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164 CHAPTER 4 Consciousness and Its VariationsCommon to all forms of meditation is the goal of controlling or retraining attention.Although meditation techniques vary a great deal, they can be divided into twogeneral categories. Concentration techniques involve focusing awareness on a visualimage, your breathing, a word, or a phrase. When a sound is used, it is typically ashort word or a religious phrase, called a mantra, that is repeated mentally. In contrast,opening-up techniques involve a present-centered awareness of the passing moment,without mental judgment (Tart, 1994). Rather than concentrating on an object,sound, or activity, the meditator engages in quiet awareness of the “here andnow” without distracting thoughts. The zazen, or “just sitting,” technique of Zen Buddhismis a form of opening-up meditation (Austin, 1998).Some meditative traditions, such as Zen Buddhism and mindfulness techniques,also stress the attainment of emotional control. This aspect of meditation has led toinvestigations of its effectiveness in programs to relieve anxiety and improve physicalhealth and psychological well-being (Baer, 2003; Davidson & others, 2003).If you want to learn how to meditate,you can find the instructions for asimple but effective meditationtechnique in Chapter 12.Studying the Well-Trained MindPsychologist Richard Davidsontalks with Buddhist monkMatthieu Ricard after a brainimagingstudy. Tenzin Gyatso, the14th Dalai Lama, has been instrumentalin encouraging such collaborationsbetween Western scientistsand Tibetan Buddhists. As theDalai Lama wrote, “Buddhists havea 2,500-year history of investigatingthe workings of the mind. . . .Using imaging devices that showwhat occurs in the brain duringmeditation, Dr. Davidson has beenable to study the effects of Buddhistpractice for cultivating compassion,equanimity, or mindfulness”(Gyatso, 2003).Effects of MeditationMuch of the early research on meditation focused on its use as a relaxation techniquethat relieved stress and improved cardiovascular health. The meditation techniquethat was most widely used in this research was a form of concentrative meditationcalled transcendental meditation or TM. From a research standpoint, TM had manyadvantages. It can be quickly mastered and does not require any changes in lifestyleor beliefs. Practitioners follow a standardized, simple format. Meditators sit quietlywith eyes closed and mentally repeat the mantra they have been given. Rather thanstruggling to clear the mind of thoughts, meditators are taught to allow distractingthoughts to simply “fall away” while they focus their attention on their mantra.Numerous studies showed that even beginning meditators practicing TM experiencea state of lowered physiological arousal, including a decrease in heart rate, loweredblood pressure, and changes in brain waves (C. N. Alexander & others, 1994;Dillbeck & Orme-Johnson, 1987). Advocates of TM claimed that such physicalchanges produce a unique state of consciousness with a wide variety of benefits,including stress reduction.While much of the early research on meditation focused on short-term effectsand meditation’s health benefits, contemporary research on meditation is muchmore wide-ranging. One approach involves using sophisticated brain-imaging technologyto study how the brain changes during meditation (Newberg & Iversen,2003). Another approach involves the ongoing research collaboration among neuroscientists,psychologists, and a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks who have devoteddecades to intensive study and meditative practice (Barinaga, 2003; Davidson,2002). Because Tibetan Buddhism represents a rigorous system of mental training,researchers hope to learn more about consciousexperience as well as meditation’s effectson attention, emotional control, personality,and the brain (Houshmand &others, 2002; Lutz & others, 2004).Many studies have shown that regularmeditation can enhance physical and psychologicalfunctioning beyond that providedby relaxation alone (Andresen, 2000;Austin, 1998, 2003). Meditation and hypnosisare similar in that both involve thedeliberate use of mental techniques tochange the experience of consciousness. Inthe final section of this chapter, we’ll considerone of the oldest strategies for deliberatelyaltering conscious awareness—psychoactive drugs.