the brain) controls all the lower glands. It is also the seat of the mind. Through it, it is possible to know everything about the past, present and the future. The pineal gland, at the top of the brain, is the master gland. It controls the mind as well as the body and it becomes activated when we meditate. The hormone melatonin, which it secretes, gives the feeling of bliss and infinite happiness (Goldman, 1996;
http://www.hathayoga.co.zalsound.htm).
2.4.1.1 Transcendental meditation (TM)
Transcendental meditation orTM is the trademarked name of the most common form of mantra meditation. It was introduced in 1958 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. TM is taught using a commercial system in which one begins by purchasing a mantra.
Mantras assist in preventing distracting thoughts.
TM is taught by qualified teachers who have undergone an extensive and systematic training programme, ensuring high professional standards worldwide. Instruction involves a standardized, seven-step procedure. This includes two introductory lectures, a personal interview, and a two-hour instruction session, given on each of four consecutive days. Instruction begins with a short ceremony performed by the teacher, after which, the student leams a mantra and begins practicing mantra meditation twice a day for 20 minutes in the morning and for the same period, in the evening. Students are instructed to be passive and, if thoughts other than the mantra come to mind, to notice them and return to the mantra Subsequent sessions provide further clarification of correct practice, as well as more information about the technique.
TM allows mental activity to settle down in a natural way while alertness is maintained and enhanced. Following TM, individuals report feeling refreshed physically and mentally. The mind is calmer and more alert, thinking is clearer, and energy levels are increased. Benefits are cumUlative with regular practice. More can be accomplished with less effort. Those with busy schedules note that TM brings
increased efficiency in activity, and, time is used more effectively. When mental and physical well-being are enhanced, personal relationships also improve, a commonly reported and valued benefit of TM.
A number of studies have reported finding a positive correlation between the Transcendental Meditation technique and various health-related conditions, including reduction of high blood pressure, younger biological age, decreased insomnia, reduction of high cholesterol, reduced illness and medical expenditures, decreased outpatient visits, decreased cigarette smoking, decreased alcohol use and decreased anxiety (Maclean& Walton, 2001; Schenider, 1997).
The TM organization recommends that the TM technique be learned from an authorised teacher only. The fee in the U.S. is currently over $2,500. This technique requires on-going instruction which entails an escalating system of fees that can be cost prohibitive (Skolnick, 1991).
2.4.1.2 Mindfulness and Vipassana meditation
Vipassana is both a general term referring to a specialised form of mindfulness meditation and also a specific brand name. Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills.
Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body, which can be experienced directly by
disciplined attention to the physical sensations thatform the life of the body, and that continuously interconnect and condition the life of the mind. It is this observation- based, self-exploratory journey to the common root of mind and body which dissolves mental impurity, resulting in a balanced mind full of love and compassion.
Vipassana is taught in Australia via a number of Vipassana retreats and centres. The retreats involve up to 10 days of intensive meditation, several hours per day, and other strict observances such as not talking and encouragement to maintain strict postures for long periods of time. During this period, participants follow a prescribed code of discipline; learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. The course requires hard, serious work.
There are three steps in the training. The first step, for the period of the course, is to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual activity, speaking falsely, and indulging in intoxicants. This simple code of moral conduct serves to calm the mind, which otherwise would be too agitated to perform the task of self-observation. The next step is to develop some mastery over the mind, by learning to fix one's attention on the natural reality of the ever changing flow of breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils.
By the fourth day the mind is calmer and more focused, better able to undertake the practice of Vipassana itself: observing sensations throughout the body, understanding their nature, and developing equanimity by learning not to react to them. Finally, on the last full day participants learn the meditation of loving kindness or goodwill towards all, in which the purity developed during the course, is shared with all beings.
Interested people are invited to join a Vipassana course to see how the technique works and to measure the benefits. Vipassana courses are even conducted in prisons, with great success and wonderful benefits for the inmates who participate.
All those who try it will find Vipassana to be an invaluable tool with which to achieve and share real happiness with others.
There is nofee for these retreats but 'recommended donations' are described. These retreats are unsuitable for the average person, particularly those unfamiliar with meditation, due to the extreme physical and psychological demands. Mindfulness approaches have been shown to be effective in certain clinical applications such as chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth &Burney, 1998; Shapiro &Deane, 2001).