Within the modern age of society today, an increasing number of people are searching for ways that will allow them to achieve greater balance and awareness within their daily lives through their spiritual practices.
For many, this includes the practice of meditation. In particular, research conducted at Harvard Medical School has confirmed many of the claims made by ancient cultures and spiritual traditions regarding the benefits of meditation concerning self-awareness, stabilizing emotions, and having a deeper understanding of the self.
Meditation and its many benefits will be discussed throughout this article to help the reader better understand how regular and consistent practice of meditation will lead to achieving clearer mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness and a stronger connection to oneself.
The definition and understanding of spiritual growth will also be addressed in this article.
The Role of Discipline and Mental Clarity in Meditation
The continual development of discipline through regular meditation creates conditions within the mind that help facilitate further benefits beyond what can be achieved through exclusive meditation practices in a single session.
In addition, mental clarity helps practitioners become better decision-makers and obtain greater levels of emotional awareness.
The changes discussed here provide us with new opportunities for further developing our growth beyond only surface-level thoughts.
Meditation Benefits: The Pathway to Spiritual Growth
A few Meditation Benfits that can consistently further enhance and assist in spiritual growth are as follows:
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The increased awareness of one’s own emotions provides the opportunity to become aware of the terms related to what is limiting you, and normally what you would do habitually.
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The practice of meditation is beneficial in providing a reduction of stress and anxiety and deeper connection to oneself for more meaningful awareness and reflection.
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Patience and compassion for others and oneself: All people can be better off by having an ethical response to kindness than merely responding ethically.
In this way, meditation will prepare the individual’s mind for long- range mindfulness practice and create further enhancement of awareness.
A Path to Conscious Living: Mindfulness Practice
This type of practice encourages one to remain aware of their thought processes and their emotional states in the same way they arose.
The practice of mindfulness allows individuals to find peace through ‘mindful awareness’.
It originated thousands of years ago from a variety of cultures with roots in both Eastern and Western traditions, and has been taught by, for example, Thich Nhat Hanh‘s simple approach to mindfulness, which encourages awareness of oneself in the context of everyday practices.
Focused attention strengthens and builds the base of an individual to the extent that distractions are reduced and involved with increased awareness of the world.
Because of this new awareness, the response of the individual will support more thoughtful decision-making rather than impulsively reacting.
Increased awareness leads to response over, versus impulsive reaction.
This rearrangement supports a person’s inner peace as well as developing a greater spiritual understanding.
Where to Practice Mindfulness?
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To watch your thoughts during times of stress and not react immediately
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Taking time throughout the day to stop and breathe for a few seconds
All three of these habits help develop your mind’s ability to develop a stronger sense of “inner calm.” Meditation will continue to help improve this inner calm.
Why Inner Calm is Important for Spiritual Growth
Inner calm establishes stability in your mental environment; this stability enables growth.
The Mayo Clinic and several other studies have proven that performing meditation decreases anxiety and enhances mental clarity.
How Meditation Will Reduce Mental Noise
When you perform meditation, by bringing your focus back to the here and now, this activity slows down the rate of mental noise developed from the previous activities of being worried and overstimulated, allowing plenty of room for being “clear headed”.
How Inner Calm Provides a Foundation of Awareness
An individual can observe his or her own thoughts without judgment with an inner calm state. This enables an individual to look and reflect deeper at his or her own patterns.
This calm awareness allows you to make better- educated choices, and create self-confidence. Once a foundation of inner calm is established, that individual can then expand his or her awareness into deeper levels of conscious living.
Awareness is the Foundation of Spiritual Development
By being conscious of performing mental habits, we can then gently release limiting beliefs.
Meditation programs created by organizations like Mindful.org are designed to help individuals become more aware of how their awareness supports personal emotional intelligence and overall growth.
Signs of Increasing Awareness
Increasing awareness can be seen by the changes a person makes in their lives. Since awareness is an inherent component of developing spiritual growth (long-term), the following section explains how meditation fosters long-term spiritual development:
Spiritual development occurs over time through patience, reflection and ongoing effort.
Lifelong Meditation Supportive Practice
Consistency instead of intensity
Many spiritual teachers also like Eckhart Tolle promote consistency instead of intensity, for example, small daily practices usually promote long-lasting change.
As meditation practice deepens the individual’s spiritual development is also integrated and becomes a natural part of the individual’s daily experience.
