{"id":3521,"date":"2011-07-15T00:02:37","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T05:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=3521"},"modified":"2011-12-25T17:42:33","modified_gmt":"2011-12-25T22:42:33","slug":"featured-becoming-happier-through-meditation-with-inner-joys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=3521","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Happier through Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin W Chen<\/strong>, Ph.D. MPH<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"We all want to be happy!\u00a0 Pursuit of happiness is everyone\u2019s right and probably the optimal life goal.\u00a0 However, in terms of what happiness is, or the way and direction of pursuing happiness, there are huge variations and disagreements.\u00a0 Most of our time and energy in pursuing happiness is devoted to sense-pleasures through routine or external activities, such as seeking material and emotional security, enjoying sensory pleasures, or establishing a good reputation or wealth.\u00a0 Although things like making extra money, having a close relationship, enjoying a delicious meal, or promoting to a desirable position may make us feel happy for a short time, we know they are not able to provide the deep lasting gratification we are truly longing for in life\u2026.\u00a0 As happiness is a state of mind, sooner or later our feelings may turn into dissatisfaction, and we may find ourselves engaged in the pursuit of more socially desirable pleasures instead the lasting inner happiness.<\/p>\n

Happiness is a state of mind; therefore, the real source of happiness lies in the mind and soul, not in external circumstances.\u00a0 According to Buddhism, true happiness is not to be found in the deceptive sensory pleasures of the world \u2014 not in wine or wealth or roses. No matter how hard we try, we can never reach true security as long as we persist in wrong views of the desirability of this or that sensual object.\u00a0 Many sages and studies suggest that meditation or meditative practice may help us achieve genuine happiness \u2013 inner peace and security.\u00a0 I would like to share some of the materials I found when I prepared for my presentation on this subject.<\/p>\n

For many years, there have been scores of studies looking into the benefits of meditation. Most agree that it has the power to alleviate the adverse effects of stress \u2013 promote relaxation.\u00a0 However, only recently did we see some definitive studies confirming our long-time hypothesis \u2013 meditative practice aids in making us happier.<\/p>\n

\"\"His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been traveling around the world giving lessons on happiness — meditation and compassion.\u00a0 According to His Holiness, being happy is not only our right, but clearly the principle force that drives our lives.\u00a0 Our ability to attain a lasting happiness, however, is not so clear. The path of inner transformation begins with developing an understanding of our true nature.\u00a0 Once this door opens, one naturally develops a feeling of compassion and acceptance for oneself and others.\u00a0 In these difficult times, people are looking for answers to finding inner peace and happiness.<\/p>\n

Chinese Medicine: Meditation increases positive sensation and inner joy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The mental realm of entering meditation or tranquility status has been fully explored and discussed in the literature of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which can be divided into different stages or levels by different standards and needs.\u00a0 The common characteristics of subjective experiences in the process of entering tranquil meditation can be divided into the following four stages: relaxation and tranquility stage (\u677e\u9759\u9636\u6bb5), pulsations and senses stage \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0(\u52a8\u89e6\u9636\u6bb5), joy and pleasure stage (\u5feb\u611f\u9636\u6bb5), and void and nothingness stage (\u865a\u65e0\u9636\u6bb5).<\/p>\n

During joy and pleasure stage, the pleasant sensation obtained can hardly be described with words, since it is not the specific sensations experienced in everyday life but one that seems to include them all. Such joyful and pleasurable sensation is physical and mental, strong and serene, profound and penetrating, as if coming from every cell and pore. Enveloped in these sensations, the body and mind become tranquil and permeated with infinite, persistent contentment and happiness. This stage of mediocrity and knowing marks a significant advance in Qigong or meditation practice (Liu and Chen, 2010)<\/p>\n

At the stage of void or nothingness, what the body and mind are after is not satisfaction of senses or emotions but losing self into the eternity of the universe. Once self-consciousness vanishes, your state broadens suddenly, changing from finite to infinite, instant to eternal. By this time, the mind has become barely distinguishable from what it perceives. The external sensation does not affect your inner peace and joy that much. On one hand, the mind seems to be both itself and the perceived; and on the other hand, what is perceived is both itself and the consciousness.\u00a0 Thus, a state of peace and harmony represented by void and nothingness is reached, where it is full of infinite vitality and vigor for the purification and creation of everything, which becomes the source for true joy and harmony in life.<\/p>\n

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Scientific Study:\u00a0 Meditation Leads to Greater Happiness<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In one early study by Smith et al.(1995) on \u201cMeditation as an adjunct to a happiness enhancement program,\u201d the subjects were randomly divided into three groups: two received instruction on the Personal Happiness Enhancement Program (PHEP) as part of the designed intervention, and one group was taught a meditation exercise in addition to the PHEP.\u00a0 An additional control group received no instructions.\u00a0 After 6 weeks of training they found that the PHEP only group improved significantly over the control group on all measures — Happiness Measure, Psychap Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory — except anxiety state measurement.\u00a0 The meditation plus PHEP group significantly improved on all dependent measures over both the PHEP only group and the control group.<\/p>\n

Early scientific studies on the neurophysiology of meditation focused on changes in brain wave (EEG) patterns, and differences in brain wave patterns between meditators and non-meditators. In general mediation was found to<\/p>\n