ABSTRACT
As a spiritual discipline, meditation is an ancient and revered practice, and its most outstanding practitioners have been ranked among the wisest people in history. Unfortunately, that history and tradition is sometimes lost and/or forgotten by those who unquestioningly and evangelically embrace a particular meditation technique or path, and try to convince all around them of its absolute truth. In addition the meditative disciplines recognize a range of states of consciousness which is far broader than that of traditional Western psychology. Whether we utilize meditation as a spiritual path, consciousness discipline, therapeutic tool, clinical self-regulation strategy, or research interest, it is clear that it can be approached by many different paths, modes, and types of knowledge each of which is necessarily partial but may also be complimentary. Whatever the viewpoint, the contributions and personal gains may be greater the more multifaceted our approach.