Furthermore, awareness during meditation expands into the individual’s daily interactions with other individuals.
This integration will enhance both the individual’s core values and emotional stability.
The long-term effects of meditation
The long-term effects of meditation on spiritual growth will change the way a person sees him/herself.
Instead of identifying totally with their thoughts, they start to observe their thoughts.
This shift allows for space to develop between the individual’s awareness and his/her mental habits.
As an individual’s perception of himself/herself softens, there is a natural reduction in inner conflict.
Individuals no longer feel defined by their past or their fears.
This allows growth to happen naturally through spiritual practices and without resistance.
Meditation enables the individual to see the patterns of their thoughts in a calm way that may limit their growth.
Positive Changes in Identity through meditation
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Clearer Values that guide one’s everyday Choice Making
The growth of identity allows the understanding of the role of meditation in becoming compassionate and connection-oriented.
Meditation & Compassion and Connection to Spiritual Growth through Meditation
As one becomes more aware the emotional reactions of oneself become less intense.
As we become more aware of our own personal trials and tribulations in life, we begin to empathize and discover the same situations we have experienced in others.
We can trace much of the creation of compassion-based meditation from Buddhist philosophy, through teachers such as Jon Kabat-Zinn who showed us how meditation cultivates emotional openness, kindness, and compassion.
How meditation can help develop stronger connections to other human beings through the act of becoming aware
(The Compassionate perspective is a direct reflection of an individual’s spiritual growth.)
When someone recognizes the existence of the Compassionate Perspective, it is often indicative of some form of spiritual growth.
For example, an individual who grows in compassion may demonstrate:
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a greater level of empathy towards another person while they experience difficult conversations,
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a greater level of patience in regards to differences in opinions and perspectives of the individual with whom they are communicating,
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and finally the expression of a standardized commitment to helping an individual that extends beyond one’s own personal interests.
One who is Compassionate is typically someone who demonstrates both a personal and spiritual level of connection through the act of becoming compassionate.
The Role of Meditation in Modern Life and Daily Spiritual Growth
One of the many reasons meditation is a good fit for modern day lifestyles, is that it requires little time for practice, and no specialized settings/locations.
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Using guided meditations from trusted sources when appropriate; and
How awareness affects brain function?
Meditation helps an individual train their brain to remain present and focused.
By doing so on a consistent basis over time, awareness develops into a more stable state of attention and a decreased level of reactivity to various stimuli.
Combining Science with Spiritual Development
Because of the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits to meditation, science provides the information for understanding how to create an atmosphere conducive to growth:
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Increased emotional stability helps an individual feel relaxed and centered during stress.
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Increased ability to focus and direct attention supports an individual in developing greater mindfulness.
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Decreasing cortisol levels and allowing the energy associated with fear and anxiety to be expressed will enable the individual to gain greater clarity for their spiritual life.
When an individual recognizes their feelings rather than restricts them, they begin to know themselves and thus begin to heal.
Through the practice of mindfulness, an individual comes to terms with their emotions.
This creates a level of acceptance toward one’s emotional state and thus eliminates barriers to the emotional healing process.
Awareness of emotions
As an individual sees this clarification, it allows them the ability to maintain their emotional balance over time.
Methodologies such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction utilize meditation to provide an emotional healing resource.
Less emotional volatility in periods of conflict.
Ability to accept not only their emotions but also the memories associated with them.
Utilizing meditation to clarify your life purpose.
Meditation and Clarifying Life Purpose
Meditation provides an opportunity for an individual to quiet the noise in their head so that they may begin to see and hear their true values.
Regular practice of mediation will allow an individual to distinguish between their goals that feel positive and those that feel pressured by external stimulus.
This awareness enables the individual to identify the true source of motivation for their actions, thereby supporting an individual’s spirituality through alignment with their own personal truth.
Emerging Purpose Through Developing Inner Awareness
Meditation provides insight(s) into the underlying motivations for the individual’s actions.
As the individual practices and develops their awareness through meditation, they will start to recognize patterns of behavior that support their sense of fulfillment and recognize patterns of behavior(s) that block their sense of fulfillment.
The insight gained from using one’s awareness to identify patterns of behavior will enable the individual to develop/align their daily decisions with their long term purpose.
