Written by:Maharaj Dr. Nanak Das

Every individual in contemporary life is immersed with the chaos that surrounds them.  The hectic daily routines and pressures of family, employment, social or economic challenges can sometimes lead to stress and burn out. The world is changing rapidly and sometimes this can lead to moments of heightened feelings, that are important to control.  This can be imagined as the waves of emotion that present themselves to unsettle the calmness of our ocean.  We must remember that when a storm is brewing around us resulting in rapid rise and fall of the waves of our emotions, we need to practice stillness to revert to a calm sea.  It is only through stillness that we can think clearly and express our thoughts and ideas in a precise manner.

How can we practice stillness?

Through practicing meditation! It is about training the mind and body to observe your feelings without judgement to understand them and attain a healthy perspective.  Similarly, spiritual meditation is utilised to release stress and relax individuals while others utilise it to clear their minds. Meditation can also be used to awaken and strengthen the inner connection with a greater power.  Although numerous studies have been carried out to understand the benefits of meditation perceived to relaxation benefits, very few studies have been carried out to understand the spiritual effects of meditation.  The reason behind this is probably because measuring spirituality is difficult. However, scientific literature has discussed the numerous forms of meditation.

Who practices spiritual meditation?

Spiritual meditation is practiced in many forms by millions of people belonging to diverse traditions and religions. For example, within Hinduism individuals recite a mantra during meditation. Sufi’s remember God through dhikr, the Jews have kabbalistic practices, while Buddhists have metta meditation and practice love and kindness. Theravada Buddhists follow practices like Marananussati bhavana which allows an individual to reflect upon their own mortality. In addition, Zen Buddhists practice Zazen meditation to bring them to a state of calmness. Shamanistic traditions practice trance states while Christians practice contemplative prayer.  Despite the type of meditation the individuals are participating in the meditative acts to find a connection with the higher ‘self’, higher being, God or the universe depending on what the individual is seeking.  However, spiritual meditation is when the individual focuses on developing a deeper understanding of meaning attached to spirituality or religion with the intention of connecting with the higher power.

How does spiritual meditation differ from meditation?

Spiritual meditation delves deeper than aiming to reduce stress or trying to relax, it is when an individual is intent on making a connection with the power greater than the ‘self’ hence associated to spiritual practices. Spiritual meditation is believed to arise from the soul and the experience can differ between individuals hence it is a very personal experience. Individuals have reported to experience the following when they have spiritual experience (Lifshitz, Van Elk, & Luhrmann, 2019):

• A feeling of awe
• Feelings of a spiritual presence
• Feels of transcendence
• Feelings of absorption and completeness
• Hearing different voices
• Seeing visions

There are numerous other spiritual experiences, however individuals should not try to force an experience of reaching the state of meditation. Each individual’s experience is unique to them, hence talking to other people about a spiritual experience is discouraged as other individuals may not understand experiences they have not encountered.  In addition, it will discourage unrealistic expectations that individuals can build up within their minds.