Is meditation a religious act...?

Yo answer your question I am reproducing an excerpt to my article I had published at another site on meditation. Meditation is not just focusing your mind an any object or on your own breathing. [b]In meditation you not only have to just think; but one has to ponder. How can one think if one does not have any ideas or thoughts in his mind? In thinking you have to connect the ideas to form them into chain of thoughts. Then provide meanings to those ideas to create new thoughts; and then only mind would be able to provide an answer to what you are seeking. Only the person who has right kind of ideas in his mind can do meditation in a right way. Next important thing is to have the right question. The aim of meditation is to quest after God, because God alone is the truth. If you will quest after things other than God, then you will never know the truth and the answer you get would be wrong. Before you set out to meditate, it is important to purify your thoughts. Purge out any putrid thoughts and ideas that you might have in your mind. Your mind would remain free from impurities only if you would bring God itself into your memory because God is the pure spirit. His thought alone can purify your thoughts and ideas. Ideas enter your mind through our five senses of perceptions. What you see or read, what you hear, what you smell, what you touch and even what you utter may defile you. For best results best thing to do is to go in seclusion. You must read only the Holy Scriptures. Do not read anything about meditation or any other related matter. Do not even hear religious discourses from so called God-Men of today. Keep yourself physically clean. Pay attention to what you eat. If you can fast, then it would be all the more better. Take a light diet in the evening. Best time for meditation is wee hours of the morning. How you sit is not important; but in whatever position you sit, you must feel comfortable. Close your eyes and focus on the object of your quest. Remember it is not you who does the thinking. Mind does it for you; and let mind do its work. Meditate in this way for not more than two hours. Say your prayers before and after; do light exercise; yoga would be fine. Spend remaining time reading the scriptures and musing over what you have read the whole day. In meditation sleep is equally important. Whatever you do during day it would only provide the mind with food for thought. While you sleep the mind would assimilates it. Mind would arrange the ideas you have provided through your perceptions; and then it would assign meaning to it. Those meanings mind would again rearrange until it attains a coherent structure. Thus, the mind would create new chain of thoughts. If the meaning is still unclear, it would again seek meaning to new ideas; rearrange them into more coherent thoughts. It would repeat the process until the meaning is absolutely clear. Jot down everything what you observed in the dream; and muss over it the whole day. Repeat the process, until your quest for whatever you seek is complete. The process might take days, weeks, months and even years. Much depends on the type of quest you have; and the kind of purification you have achieved. Most important thing is that you should be under God’s grace all the time. Object of your quest must meet God’s very own purpose.[/b]

Meditation is of two kinds..one is concentration and the other is contemplation.What you are saying is meditation of contemplation.You meditate focusing the mind on finding the truth.It is also called self realization.You ask a question to yourself ."Who am I "is the subject you start contemplating.You will begin to realize that you are not the physical body nor the mind with which you think and not even the spirit which permeates the universe.When you do that you arrive at the truth that there is one and not dual as we see in this world.This school of thought known as "Advyatha" school of thought in Hinduism.This was propounded by ancient sages in India about 5400{Five thousand four hundred}years ago.It is very abstract and very and very difficult to understand.You can browse internet for Hindu philosophy to know more about it...

Excuse me.I am unable to understand how meditation can become religious act if it is done with extreme conscientiousnes.It is only focussing the mind on any object or your own brething.So you also agree that meditation as such iws not a religious act unless it is done with extreme conscientiousness.All ther best...

