Meditation

1. Shamanic Tradition
Meditation can be as early as prehistoric hunter-gatherers, it may have been maintained by Shamans who believed to be in direct touch with the invisible spirits of the world.
2. Vedic Tradition
The oldest recognizable scripture talking about meditation can be found in hinduism dating back to 3000-2000 BC, in its Vedas and Upanishads who propound the metaphysical self or Brahman and so many of its offshoots.
3. Buddhist Tradition
Meditation in its own techniques originated from sage Gautama Buddha and so many techniques followed by Tibetian monks.

All the prophetic religions employ meditation only in its mystical form, Sufism was later greatly influenced by vedanta, Kabal;ism and many brahminic traditions have things in common

4. Christian Tradition
A groupof early christian monks called Desert Fathers retreated from world for spiritual closeness and connection with God, similar to the reunciation concept propounded by vedic texts.
5. Jewish Tradition
Kabalism apart from rituals also employed meditation practices dating back CRICA 100 AD
6. Muslim Tradition
Sufism (called after they wore a plain wool garment called Suf) originated in 1000 AD almost same time as kabalism in turkey and the likes and kinds of mystical poets like Jalaludin Rumi.

Simple ways to meditate

Step1: Find a quiet, comfortable, relaxed place
you can site in comfortable dress
you can turn out the lights
you can in morning or night
you can to do anything that will not externally simulate distraction

Step 2: Close your eyes and cut external sense simulation
you no longer process unnecessary information captured by eye
you are already in quiet place, no inputs are processed from ear ( nothing is heard)
you sit in a normal room temperature ( not too cold or hot orsultry)
( that pretty much cuts you from outside world of inputs)

Step 3: Mantra (Manas (mind) + Tra (instrument)
you can be guided by a Guru's initiated mantra ( Upagyananam - gayatri)
you can choose primordial sound OM
you can choose a rhythymic sounding vibrational sound ( has no meaning or has one)

Step 4: Just repeat the chant
you can keep saying it whenever you think , u r distracted
you can have a CLOCK cycle against which u can compare to see whether you are continuously saying
(the internal clock perceivable in us is breating)
the monotony of the activity sometime makes it happen unconsciousness but everytime the activity is performed
it has to be consciously felt it is done, the doer will disappear and the focus will be in the chant , which too
would later and this is Meditation.

A few points from Time magazine

1. In meditation people use 17% less oxygen
2. lowered heart rates as less as three beats aminute
3. increased theta brain waves (one appear before actual sleep)
4. ability to control flight or fight response
5. less frontal area activity which is involved in rocessong sensort information
6. lowerin activity in parietal lobe, decreases the awarenes sof space and time and their boundaries with feeling of universal oneness.
7. In meditation brain is not inert, rather blocks information from reaching parietal lobe.
8. the overall blood flow to brian in meditation is less
9. Meditation shifts activity from prefrontal right to prefrontal left.
10. Modern transition of Meditation techniques
1. Zen meditation
2. Vipasanna
3. Walking & Breadth
4. Transcendental Meditation of Mahesh yogi
5. Dzogchen
11. Meditation of 10-40 minutes is enough to clean and recycle the system
12. Gtum-Mo a technique used by Tibetian monks allows them to drive their tempeartures so high to withstand cold as in himalayan regions or bodily earthly defilements.

Chemistry of the Brain in meditation
1. Frontal Lobe
This is the most highly eveolved part of the brain responsible for
a. reasoning (Self Enquiry)
b. planning (Samurai or Kamikazi)
c. emotion (Normal Humans)
d. self conscious awareness
During meditation the frontal cortex seems to go offline.

2. Parietal Lobe
This part of the brain focusses on sensory information about the surronding world, orienting you in time and space. Suring meditation activity in parietal lobe slows down.
3. Thalamus
As a gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focusses your attention by funelling some sensory data deeper in the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incominh information to a trickle.
4. Reticular Formation
As the brain's sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.