Prominent spiritual teachers, such as Deepak Chopra, have discussed how both mediation and one’s sense of purpose are connected through inner awareness.
These teachers have encouraged individuals to develop their awareness through mediation to be able to live their lives in a meaningful and fulfilling manner.
Signs of Purpose Emerging Through Mediation
The following are common signs of how mediation may influence and create purpose in an individual’s life:
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An individual has a clearer awareness of their own values when making decisions.
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An individual has decreased levels of confusion surrounding their life direction and/or priorities.
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An Individual feels a greater sense of meaning in their actions during the course of their day.
The above listed signs typical lead to a greater understanding of how mediation impacts/intersects with the development of both patience and resilience.
Building Patience through the Practice of Mediation
The development of patience aids in supporting an individual to grow spiritually without experiencing frustration or force.
The practice of meditation promotes the development of patience by prompting the individual to accept their current experiences. In turn, through this acceptance, the urge to control the outcomes of their experiences has diminished.
A steady and calm mindset
A steady and calm mindset supports an individual’s continued internal growth.
The development of emotional resilience has been promoted via the practical practice of Mediation.
Emotional resilience
The process of developing an awareness of the separation of one’s thoughts and emotions, creates space between emotional reactions and the subsequent thoughts. This space allows for the ability to thoughtfully respond rather than emotionally react during challenging situations.
Mental health organizations such as Mental Health America have embraced more than one mindful practice as a potential avenue to develop emotional resilience.
Calm observation builds an individual’s inner strength over time.
The practice of meditation builds everyday resilience
Meditation increases the individual’s ability to be patient while remaining resilient, by providing the plan for:
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Being able to cope better during stressful or uncertain situations.
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Gaining greater control over one’s emotions while in conflict or when experiencing pressure.
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Having greater faith in one’s ability to grow and develop over time.
These traits therefore provide the base for individuals to move toward developing an understanding of the relationship between meditation and the reduction of ego and attachment.
Understanding how ego relates to spiritual growth
Ego is often created by comparing one’s self to other individuals and through fear and control, and the practice of mindfulness can assist in facilitating revealing that understanding in a gentle manner.
Once the individual becomes aware of what has caused the emergence of their ego-driven thought process, they will be able to remain judgement-free when considering those thoughts as they become aware of them.
As the individual increases their level of awareness, their attachment to rigid definitions of self will diminish.
With that release of attachment will come the emotional freedom and inner peace that the individual will experience.
The focus of the individual’s journey of spiritual growth will change from being proof-based, to one of understanding.
The individual will become less emotionally attached to the outcome of what has occurred.
Individuals will feel as though they can be more flexible and tolerate more in their daily lives.
Teachings of Zen traditions encourage the act of releasing things based on this awareness.
The practice of meditation is used to help individuals recognize the temporary nature of all things, and be able to create acceptance of that temporary nature.
Evidence of decreasing mental attachment to the ego
Evidence of a decrease in ego attachment can often be found in significant changes, including:
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Less need for external validation or approval.
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Greater openness to receiving feedback and accepting different points of view.
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Increasing ability to demonstrate humility and balance emotionally.
The freedom created on the inside, results in the developing of an understanding of how meditation can support spiritual growth for an individual’s entire lifetime.
Meditation as a Long-Term Spiritual Practice
Meditation supports the ongoing process of Spiritual Growth through regular self-reflection and being fully aware of oneself during both meditation and everyday life.
A long-term approach to meditation means there is no pressure to “complete” this form of development; instead, the long-term development will occur when you are able to relax into the process.
Long-term meditation can be sustained by developing and maintaining simple habits associated with meditation; developing these habits are helpful in sustaining a long-term meditation practice.
Some of these habits include:
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Being flexible and allowing for yourself to release any guilt associated with changes in routine
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Daily activities give you the opportunity to practice being present in conversations, work, and at rest or sleep.
Conclusion
By applying your practice of meditation into your daily life, you develop further your ability to integrate the benefits of meditation into life.
Through the development of awareness of your values, you will find that your choices and actions are made based on your inner values and not on external pressure or beliefs.
The development of your inner values will create an increased level of awareness that will lead you to be more focused on living your values, which will act to develop the practice of living consciously, aligned with inner truth and integrity.
Many organizations that focus on living consciously recognize how meditation serves to support ethical and compassionate behavior as well as decision making.
