Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, and Smell as Pathways for Meditation – A Review of Classical and Neuroscience Texts
Journal of Applied Consciousness Studies July 1, 2024 A. Shivaram, Judu Ilavarasu, Raghavendra Bhat
Meditation research can be enriched by integrating neuroscientific findings with classical philosophical frameworks. This review examines the hierarchical meditative states described in Patañjali's Yoga darśana, using an information flow model from Sāṅkhya and Yoga philosophy. It focuses on sense perception as a path to higher meditative states, detailing how practitioners use gross sense objects (sound, touch, form, smell, taste) to enter the Vitarka state, then progress to the Vicāra state by replacing them with subtle sense objects. The review also discusses sense transduction—how sensory stimulation converts to neuro-electrical signals—and summarizes ayurvedic, classical, and contemporary yogic practices related to each sense pathway.