There is more to Meditation than stress release and focus enhancement. Some Tibetan Buddhist masters say that the fruits of mind practice are actually limitless, they also say that you can experience these fruits in this lifetime, without necessarily waiting for a hypothetical afterlife. They mention forms of understanding beyond human capacities, incommensurable bliss and a sense of compassion that embraces all living forms.
But this poses the question of scientific validity, how can you verify claims referring to notions that are out of the scope of science, like non-duality for instance?
Alas, by the time we get some serious study conducted on the advanced notions of Buddhism, we’ll all be dead. It might be a safer choice to experience meditation at large right now, without a safety net.
Once again, there is far more to Buddhism and meditation than what it’s currently sold for (a healthy substitute to Prozac), why wait until it’s pasteurized to enjoy it?
Photo under Creative Common Licence by Richard Masoner