Is "Meditation" the same as going to a church/chapel when no one's there & just "listening"?

Question

I used to do that.Stayed all night one time(during a special service/vigil time)..also other times (for 30 min or hr.)...I can only remember getting one "message" from a book. It was "Go now..to serve your brothers." Maybe the message was for me to serve instead of meditate? I'm just guessing.Maybe I don't know how to meditate.Any messages I ever got were just from paying attention and listening...not meditating. Is there another purpose to meditating than getting messages?

Answer 1

Meditaion, is connecting to your source. Your true self.

good luck!

Answer 2

You can meditate by putting your mind on God at anytime, anywhere, no matter what you are doing.  Try it on a walk or a hike in the woods, out on a boat or just while laying in your bed at night.  If you listen close He will answer you back in the most marvelous ways.

Answer 3

meditation helps me open up and view what life is really about. It also helps me relax totally and have a positive perspective on my day and life in general

Answer 4

You are in a meditative state when your sitting in a Chapple/Church as you describe. Stop expecting a message, laugh. Clear your mind, see the thoughts, nothing is expected it just is. Later review those images, the feelings you felt. Then you will figure out if there is a message or an enlightenment for you at THIS time.

  Most of those moments come when we are not all that balanced and poised. Perfection is a dream, reality gives you gas and makes you laugh. The calm is what you seek in meditation. If God chooses to speak you will know it or feel the thunderbolt when you don't listen, laugh.

Answer 5

Yes and no. It depends on what type of meditation. Here are some links on types of meditation and how it is being studied (by those alternative health new age believers over at the National Institutes of Health j/k) for health purposes.

Psi

Answer 6

I suppose the answer depends on your personal defination or understanding of meditation and what it is. I have heard some people talk about "listening" and what they were really talking about was what I might call mediation. I think Quaker spirituality tends to think of meditation as that listening to some "inner source of light" or spirit and this would be different than what a Buddhist might think of it as.

Perhaps that message you got from the book was intended for you personally. Sometimes I think we get directed in that way.

Answer 7

Meditation, the fundamental ingredient for a harmonious co-existence with life. Understanding yourself, helps to comprehend others. The mind is an extremely powerful tool, that when used properly can benefit an individual, it helps build your Chi, an ancient oriental term for a soul, or inner strenght, it helps balance your ying & yang.

All you need to do, is sit or stand someplace comfortable, with a couple of slow deep breaths, concentrate on a joyful experiance, relax and let your mind do the rest.

Answer 8

yes but you can meditate anywhere that allows your thoughts to just "flow"....for me its riding in a car and nowhere else

Answer 9

meditating is touch the creation of gods soul. or energy , subconscience, in breed. you can learn alot about your self. i focus on the energy around me. the movement of air is created to move air. they move a speed unknow to man. there is no reason with energy unless we know its perpose and how real  the mover of the air being gases. so to......well evolve move inforcing souls to guide, or just a cooling breeze. feel deep flow of purpose this is your living before you to the start of your creation as a mammal. we hold secrets about our selve. this is geniality. tree. we had everything die from start to exist for you a creature of a god. to one day very soon become. but first you create an image of believable peportions give achievable  expectation and realize god grows through gods world. god is a collaberation of the whole planet. so if there is something still wrong than your god is not being listened to. listen to your gut and make some irrational choses some times. but do it for the gut and have faith in an all joining mission to find a more exceptable life force. take question with things you find difficult. do nothing that takes you away from being. you are sent to be, and that needs some challenge in heart and convicttion when it comes to shame and uneasieness. why do people continue to suffer because we look for answers out side our self. thats the challenge to the challenge of change and why. you all have reason to tweek some of these defective old concepts. you would be alot better if you would be alot less ancchess to prove the next guy wrong he might have a right to speek. no. you might be surprised.keep doing want ever if you are called like you were. then your destiny will be layed before you. it is connection with the holy spirit that possess you regarless of your back ground. there would be nolife in you. you as matter of the flesh is first an iomage of god in the heavenlies. therefore i would start looking for history of soul through the guideness of your ominious being living for the souls of the lost. look for thoughs weird moments that you fluff off as wierd. you might of been influence by one that came for yours, or from yours, or for the ones that will though you.

Answer 10

It solely depends on how "you" perceive it to be.  If that is a comfortable place for you to clear your mind & be at peace, then yes.

Everyone is different & practices meditating in their own way.

Answer 11

The meditation training I received was based on freeing my mind from ALL thought, by replacing thought with a sound. And when a thought tried to come in, I was instructed to just allow it to enter and to leave. I think meditation works best when you are totally free of any outside sound or thought. It allows your mind to go about its work of repairing your body without all those thoughts getting in its way!