for who they are and what they have done. Most times than not they don't like who they are.

Meditation is the key to riding the body and mind of impure thoughts and emotions which is responsible for sickness and diseases. Meditation, when applied properly restores the body perfect state - mentally and otherwise.

My advice to anyone undertaking meditation is to choose wisely, make a commitment to follow the technique properly, and be kind to yourself. It takes time to undo what you've done to yourself over the years. It won't and can't be undone overnight. Keep working intelligently, patiently, persistently, diligently and you will succeed. I'm just saying - I got issues. What about you?)i(

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2202323-a-quarter-of-people-who-meditate-experience-negative-mental-states/amp/

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