" Gautam Buddha teaching Art of Meditation to Ananda"

Once Gautam Buddha was going to another village with his disciple Ananda.
On their way, they came across a small water stream. However, they proceeded further.
It was a hot day and the sun was blazing.
After around half an hour, Buddha sat down under a big tree and asked Ananda to bring some water from
the stream they had crossed few minutes ago.
In the meantime, a bullock cart had crossed the stream making the water muddy.
When Ananda reached the water stream, it was muddy and water was not looking clean. So Ananda
came and reported to Buddha that water is not good for drinking. It is better to wait till they reach the next
village.
But Buddha insisted on drinking water from the same stream and asked Ananda to wait till water
becomes clear again.
So, Ananda went back to the stream. To his surprise, water was looking cleaner this time, but was still
little muddy. Nothing else to do, Ananda waited there looking at the water. After some time he was
amazed to find that the mud had settled down to the bottom and water was fit for drinking again.


He came back and reported all this to Buddha.


Buddha smiled and said “This is the case with all of us. When any thought or emotion comes, then we
start identifying ourselves with that thought or emotion. On the contrary, If we just witness these thoughts
and feelings silently, without doing anything with them, than they will not affect us and will leave on their
own.
Our mind is that bullock cart which brings thoughts and emotions to cloud our consciousness. A meditator
just witnesses these thoughts and his consciousness always remains clean and undisturbed.
But if we identify with any emotion then our consciousness becomes disturbed like that of the water
stream.
See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own—and
you have clear water. Our mind is like that too. When it is disturbed, just let it be and be a witness to it.
Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will
happen. It is effortless.”

Sri Sri on Karma & Meditation and 100 Benefits of Meditation - Part III

Sri Sri on Karma & Meditation

100 Benefits of Meditation - Part III

Spiritual Benefits

80. Helps keep things in perspective
81. Provides peace of mind, happiness
82. Helps you discover your purpose in life
83. Increased self-actualization
84. Increased compassion
85. Growing wisdom
86. Deeper understanding of yourself and others
87. Brings body, mind, and spirit in harmony
88. Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation
89. Increased acceptance of one self
90. Helps learn forgiveness
91. Changes attitude toward life
92. Creates a deeper relationship with your God
93. Increases the synchronicity in your life
94. Greater inner-directedness
95. Helps living in the present moment
96. Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love
97. Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego
98. Experience an inner sense of “Assurance or Knowingness”
99. Experience a sense of “Oneness”
100. Leads to enlightenment

To top it off, Meditation has NO negative side effects !!!!

Sri Sri on Sahaj Samadhi Meditation & 100 Benefits of Meditation - Part II

Sri Sri on Sahaj Samadhi Meditation

Psychological benefits of Meditation :

 36. Builds self-confidence.

 37. Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour.

38. Resolve phobias & fears

39. Helps control own thoughts

40. Helps with focus & concentration

41. Increase creativity

42. Increased brain wave coherence

43. Improved learning ability and memory.
44. Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.

 45. Increased emotional stability.

46. improved relationships

47. Mind ages at slower rate

48. Easier to remove bad habits

49. Develops intuition
50. Increased Productivity
51. Improved relations at home & at work
52. Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
53. Helps ignore petty issues
54. Increased ability to solve complex problems
55. Purifies your character
56. Develop will power
57. Greater communication between the two brain hemispheres
58. Respond more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event.
59. increases one’s perceptual ability and motor performance
60. Higher intelligence growth rate
61. Increased job satisfaction
62. Increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones
63. Decrease in potential mental illness
64. Better, more sociable behaviour
65. Less aggressiveness
66. Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction
67. Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals
 68. Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
69. Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia
70. Increases sense of responsibility
71. Reduces road rage
72. Decrease in restless thinking
73. Decreased tendency to worry
74. Increases listening skills and empathy
75. Helps make more accurate judgments
76. Greater tolerance
77. Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways
78. Grows a stable, more balanced personality
79. Develops emotional maturity 

To top it off, Meditation has NO negative side effects !!!

100 benefits of Meditation - Part I

     

Physiological benefits: 

1. It lowers oxygen consumption.

2. It decreases respiratory rate.

3. It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.

4. Increases exercise tolerance.

5. Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.

6. Good for people with high blood pressure.

7. Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.

8. Decreases muscle tension

9. Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc. 

10. Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms. 

11. Helps in post-operative healing. 

12. Enhances the immune system. 

13. Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress 

14. Enhances energy, strength and vigour. 

15. Helps with weight loss 

16. Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage 

17. Higher skin resistance 

18. Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease 

19. Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. 

20. Decreases the aging process. 

21. Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone) 

22. Prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases 

23. Makes you sweat less 

24. Cure headaches & migraines 

25. Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning 

26. Reduced Need for Medical Care 

27. Less energy wasted 

28. More inclined to sports, activities 

29. Significant relief from asthma 

30. Improved performance in athletic events 

31. Normalizes to your ideal weight 

32. Harmonizes our endocrine system 

33. Relaxes our nervous system 

34. Produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity 

35. Helps cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation). 

          
          To top it off, Meditation has NO negative side effects !!!