A Brief History of Meditation
Did you know the history of meditation dates back literally thousands of years. No-one knows exactly how long people have chosen to cease their daily activities for a while and seek inner peace? Quite likely, meditation is as old as the human family itself.
Certainly, the roots of modern meditation are found deep in the past. Most religions lay some emphasis on the importance of contemplation and it is within these traditions that we find our meditation techniques of today.
Hinduism and Buddhist meditation, in particular, both have highly developed approaches that everyone can use.
Many Hindu gods are depicted meditating. In particular, Shiva is often shown as a holy man, sitting cross-legged, with eyes half closed, lost in meditation. There is much Hindu literature a bout meditation; most notably the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, who was writing some time between 200BC and AD 300.
Patanjali explains how to achieve a state that he calls ’samadhi’, which translates roughly as total absorption or ecstasy. The methods he describes – breath control, posture, withdrawal and concentration – are the same as those that practitioners of yoga meditation use today.