The State-of-the-Art of Meditation
Arthur J. Deikman
Routledge eBooks July 12, 2017 DOI: 10.4324/9780203785843-81 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that treating meditation primarily as a source of physiological data and experiences amounts to 'spiritual materialism,' compared to collecting oyster shells and discarding the pearls, and that this focus interferes with meditation's real potential, which the author identifies as spiritual growth or 'purifying the heart.' |
Abstract
Meditation has become acceptable to Western culture and a subject of increasing interest to scientists. It has been studied in university laboratories, adapted to statistical analysis, and translated into various physiological dimensions, all of which has yielded data of increasing refinement. Meditation was developed as part of a teaching system whose purpose was spiritual growth. "Spiritual growth" is an awkward goal for the scientific community to embrace—it sounds religious. The sages who invented the powerful techniques of meditation apparently knew what they were doing. "Purifying the heart" was evidently a difficult process in every spiritual tradition, requiring years of effort and the right attitude. Focusing primarily on the experiences and bodily effects of meditation is like collecting oyster shells and discarding the pearls. Such "spiritual materialism" inevitably interferes with the real potential of meditation.