Meditation and Technology

By

Rich Davis

I often hear experienced meditators say that modern technology has no place in meditation because the process and techniques have an ancient lineage and cannot be improved on. There’s no doubt that  these ancient practices are effective and have taken millions of people down the path to enlightenment but it's important to understand the culture in which these techniques flourished, how today's fast paced modern culture is different, and how that difference effects the process of learning to meditate.

During ancient times seekers embarking on a study of meditation went to a master.

A master was someone who had reached the level of consciousness that included a open, functioning third-eye. The third-eye allowed the Master to see a seekers Aura. This told him where he or she was, what technique best suited them, and allow him to help them move deeper..

Today most of us don't have access to a Master.

 Teachers are not as available to monitor our progress and for the most part do not have an open, functioning, third eye. Many people never get started or quit immediately because it’s too hard. At the beginning we see many tangible results from our practice but over time results become less visible, our practice gets dull, and since we have no external measurement of progress or incentive to change, we stay at the same level or we quit meditating. Technology that makes meditation easier, more accessible, and promotes deeper states of consciousness is important to all of us.

Modern science has developed technology that emulates the sound waves created by the mind while in the meditative state.

Mind wave sound technology creates states in the mind that promote deep relaxation, thoughts disappear and a moment comes when everything becomes silent in you. This is the jump off point for meditation and just being in this state will provide a state of deep rest and calm that will flow into your life like a river overflowing its banks, spreading out over a dry, flat plain bringing invigoration and a calm peaceful awareness.

With sound technology things are very certain, because it doesn't depend on any doing of yours.

It’s just like listening to music: you feel peaceful, harmonious. This technology will lead you to the third state - Deep sleep, sleep without dreams. But this is not meditation. It is good experience, and while you are in that moment of deep sleep, if you can also be aware from the very beginning, as the minds starts changing its waves...you become more alert, more watchful - what is happening? - and you will see the mind is falling asleep...the one who is seeing the mind falling asleep is your being, and that (alert watching entity) is the end result of all meditation. This technology cannot create this awareness.

*That awareness you will have to create, but this technology can certainly create within ten minutes a possibility that you may not be able to create in years of effort."

Osho

I’ve found that using a technique like watching the breath in conjunction with Sound Wave technology helps to create that awareness that is meditation. When you can reach that third state of deep sleep, and the watcher is awake and aware, "seeing the mind fall asleep" that is meditation. Meditation provides immense physiological and spiritual advantages to meditators; it creates a ripple effect spreading outward from the center, touching all those in its path allowing an opening of consciousness. Sound wave technology may not be for everybody but it makes meditation accessible to more people, creating the deeper levels of awareness important to the growth and development of consciousness in the individual and in humanity.