The scientific research and categorization of the
existing types of meditation is at its beginning stages. If you search for
types of meditation on Internet, you will get wide range of the proposed
classifiers. And most of the versatile classifications will make sense.
Today, I would like to present one of the ground base
categorization, which might help to get overview on the meditation structure,
approaches, allowing to focus on the category which will looks more suitable
than others.
Scientists today perform a significant amount of formal
research on various meditation techniques. Because the word 'meditation' is
used loosely in society to describe many different activities, scientists have
to be careful about how they use the term in context of research.
Dr. Fred Travis of Maharishi University of Management has
been promoting a unified set of terms to categorize the many meditation
techniques which exist today. In fact, he argues that all forms of meditation
can be narrowed down to three types. These types are defined based on the
techniques used, and these techniques correlate clearly to very specific, and
distinguishable neurological responses.
To summarize, Dr. Travis encourages all researchers to
utilize these three terms to describe the kind of meditation they use in their
studies.
All quotes in this article come from the study Travis, F. and Shear, J.
(2010). Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending:
Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions.
Consciousness and Cognition, 19:1110-1119.
1. Focused
Attention
Focusing the attention on a single object during the
whole meditation session. This object may be the breath, a mantra,
visualization, part of the body, external object, etc. As the practitioner
advances, his ability to keep the flow of attention in the chosen object gets
stronger, and distractions become less common and short-lived. Both the depth
and steadiness of his attention are developed.
So, the focused attention techniques are the
stereotypical 'focus your thoughts, empty your mind' techniques. These vary
from starting into a single point, to counting up in numbers mentally without
allowing the mind to stray. While the techniques vary, the overall effect on
the brain is surprisingly similar. Focused attention meditations result in
beta2 and gamma activity.
"In focused attention or concentrative style of
meditations, voluntary sustained attention is focused on a given object, and
attention is brought back to the object of attention when the mind has
wandered."
"Beta2 and gamma activity have been reported across
meditation practices from the Tibetan Buddhist, Chinese, and Buddhist
traditions. Beta2 and gamma activity was reported when individuals sustained
focused on an area of the body or when creating a strong inner emotion or a
strong visual image, and strictly controlling the deviation of attention from
that object."
"Gamma activity reflects local processing within
short-range connections responsible for object recognition and so construction
of the content of experience. Synchronized gamma serves as a gain control for
mental processing, enabling postsynaptic potentials to integrate and so direct
downstream networks to bind the elements of sensory processing into a
perceptual object. Gamma band activity closely follows local changes in brain
blood flow and increases synaptic plasticity important for long term memories."
"Cortico-thalamic feedback loops modulating
attention operate in the beta1 frequency. Beta1 bursts shift the system to an
attention state that consequently allows for gamma synchronization and
perception. Beta1 activity arises from “regional” processes that develop
between nearby macrocolumns. Beta1 activity has been associated with binding of
sensory qualities into a unified perception, such as the integration of visual
and auditory information. Increase of temporal and parietal 13-18 Hz beta1
coherence was seen across recognition tasks involving pictures, spoken words
and written words. Consequently, beta1 activity during meditation practices may
play a role in creating the unity of meditation experiences and could be part
of all three categories."
Examples of these are: Samatha (Buddhist
meditation), some forms of Zazen, Loving Kindness Meditation, Chakra Meditation,
Kundalini Meditation, Sound Meditation, Mantra Meditation, Pranayama, some
forms of Qigong, Zen 3rd ventricle, and Diamond Way Buddhism, and many others.
2. Open Monitoring
Instead of focusing the attention on any one object, we
keep it open, monitoring all aspects of our experience, without judgment or
attachment. All perceptions, be them internal (thoughts, feelings, memory,
etc.) or external (sound, smell, etc.), are recognized and seen for what they
are. It is the process of non-reactive monitoring of the content of experience
from moment to moment, without going into them.
Open monitoring meditations result in theta activity.
