Religious and Entrained Meditation

One form of religious meditation is Christian meditation. This meditation is practiced as devotions. The use of prayers and songs is from the earliest days of Christianity and is a mode of meditation. One can concentrate on a particular verse in the bible for a period of study.

Some people particularly Catholics may meditate on the wounds of Christ. A focus on his five wounds is a way of connecting with him and coming to understand why he sacrificed for humanity.

Other forms of religious meditation include: Buddhist, Hindu, Zen and so forth.

What is Entrained Meditation?

It is a kind of meditation involving sounds and listening. The listener or meditator hears binaural beats. They are recordings of very calming sounds. They relax the listener as he or she practices meditation. These sounds change the listener's brainwave patterns and they are different from those of the average awake condition. People's brainwaves always change when the person hears a sound. H. W. Dove discovered binaural beats in 1839. Humans and some other species can hear them. When two frequencies are heard under ordinary conditions it gives a direction information, where the sound is coming from. This changes when the sounds are heard through headphones or speakers.

There have been many clinical studies to show that this form of meditation works. Entrainment stated back in the 70's; Dr Gerald Oster found that brainwave patterns were induced when someone heard binaural beat frequencies. There are four major kinds of brainwave patterns. They are the Alpha, beta, theta, and Delphi. The alpha state is one of being relaxed but awake. The deeper mediation state is the theta. When one is in a condition of deeper sleep without dreams that is the Delphi.

Entrained Theory and Practice

This method of meditation relies on the theory that there is one more level of consciousness besides conscious and unconscious. It is this third consciousness that is sustained during Entrained meditation. During this process the mind is awake while the body is asleep. While the body is sleeping the mind is concentrating on this other level of consciousness and isn't interrupted by what the body needs or wants. Also, the other distractions of everyday living aren't bothering this consciousness. The advocates of Entrained meditation think it helps a person understand important truths.

There has been a problem surrounding this kind of meditation because it has been said that it involved using drugs. Though some practitioners use recreational drugs-the meditation is done without them. Some people have also explained what this state of meditation is like by comparing it to the way one's mind is when using certain drugs. It is because of this negative "press" that Entrained meditation has gained a disreputable name with some people.

Still it is a kind mode of meditation that can be and is done without the use of drugs. Some think it is a much deeper level of meditation. It is a mode that can be achieved through diligent practice and discipline.