A Brief History Of Meditation In The West
It is unknown when the history of meditation began on Earth, let alone in Western civilization. Mountains could meditate, for all we know. Meditation was probably one of the oldest forms of mind control and self-healing. Meditation has been part of almost all ancient religious and magical traditions. The Native Americans practiced meditation and mindfulness, but called it by different names.
The Puritan Work Ethic
Mediation seemed to have fallen out of favor with the rise of Protestantism, particularly with the sect known as the Puritans. The Puritans are perhaps most famous for the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692 in Massachusetts. Puritans had a profound affect on the collective unconsciousness of the modern European or American. They believed in being busy all of the time. The only excuse you had for not being busy was death.
The history of meditation in Western civilization was also greatly affected by the Age of Enlightenment, which questioned the existence of a God and of all superstitions, anything new was encouraged. Anything old that didn't have a monetary value attached to it began to fall out of favor. When the Puritan work ethic coupled with this love of the new, meditation was considered to be stupid. This was a dark time and tense time in the history of meditation.
The Beatles
And thus we jump to 1967, when the Beatles really were more popular than Jesus. This is the crucial year in the history of meditation in the west. Although meditation in various forms was lectured on, written about and practiced here and there in all Western countries, it was considered a very odd thing to do.
But when the Beatles studied transcendental meditation (TM), their legions of fans became curious about what they were up to. They began to practice meditation, too. Because of the Beatles, meditation was opened up to everyone and entered the popular mindset. Meditation became just another normal part of life.
Today
We need mediation now just as in the dawn of the history of meditation. We are going through such unprecedented change in technology, sciences and cultural exchanges that we need to find some sort of anchor in the chaos. Meditation has helped many people get that anchor. Meditation is encouraged for anyone, from Catholic nuns to atheists.
Although we do not know what the future of meditation holds, it will likely be around for as long as there are thinking beings. The popular science fiction series Star Trek had the incredibly intelligent alien race of Vulcans be habitual meditators.
