ABSTRACT
In this brief article, I should like to present my views and ideas about the practice of meditation. First, on the negative side, I published a brief report in Psychological Reports (Lazarus, 1976) in which I emphasized that casualties can and do result from meditation, especially TM. On the positive side, I see the value of meditation in terms of the profound levels of general relaxation that can ensue, plus the impact of an altered state of consciousness. There are data that show how “self-talk” and “images of personal mastery” tend to make a deeper and more profound impression when one is relaxed, with one’s eyes closed, and in a semi-drowsy state (presumably emitting alpha waves). These identical methods of “cognitive restructuring” are often much less potent when administered or self-administered in ordinary waking states.
