Page 169 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

150 Mysteries of the Mind

Punna, or insight, doesn’t come until the stu- cence, or the highest form of enlightenment
dent masters mindfulness of the body, feelings, and the goal of Taoist meditation.
mind, and mind objects, and even then it is The Upanishads of India give a detailed
said that there are many states in between that description of the psychology of meditation as
may trick one into rapturous states or feelings being the way to control the physical senses
such as happiness, lucidity and the like, that and actions, thereby freeing oneself from the
might make the student believe the state of bondage of the external world. The Upan-
nirvana has been reached when in fact there ishads speak of the cultivation of a one-point-
may be many other levels yet to be mastered. ed mind through meditation as being the pre-
lude to attaining God consciousness.
Kabbalistic literature and teachings, as
well as biblical references to prayer and medi-
THE Upanishads says meditation is the prelude tation throughout both the Old and New Tes-
to attaining God consciousness. taments, cite setting self apart from the masses
and going to a still, quiet place—within and
without—as a source of mystical communica-
tion with God.
Once the three levels are achieved, medi-
tation becomes effortless and consciousness The process of meditation, whether spiri-
ceases to have a need of any object of any tual or secular, is most often described as sim-
kind, thus all attachments to the material ply being a way of learning to still the mind—
world are severed to the “wakened being.” to slow it down, enabling one to listen within,
This final stage is said to only be able to last to the “voice within.” Although most individ-
for seven days as the person’s pulse, metabo- uals are not aware of the myriad of thoughts
lism, and all other physical functions drop so and chatter that rampage through the mind
low that death would occur. like a wild, untamed horse at each and any
given moment, that is the challenge—to slow
In Tibetan Buddhism, training is composed
of three parts as well. Those three parts are: down all thoughts to a single thought or even
to no thoughts at all—complete stillness, the
1. Hearing, which includes reading and lis- unruly beast tamed at last.
tening to lectures, or studying and the like.
Another analogy often used to describe
2. Contemplation.
the process of meditation is to compare the
3. Meditation. human mind to a lake that contains great
Meditation dates back to antiquity as the treasures deep within, but an intense storm
Ria Veda, the earliest recorded religious litera- agitates and stirs the waters—clouding the
ture of Northern India, written about 1000 view of the treasures below. Even if an occa-
B.C.E., in an Indo-European language, des- sional glimpse of the treasures is possible
cribes in detail the ecstasy experienced in through the windswept waters, the view would
meditation. be distorted. Here again, to gain mental con-
In the Taoist work, Tao Teh Ching of trol and focus is the aim of slowing down the
China, written four or five centuries B.C.E., raging storm or the “mental tapes” that con-
formalized meditation is also recorded. The tinually play in one’s head.
Taoists emphasized breath control in medita- Some say that even the descriptions them-
tive practice and believed it to be a skill to be selves of meditation are a misnomer by defini-
achieved in many stages. The ultimate stage tion. Experts say it is not a manipulation of
or goal is to be able to breathe without inhal- the mind, but a going beyond mind, beyond
ing or exhaling—to the point of the complete thought—to the total absence of thought.
cessation of the pulse. If one were able to That “beyond mind” state—much like a calm,
arrive at this stage successfully, it was said they clear reflective pool—that not only mirrors
would transcend conscious thought to the the mind’s surface, but also reveals its depths.
state of what they called the Great Quies- Accomplishing this mental/spiritual state isn‘t

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