Dr Ramesh Manocha discusses the inherent difference between Sahaja Yoga meditation and mindfulness meditation in this excerpt from his thesis.
Mental silence-orientated meditation such as Sahaja Yoga meditation (SYM) can be distinguished from mindfulness -orientated meditation such as mindfulness meditation (MM) since the former focuses on the notion of “non-thought” while the latter emphasizes the notion [...]
In this excerpt from his thesis, Dr Ramesh Manocha talks about sahaja yoga meditation.
A contemporary exponent of the sahaj state is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. She has extensively described the state as well as how it can be achieved through what she has called “Sahaja Yoga Meditation”, which she has developed and refined since approximately [...]
Dr Ramesh Manocha discusses why meditation is so poorly defined in this excerpt from his thesis.
Defining meditation has proved a difficult challenge for modern researchers. Conceptual definitions of meditation vary widely but generally lack empirical confirmation. The authoritative National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (a department of the National Institutes of Health) in the [...]
Dr Ramesh Manocha talks about the quantity of serious research exploring meditation published on MEDLINE in this excerpt from his thesis.
The maximum yearly output for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of meditation was in 2000–2001 when 12 RCTs were reported in MEDLINE. In the same time period 106 RCTs for fluoxetine, as an example of a [...]
In this excerpt from his thesis, Dr Ramesh Manocha discusses a case study in which depersonalisation occurs as a result of meditation.
In his random survey of 23 students of yoga and meditation, Kennedy (1976) found that all but one of them had experienced some form of mild to moderate de-personalisation and/or de-realisation. Most of the [...]
Dr Ramesh Manocha discusses the philosophy behind yoga and meditation in this excerpt from his thesis:
Systems such as yoga/meditation are designed to facilitate that vital transition from the state of mundane, every-day consciousness, primarily characterized by the subjective interference of the poorly controlled mind, to spiritual consciousness characterized by an awareness of the objective reality [...]
Dr Manocha discusses the placebo effect in this excerpt from his thesis.
The word “placebo” has been in use for at least the last 2 centuries, if not longer. While detailed discussion of the placebo effect is not possible here, suffice to say that at least part of the phenomenon appears to relate to an interaction [...]
In this excerpt from his thesis, Dr Manocha discusses the changing perception of religion and spirituality.
Zinnbauer (1997) stated that spirituality is commonly regarded as an individual phenomenon and identified with experiential phenomena such as personal transcendence, supra-conscious sensitivity and meaningfulness. Religiousness is frequently identified with formal structure, religious institutions, prescribed theology and ritual. Modern scholars [...]
Dr Manocha explores the Eastern and the Western views of meditation in this excerpt from his thesis.
The traditional Indian idea of meditation is of a qualitatively unique phenomenon, involving a state of awareness, or mental silence. The highly developed meditator who attains this state, is not only less stressed and more relaxed, but has also [...]
Dr Manocha will be speaking at the Safety Conference held at the Sydney Showground on the 27th-29th of October. He will be speaking about the application of meditation for the management of work stress, with a focus on his recent research on mental silence based meditation.
Information about the conference can be found here.