Meditating religiously with or to God is a really must requisite in meditations. For guidance, comfort and divine wisdom. Without God meditating is like sailing without navigation guidance systems. Your soul will be lost because of mixing other spirits while meditating. The soul is like a cup and the spirit are the liquids to fill-up with the cup or the soul. Every humans or others with intelligent living life forms has its own souls but has different mixtures of spirits. We as humans has the spirit of God (in the Bible's OT Book of Genesis, the spirit is the Breath of God that has given to us in our creation us humans), God's spirits are good spirits or those divine wisdoms. Though our spirits was been corrupted by the one who wants to be a god, and embedded those evil spirits in our soul and intertwined within our DNA genetically on our dimension of physical and material embodiments and manifestations. We to have accept and remember while we are meditating, we are still on the boundaries or still attached to the law of this world or on these planes of physicals and materials. Our being are still affected by the different laws of both of these worlds - the physical law and spiritual law. And there are beings who are still bounded and still attached on these world or plane of physical and materialisms but has no more embodiments of the physical or the body flesh, only with the soul and spirits thru their emotional manifestations. These can be manifested and bothered us while being on a meditative state. Their spirits can mixed within our souls and control our whole being or even pollute our own being. The worst and most dangerous is when our soul already been polluted with different mixtures of spirits through our abusive way of our freewill or a freewill without wisdom, and within the environments that surrounds us physically. So, a very effective meditation is to have our cleansing (spiritual and physical cleansing) and have always our Christ-self of awareness and our high consciousness that are focusing to be with one God.

Meditations are different types.Unless you are the blessed of the God you cannot do meditation.Meditation has no origin and people did meditation from ancient times.With advancement of science people began to question the efficacy of meditation.If one reads books or browse internet one can understand the importance of meditation.With full faith in God if you meditate you will reap wonderful results.May God bless you

Meditation is not religious act but it belongs to all religionsBy meditation we come closer to God and keep our souls and spirit healthy.Therefore we should do meditation irespective of the reigion we belong to.It is secular and no strings are attached to it.To keep healthy one can do meditation.It is free and costs nothing.Therefore let us try..

Meditation can be part of religious rites.But one need not be very religious to do meditation.It is focusing the mind in silence.When you sit in silence you will get answers to many spiritual doubts.It also improves your health as I experienced.A healthy mind is a healthy body and meditation gives mental health.So it is good for any one...

Yes.very good .You have correctly understood the concept of meditation.Any one can do it at any place and at any time.It is also free No expenditure and no obligation any one.As you say the best time is early hours of the morning when your mind fresh.The early morning silence adds strength to meditation .God bless you

I also believe that meditationhas nothing to do with any religion.I am a Hindu and I do the meditation of anapanasati which wasw propounded by Budha.Meditation is nothing but self dicipline.You can follow any religion and at the same time you can do meditation you like and suits you most as there are so many types of meditations.It is free and can be done at any place and at any time..

Any one can pray God and similarly any one can meditate. Prayer need not be done by person belonging to any particular religion.All religions advocate prayer.Some religions prescribe meditation as part religious ritual.Meditation is nothing but self discipline which improves your mental faculties and health as I have experienced myself.It is secular and nothing to do with any religion...

Any one can do meditation and it has nothing to do with any religion.You it and observe your own breathing.That is all.According toyour religion you can do pryers and worship God in any way you like.Meditation is self dicipline only which gives peace of mind and good health.For that you can do meditation...

You are right.It is not religious and has nothing to do with any religionIt is relaxsation of mind and in the process you become not only healthy but alsao enjoy peace of mind which is essential for happy living.It is free.It can be done at any time and at any place.You can be religious and also do meditation.There is no prohibition as such

Yes you can do prayer and prayer is also meditation only because in meditation we concentrate or contemplate on some object or nothing.In prayer also you do the same thing.You continue prayer and you will reap the good results which you get in meditation..

Very glad to hear that you like meditation.it has nothin to do with any religion.I am a Hindu and I do anapaanasati meditation propounded by Budha about 2500 years year ago, It is the simplest and easy to do.Sit in a calm and quite place in acomfortable posture.Close the eyes and start observing your own breathing.Thoughts come and we cannot prevent them.When the mind wonders simply bring it to the breathing.you can do it at any time and at any place.. .there is no time restriction.The ideal period of duration of mesitation is the number of minutres as your age is.It can be more or less,but it should done regularly to reap good results...

If the meditation is done according to the tenets of the religion you follow it may be a religious act.But observing own breathing as I do is not connected to any religion.I am a Hindu but I do meditation as propounded by Bhudha.In this way I consider meditation is not a religious act.

What you say is correct.There is no religion for meditation.People of any religion can meditate.Some religions prescribe meditation as a means to self realization.But in my experience I have found meditation as the best instrument for self improvement.Incidentally it improves your health condition.That is what I have felt with my little experience in meditation.It is free and costs nothing.Why not try and be benefited.....