"Open monitoring or mindfulness-based meditations,
involve the non-reactive monitoring of the content of ongoing experience,
primarily as a means to become reflectively aware of the nature of emotional
and cognitive patterns."
"Frontal midline theta, which originates in medial
prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, is a neural index of monitoring inner
processes. Frontal midline theta is reported during tasks requiring
self-control, internal timing, and assessment of reward; during working memory
tasks; and during tasks requiring memory retention and mental imagery. Frontal
midline theta activity increases a few seconds before a self-initiated
hand-movement and reaches a peak immediately after the movement. Theta activity
dynamically coordinate central executive circuits during serial subtraction.
Consequently, we expect frontal midline theta in a meditation that involves
monitoring ongoing experience without high levels of control and manipulation
of the contents of experience."
Examples of open monitoring meditation techniques include
Examples are: Mindfulness meditation, Vipassana, some types of Taoist
Meditation, Zen meditation, Sahaja Yoga, and Concentrative Qigong. Of course,
others would fall into this category as well.
3. Automatic
Self-Transcending
These first two meditations keep you involved in
thinking. And what they do is they are developing specific cognitive skills,
thinking skills that you can use after meditation. The last category of
meditation involves least effort. It is called automatic self-transcending. The
self, that's being transcending here is the meditation procedure itself. The
other meditations involve being involved in the thinking process, so there is
the knower, you are experiencing some object of experience. Meditations in
automatic self-transcending actually allow the thinking process to settle down
to get to being. You are actually transcending, you are going beyond thoughts
and categories and experiences, and just experiencing what is the level of
wakefulness which is at the source of thoughts. When you are having this type
of cognitive process the attention is turned within and you are just awake,
which is at a very specific frequency which is called Alpha 1. Brain waves go
up and down 8 to 10 times per second. Meditation where we see this type of
brain is transcendental meditation.
So, automatic self-transcending represents the state
where the attention is not focused on anything in particular, but reposes on
itself – quiet, empty, steady, and introverted. We can also call it “Choiceless
Awareness” or “Pure Being”. Most of the meditation quotes you find speak of
this state.
This is actually the true purpose behind all kinds of
meditation, and not a meditation type in itself. All traditional techniques of
meditation recognize that the object of focus, and even the process of
monitoring, is just a means to train the mind, so that effortless inner silence
and deeper states of consciousness can be discovered. Eventually both the
object of focus and the process itself is left behind, and there is only left
the true self of the practitioner, as “pure presence”.
"Transcending involves automatic settling down of
mental activity to a state of quiescence. Since cognitive control increases
mental activity, transcending procedures would need to involve minimal
cognitive control—said to be automatic or effortless."
Examples of Automatic Self-Transcending techniques
include Transcendental Meditation (TM), Natural Stress Relief (NSR), the
Self-Enquiry (“I am” meditation) of Ramana Maharishi; Dzogchen; Mahamudra; some
forms of Taoist Meditation; and some advanced forms of Raja Yoga.
Noteworthy is the fact that research has shown that
"The automaticity of the TM technique is reflected in research reporting
the lack of a novice/expert dichotomy among TM meditators, in contrast to
research on other meditation traditions". This means that meditations in
this category do not require practice or skill to master. The consciousness
simply responds to the technique effectively the first time the technique is
initiated in the mind.
"Alpha activity in association areas may represent
liveliness of the “screen of consciousness,” which provides context for
grouping isolated elements into the unity of experience. For instance, when
solving a problem by intuition or insight, alpha activity increases first,
followed by increases in the gamma band when the idea comes to mind. Also,
cross frequency coherence—the synchrony between alpha, beta and gamma—increases
with higher cognitive load on a continuous mental arithmetic task. Cross
frequency coherence is considered important for integrating anatomically
distributed processing in the brain"
What Meditation IS
NOT
In many studies on meditation, the control group uses
simple eyes-closed rest. Results of this 'technique' are then compared to the
real technique. It's a lot like using a placebo when studying a new drug.
The term 'meditation' should not be confused with
eyes-closed rest, or simple relaxation techniques.
Sources and
Additional Information:
