Meditation in Taoism - Research Paper Example

Meditation in Taoism Taoist meditation is one of the common forms of meditation in the Chinese community. Taoism is a religious and health promotion program. It has a series of exercises and practices that define a real Tao. In this community, meditation is a vital aspect of life that enables an individual to discover him or herself. Some people describe this form of meditation as a ‘sit and forget’ thing1. It requires an individual to forget about any external sensory input and focus on the inner being. Through this form of meditation, the people find new inner energies and rejuvenate. Taoist meditation gives the mind an opportunity to focus wholly. This form of meditation is evident in the Buddhist religion2. Meditation is a religious aspect that seeks to define life and its forms and to connect with nature. It helps an individual realize meaning of life and peace. Since Taoist meditation is a humble form of meditation, people practicing it experience a new form of transformation that generates energy enough to do anything the individual intends. Evidently, a Taoist meditation serves to connect body, spirit, and mind. Taoist meditation is a common aspect among the different groups of Taos. For some, it is purely way to attain the transformation to immortality. The Taoist meditation has health benefits because it concentrates on establishing a healthy status of the mind and body. Taos believe that meditation can lengthen life and real Taos believe in n eternity3. Meditation makes the human spirit sensitive to spiritual matters. It leads to a new form of discovery that identifies with nature. From the Taoist view, they seek to establish knowledge of nature and reality and associate with the changing forms of nature. The ultimate goal of a Taoist is to observe nature and its complexity and patterns and then apply these patterns to drive life. Taoists believe that humans are part of the vast universe. The Taoist keeps making efforts to discover the true pure mind. The Taoist meditation is an inner exercise4. The meditation takes fifteen minutes or more. It requires a cool and still internal environment. The individual must create a balance in the body posture, regulate and slow down breathing and then concentrate on the inner self. The Taoists consider the body, breathe, and spirit as the three treasures. A comfortable body posture ensures that the body weight is under a good balance and the spine remains straight. An individual must give attention to sensations resulting from the physical senses. In some cases, Taoists involve themselves in exercises that strengthen bones as well as regulating the calcium concentration in the bones5. In the next level of meditation, one should concentrate on the breathing motions from the lungs to the nostrils. Breathing in and out and feeling the abdominal movements is essential. An individual alternates breathing through the nostrils, the mouth, and advances to the level of breathing with the body as a whole. For regular practitioners of Taoism, they can also practice breathe holding for oxygen to air to diffuse into all body organs. Taoists believe that as breathing progresses, an individual reaches a point of letting intention drive the breathing process. They believe that intention evolves from deep inside. According to Taoism, intention has a sense of giving direction and creating purpose. An individual must clear the mind of any thoughts and feelings6. The mind must realize a state of emptiness for intention to flow freely. For an individual to empty the mind of thoughts, he or she must give a passive attention to thoughts. He or she should not resist the uprising thoughts. After some time, the thoughts will disappear on their own and the mind will attain a level of emptiness. For them, the body relaxation must give way to regular and controlled breathing. As breathing exercises progress, the individual gets an opportunity tom free their minds. Critics argue that scientific evidence does not indicate that air goes down to the abdomen, as Taoists believe. However, the tacos may lack the correct biological explanation for what they do but it is clear that when the body relaxes and breathing is efficient, the mind gets an opportunity to focus. With the ability to concentrate and associate with nature, all the worries seem to fade and the human mind begins a self-inquiry on existence7. In addition, Taoists believe that in the process of alternating breathing in and out, an individual can do away with all resentments. In their understanding, each time a person breathes in clean fresh air into their system, the next natural phase is to breathe out all deoxygenated contaminated air. During meditation, an individual must breathe out all bad feelings, negative thoughts, resentments, anger, and all negative emotions. Taoists believe that if one concentrates on breathing, they can release all their predicaments and they breathe in fresh air, the adequate circulation brings about a feeling of rejuvenation. For some Taoists, meditation helps them reach attain a spiritual goal. To them, it is part of their religion. They want to focus on the Supreme Being. For this to happen, Taoists believe that they should free their minds of all thoughts and emotions. The mind must acquire a pure state that can focus all its energy on the Maker. Taoists experience a satisfying connection with religion when they take time to focus on while excluding all other ideas from the mind. Scientific evidence backs up the fact that meditation works for the Taoist. As one relaxes and calms down in concentration, the sub-conscious mind usually opens up. Exploring the sub-conscious minds leads to an understanding of an inner self that an individual has not always known. Taoists benefit greatly from the exploration of the sub-conscious self and this explains why they portray a higher level of inner stability. Getting to connect with the subconscious mind comes after effort and concentration8. Taoists are able to cause a change that alters the processes involved in running body systems. Meditation gives the body an opportunity to reduce its pace in pulse and pressure9. The calmness and stillness is good for the body as well as for the mind. Sometimes the body is under constant pressure and meditation helps release all these build-up pressures. Meditation also