Experiencing Meaning, Purpose & Wholeness through Meditation

     “All individuals during the course of their life, are faced with uncontrollable outcomes, undesirable events, and uncertainties. Some of these events may involve questions regarding the relationship of the individual to the cosmos’s seeming chaos; how to create (or discover) life’s meaning; understanding issues of good and evil; developing a stable, positive identity while recognizing the inevitability of illness, decay, and death. These issues represent, to a greater or lesser degree, that which is unknown, uncertain, ambiguous, even chaotic in the world. And these situations and issues, which are seemingly out of control, or appear beyond human control, may cause feelings of existential stress, frustration, surprise, fears, and vulnerability. 
     Psychological research has shown that meaning and purpose, whether as an independent construct or as part of a sense of control, are important for both emotional and physical well-being. Although not often directly examined, most Western medical therapeutics and psychotherapies are based on an assumptive belief system that views the universe as random and purposeless. 
     The spiritual context of meditation, whether theistic or nontheistic, challenges that belief system. One of the aspects of the meditative experience within the esoteric core of all contemplative religious traditions is an experiential view of the universe, at its deepest level, as a sacred, whole unity. The ineffable, nondualistic experiences of profound unity – meditation as an altered state – which has been called the ‘still completeness’ and the heart of religion, have been described in individuals’ encounters with the noetic across many different spiritual traditions.”

       Shapiro DH. Examining the content and context of meditation; A challenge for psychology in the areas of stress management, psychotherapy, and religion/values. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1994; 34(4): 101-135.

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