In this excerpt from his thesis, Dr Ramesh Manocha discusses the support his research found for the ‘mental silence’ definition of meditation.
“In attempt to begin exploring the physiological features of the mental silence state, an exploratory physiological trial of sahaja yoga meditation’s effect on skin temperature was conducted. Physiological studies in India suggested quite potent effects on conventional measures of physiological arousal but importantly while many of the parameters changed in the expected direction skin temperature paradoxically decreased, yet according to the relaxation model of meditation it should increase. We replicated these findings in an Australian psychophysiology laboratory using a physiological trial of experienced meditators compared to novices matched for age, sex and interest in meditation. This unprecedented observation clearly suggests that the mental silence orientated definition of meditation is not just conceptual, philosophical or experiential but quite possibly biological as well.”
More information on Dr Manocha’s thesis can be found at his website.