Experiences of Meditation on Twin Hearts by Naive Practitioners

Introduction

Traditionally the link between eastern culture, meditation practices and spirituality are well known, the key aspects involved in meditation has philosophical doctrine rooted in Buddhism. Meditation is a medium to self-regulate the mind, which emphasizes relaxed mood, focused attention, an altered state of awareness, and maintenance of a self-observing attitude. During meditation, the practitioner is fully alert, aware, and in control of one’s faculties with no unwanted thought activity experience. Meditation has numerous beneficial effects on consciousness, awareness, and mood. Several studies have implied that meditation practices will result in structural and functional changes in the brain (Bigliassi & Bertuzzi, 2020).

How does it feel to meditate? What does one experience during meditation? Observing the experiences during meditation to have an objective concept of the inner experiences has been the focus of research only in the past few decades, owing to the rich evidence that meditation has profound effects on health and wellbeing. However, such an approach to developing a model or theory can be questioned due to the existence of subjectivity in an individual’s experience (Walach et al., 2011). The primary goal of contemplative science is to become familiar with the nature of one’s mind. Various traditions of meditation practices lead to different psychological and somatic effects, and they influence various areas of the brain accordingly (Fredrickson et al., 2017). Although diversity exists in their mechanism, the qualitative reports of various transcendental states during meditation all include a sense of timelessness (Berkovich-Ohana et al, 2013), space less-ness (Ataria & Berkovich-Ohana, 2015), unconditional love and peace, profound joy (Beauregard & Paquette, 2008), and loss of boundaries of the self (Dor-Ziderman et al., 2013). Studies matching experiences to specific meditation traditions are scarce, making the transcendental experiences generic and diluted.

Meditation on Twin Hearts (MTH) is a loving-kindness, compassion meditation technique developed by Master Choa Kok Sui. MTH activates the chakras in the energy field of the body. Chakras are the energy vertices that receive, assimilate, expresses, and transform the energy. The spinning sphere of bio-energetic activity of chakras emerging from the ganglionic nerve branching forward from the spinal column in a non-physiological form. But it has control over physical, psychological and spiritual functions. Eleven chakras span from the lower part of the spine to the vertex of head (Sui, 2009). Mainly in MTH, the chakras of heart (the center of the emotional heart) and the crown (the center of the divine heart) are involved during the practices. When an individual meditates on the twin hearts, the crown chakra receives the divine energy from where it is dispersed to all other body parts. The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which is used during MTH is a proactive engagement in many positive experiences such as love, joy, pardon, forgiveness, hope, faith, empathy, and gratitude. The meditation on twin hearts can be practiced following the steps outlined below.

• Stage 1: The energy centers, which are the gateway for positive emotional (heart chakra) and divine experiences (crown chakra) are activated.

• Stage 2: Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, following the tradition of positive psychology, as a prayer of compassion and blessing the earth.

• Stage 3: Chanting of Om and observing stillness, where contact with physical body is kept to a minimum, and focus is towards expanding consciousness.

• Stage 4: The assimilated energy during stage 3 is used to bless the earth, which is then followed by rooting.