It’s no secret that meditation has become more popular over the last few years. But why is it so popular? Is there anything to meditating besides the fact that it has been around for thousands of years?
Meditation was used in ancient times by the Greeks and Romans to help people calm down and heal their emotional and physical ailments. Many Ancient Indian cultures have used meditation for centuries and still continue to use it today. And, of course, meditation was common in religious history from the very beginning.
The early Christians and Jewish people meditated and these religions may even be seen as a sort of hybrid between the two. There are plenty of texts that show both practices in the past. If you look, you can find almost no limits of cases where people practiced meditation as a way to concentrate and free their minds from spiritual stresses. In the modern use of meditation, it has become very popular because it helps people to stay focused on the present moment. They see their lives as a series of cycles and although they may have never been introspective, they can sense when they’re just spinning their wheels. A good example of this is the famous San Francisco blues musician B.B. King.
He once stated that he started to meditate while he was on stage performing at the same time he started writing his best-selling album, “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady”. Many say that because of his personal experiences, that was his first start to meditate.
Many people are now practicing meditation to attain some sort of balance with their lives and in our society, it seems like many adults are taking up meditation as well. Maybe it’s just because we live in such a fast paced society, where the only thing to do is to become more productive and then move on.
Butif you look at some of the famous Zen master’s who have lived throughout history, there is no doubt that they practiced meditation. Many became so focused on meditation that they developed the ability to use their mind to achieve enlightenment or a state of inner peace. Is meditation here to stay?