Meditation

To Man On The Hill, what exactly is your definition of "enlightenment"?
This terminology has its origins in the upanishads and tantras of India, and is the basis of the yogic tradition.
On another note, although the idea of meditation supposedly denotes a "peace of mind" type of state, when compared to actual Samadhi, "enlightenment or God consciousness",the actual mental condition we know as "mind" can never be at peace, for by its very nature it is in chaos because of its external pranic flow into the experiencing of this world through the lense of the finite self.
Thus, for meditation to effectually be accomplished, the mind must be pointed inward, to the source of its own consciousness, the divine within.
Visions, mental pr psychic experiences and the like may passify the novice, but these are simply lower cakra events and are temporary.
Always know that the mental constitution that you take to be yourself, is in all actuality one big cakra flux, a fluxation of pranic consciousness that acts to make you think you are you:this is Maya.
You are really God, do you think like God or act like God? No. It is because of the cakra fluxation modality I just described.Your ego is a mask on the face of your divine self, your spirit.Meditation is one facet of the stone of yoga tools that lead to divine self realization, to the actual realization that you are indeed divine.
Despite what you may read or find otherwise, actual meditation is not commonly known and for the most part is mis-practiced. This is why we don't have legions of divine self realized beings roaming around.
It is true that god self realization is a peaceful state, but you don't get that from five minutes of practice, but once attained, embodied immortality is the result. Seek and Ye Shall Find. Peace, Love and Flowers, Yogin Bhairava Atmabhoda Sarasvati

 

wow...thanks guys I didn't expect this much information.

 

What is true meditation? What do you mean by misused?

 

Meditation is a specifc science that comes from the divine scriptures of India, as a means for man to retrace his or hers consciousness back to the source of that consciousness, the mind of God. You have only two choices in existence my friend, notice I said existence and not life. Until you attain your own divinty, you are only a facsimile of life. So your choices are to stay in the state wher you think you are you, and that is what will expire when that time comes. Or through yoga and complete meditation practices you can become your divine self, and at the time of expiration you just step over,because you are already one with God. This is yoga.
Meditation done without this goal is mis-use.
Its like two kids riding a $200,000, 8000 horsepower funny car around and round in the yard, without knowing what else to do with it.But meditation is a divine technique, perfection of it is grace.
As I've said many times, mediation is a means to effect citta prana into a onepointed flow back into your head. This done long enough takes you back into the ajna cakra bindu, the inception point for the transcendental realms that are the source of your finite self to begin with. It is called dhyana ekagra.

 

Good, that's exactly what I do

 

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. There are many different meditation methods.
At the core of meditation is the goal to focus and eventually quiet your mind. As you progress, you will find that you can meditate anywhere and at any time, accessing an inner calm no matter what's going on around you. You will also find that you can better control your reactions to things as you become increasingly aware of your thoughts (letting go of anger, for example). But first, you have to learn to tame your mind.

 

As you can see there are many different viewpoints. From my standpoint, it's personal and everyone gets something different out of it. Some just want a sense of calm and focus and others achieve an out of body experience. There is no right or wrong answer from my way of thinking as long as you feel it is benefiting you.