releases pressure on the nervous system, increases metabolic rate and other body functions. Taoists have healthy bodies compared to people who do not meditate. In addition, Taoists experience an immense connection between the physiological components of the body and the psychology of the mind. The body functions affected positively by meditation make it possible for a psychological discovery of the hidden self10. The psychological discovery helps an individual become more self-aware. A self-aware individual realizes their inner strengths and appreciates them. In addition, such an individual realizes the areas in which he needs improvement and works on them. Becoming self-aware brings about a self-acceptance and high esteem and these enable an individual to become more effective in their chores. Taoists who meditate regularly are likely to display self-motivation and efficiency in their lives. Taoist meditation can help an individual deal with stress and depression effectively. Meditation affects the endocrine system because it relaxes the nervous system. The body produces several hormones when stressing conditions occur. Getting some to concentrate and meditate on the inner being will slow down the nervous transmissions affecting the endocrine system, as one lets go of depressing thoughts, the endocrine system cuts down the stress hormone system and reduces the good hormones11. In my understanding, Taoists manage to overcome their ego and its concerns. The human egos make demands that bring illusions to our lives. These illusions are what trouble most people in society. Illusions blind the human mind greatly especially if the individual does not take time to think things over. Illusions make us make the wrong decisions. For a Taoist, he realizes the need to overcome the ego from deep within and create images that counter what the ego demands. Meditation helps the Taoist reach a state of sanity and purity12. In this state, the human mind possesses the power to overcome the demands of the human egoistic nature. The complexity of the Taoist meditation experience comes when the Taos do it to achieve a state of immortality. Apparently, this is the religious part of the meditation. Taoists believe that through this process one can attain a level of tranquility. Tranquility to them ensures the continuity of life. It makes one realize the definition of eternity. Whereas it is easy to link all others aspects of the meditation with science or psychology, the issue of the immortal state of the mind bears logic from the religious view only13. In a different sense, Taoist meditation gives the individual an opportunity to live in the present. As an individual concentrates on their thoughts and inner self and filters the away the negative thoughts. The mind can analyze things clearly and identify areas that need change in an individual’s life. After some meditation, the mind learns to accept things the way they are at present. In the end, the mind learns to take life as it comes. Such people find more utility in life and realize that there is a purpose to take each day as it comes. Although adequate research to back up the exact roles and consequences of meditation is lacking to back up every explanation of the effects of meditation, it has been working for the Taos. These people started it out without a scientific explanation but rather as a religious practice. However, from the results people have noted, meditation is widely adopted in many societies. Even the westerners have been considering the essence of meditation. The process of meditation receives attention and recognition in medicine today. Due to the beliefs that they hold in place concerning cosmos and all that relates with the source of life the meditation works magic for them14. The mystery of how everything works remains unknown. Whether it is the concentration of the religious beliefs, nobody knows. They can achieve anything they desire from the meditation process because to them, it is the way to eternity. Meditation is among other activities and practices of Taoism. True Taoism is too broad to define. All activities and practices seek to explain the nature of existence and the true nature of the human mind. The Taoist meditation is a complex procedure that only a few scholars understand. The definition of a Tao is sometimes too inclusive. On the contrary, sometimes Tao is too exclusive that one wonders how many Taos exist in the Chinese society. There are different types of meditation. The Taos perform varying rituals and works of magic alongside each meditation. Taoism is a unique form of Buddhism and the focus of meditation shifts according to goals15. According the Taoists, meditation defines the health status of the people. If people have failed to achieve tranquility in meditation, disasters strike. Disease is a sign that the people have lost connection with nature and they have to make efforts to recover life. This belief heavily contradicts the understanding of the causes of diseases. Meditation that focuses on a certain ailing part of body brings healing to the Taoist16. Cleansing rituals performed alongside meditation serve to heal the sick. Taoist meditation is a complex aspect of the Taoist religious group. The meditation serves several purposes to the individuals. The meditation seeks to unite the body, mind, and spirit. An individual must establish a comfortable posture. Ion addition, he, or she must regulate and control breathing and indulge in the process of letting go and clear the mind of all thoughts. Getting rid of all thoughts leaves the mind in emptiness17. In this emptiness, the subconscious mind reveals that there is more than the conscious mind can understand. Some results of meditation have scientific backing while others have their basis on religious beliefs and understanding. Meditation is just one of the aspects of the Taoist religious and magical experience. As described above, Taoist meditation connects the body, mind, and spirit in an immense way. Work cited Livia Kohn. Meditation Works: in the Daoist, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions. California: Three Pines Press, 2008. Print. Livia Kohn. Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation. California: Three Pines Press, 2010. Print. Kohn, Livia. Taoist meditation and longevity techniques. Michigan: University of Michigan, 1989. Print. Read More