#26.Misconceptions about meditation.25feb15
1. Introduction
Over the last 30 years or so meditation – like yoga – is enjoying huge interest as THE holy grail which is going to solve every personal problem such as stress, anxiety, sexual dysfunctions, poor self image, chronic fatigue, poor relationships, better mental concentration and many more.Based on unofficial figures the numbers of North American centers offering meditation courses increased by x100-150 over the last 30 years! Why such an explosive trend?
We can identified 5 main reasons:
- The demand is very strong especially for adults in their the mid forties and older
- The teaching of meditation is not regulated opening the door to charlatans and pseudo-experts.
- The business of teaching meditation can be very lucrative.
- Being Oriental in its origin the practice of meditation carries some sort of exotic, divine and mysterious flavor with the expectation that it may produce unique skills to the student.
- Meditation has been very well advertised with the help of marketing experts:
- Advertising for meditation courses and retreats locally and also online is promising automatic happiness, well being, total relaxation, great self image, job promotion, weight control and even enlightenment! This is exactly what most of us want and are dreaming about.
- Advertising guaranties that these dream goals will be achieved rapidly.
- Finally advertising claims that the student will not have to make too much effort.
These 5 factors and the fact that we are always looking for a quick fix with the least effort is a perfect guaranty of success for those who teach meditation but not necessarily so for those who pay for the courses.