| In this article we are going to take a very quick look at | | | | relationship to religion was that once you strip away |
| some of the different types of mediation. I say a "quick | | | | the various dogmas that each religion teaches (or |
| look" because there are LITERALLY hundreds of | | | | preaches..;-) the meditative techniques, and promised |
| different ways, methods and teachings on attaining a | | | | benefits are strikingly SIMILAR! The great mystics of |
| state of profound bliss and awareness. The key is, in | | | | each of the major religious traditions essentially teach |
| my opinion anyway....simply picking ONE path to spiritual | | | | the same exact "truths", and they arrived at these |
| prosperity and following it all the way to it's logical and | | | | beliefs through the practice of deep contemplation and |
| promised conclusion - radical inner peace! | | | | introspection. |
| All roads lead to the same place | | | | The answer lies within |
| If you peek far enough beneath the surface, all of the | | | | All meditation practice, by definition focuses on the |
| major ( and even more so the less well known) | | | | interior journey...rather than being dependent on an |
| religions have a very esoteric, yet discrete meditation | | | | outside set of rules, regulations or religious structure. |
| practice. Judaism has Kaballah, Christianity has the | | | | While each of us incorporate our own set of beliefs |
| mystical practice of deep contemplation and "Christ | | | | into the process, the beauty of the practice is that we |
| consciousness", Islam has Sufism, Buddhism and | | | | can share incredible universal truths like compassion, |
| Hinduism are obviously FAR more rooted in the mind | | | | connection and the inherent timelessness of our |
| sciences as a primary practice, and so on. What has | | | | spiritual selves, all while holding true to our cultural and |
| always fascinated ME about meditation and its | | | | religious belief systems. |