MEDITATION AND POSITIVE THOUGHTS
Spiritual cultivation while standing upright and be relaxed
Question
Does meditation lead to positive thoughts and why/why not?
Bernhard
Answer
Yes, meditation, which is spiritual cultivation, leads to positive thoughts.
Meditation cultivates the spirit, which in some cultures, like in Buddhism, refers to the mind, and in Chinese culture it refers to the “heart”.
Cultivation of the mind or the heart includes physical, emotional and mental cultivation. In other words, when a practitioner cultivates his spirit, mind or heart, he also cultivates his physical, emotional and mental aspects.
Reversely, if a person has a low spirit, his physical, emotional and mental aspects are affected. This can be seen in everyday situations. When a person’s spirit is low, for example, his physical, emotional and mental conditions deteriorate. He may be sick, his emotions are impulsive, and his thinking is unfavorably affected.
It is helpful to know that here spiritual cultivation, or cultivation of the mind or heart, is different from mental cultivation. Spiritual cultivation deals with the spirit, whereas mental cultivation deals with the intellect.
Spiritual cultivation includes mental cultivation. When a practitioner has cultivated his spirit, his intellect will also improve. But an improvement of the intellect does not necessary improve a person’s spirit.
It is also helpful to know that in Buddhist and in Chinese cultures, the spirit includes the emotions. The Buddhists talk about the mind and the body, and the Chinese talk about the heart and the body. When a person has high cultivation of mind or heart, his emotions are well balanced. A person highly cultivated in the mind or heart, is peaceful and happy, which in Western terms refer to the emotions.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread Questions on Wuji Stance or Standing Meditation in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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