Meditation is a practice where an individual operates or trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefits or for the mind to simply acknowledge its content without becoming identified with that content,or as an end in itself.The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (qi, ki, prana, etc.) and develop compassion,love, patience, generosity, and forgiveness. A particularly ambitious form of meditation aims at effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration meant to enable its practitioner to enjoy an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any life activity.

The word meditation carries different meanings in different contexts. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity as a component of numerous religious traditions and beliefs.Meditation often involves an internal effort to self-regulate the mind in some way. Meditation is often used to clear the mind and ease many health concerns, such as high blood pressure,[6] depression, and anxiety. It may be done sitting, or in an active way—for instance, Buddhist monks involve awareness in their day-to-day activities as a form of mind-training. Prayer beads or other ritual objects are commonly used during meditation in order to keep track of or remind the practitioner about some aspect of that training.

Meditation may involve generating an emotional state for the purpose of analyzing that state—such as anger, hatred, etc.—or cultivating a particular mental response to various phenomena, such as compassion.The term “meditation” can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state.Meditation may also involve repeating a mantra and closing the eyes.The mantra is chosen based on its suitability to the individual meditator. Meditation has a calming effect and directs awareness inward until pure awareness is achieved, described as “being awake inside without being aware of anything except awareness itself.”In brief, there are dozens of specific styles of meditation practice, and many different types of activity commonly referred to as meditative practices.

Etymology

The English meditation is derived from the Latin meditatio, from a verb meditari, meaning “to think, contemplate, devise, ponder”.

In the Old Testament, hāgâ (Hebrew: הגה) means to sigh or murmur, and also, to meditate.[15] When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, hāgâ became the Greek melete. The Latin Bible then translated hāgâmelete into meditatio.[16]The use of the term meditatio as part of a formal, stepwise process of meditation goes back to the 12th-century monk Guigo II.

Apart from its historical usage, the term meditation was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices, referred to as dhyāna in Buddhism and in Hinduism, which comes from the Sanskrit root dhyai, meaning to contemplate or meditate.The term “meditation” in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism,or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm.An edited book about “meditation” published in 2003, for example, included chapter contributions by authors describing Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions.Scholars have noted that “the term ‘meditation’ as it has entered contemporary usage” is parallel to the term “contemplation” in Christianity,but in many cases, practices similar to modern forms of meditation were simply called “prayer”. Christian, Judaic, and Islamic forms of meditation are typically devotional, scriptural or thematic, while Asian forms of meditation are often more purely technical.