What is all this stuff about Meditation causing epilepsy etc

[NickJW]

I have been reading around and there is alot of people, including former meditation teachers saying that meditation is very dangerous and should NOT be practised by anyone. It can cause epilepsy and other serious mental problems they say. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some insight on this, as it is a bit scarry as I am fairly new in starting meditation. Also most people trash talking meditation are usually talking about Trancendental Meditation, what makes this different from other meditations and what should I be practising if I want to achive Astral Projection? I would just like to hear some insight on this topic.

P.S. I'm not sure if this is the right section of the forum to place this message.

[karnautrahl]

I've heard TM can cause problems, disassociation and other issues. It encourages an abundance of slower brainwaves alone, which is also the frequencies associated with depression and similar disorders. However whilst this sounds logical enough on a first reading, I do not know anything about the techniques of TM and how they differ from simple meditation work.
I'm sure there are plenty of meditators here who are experienced who can testify different regardless.

[NickJW]

I think the meditation I am going to practice is breath awareness, the Buddhist meditation. If they have been doing it for hundreds of years and Buddhism is one of the biggest religions, their form of meditation can't be bad.

[karnautrahl]

That's what I use, also mind hum which again I think comes from there originally.
Nice and simple.

[Logic]

Sounds like a load to me, I've only heard that meditation is good for you (in moderation of course).

[NickJW]

I know it is good for you, but I'm not making this up search meditation health mental problems on the net and you would be surprised how many people are against meditation of all forms and claim it can cause mental and health problems. Not that I believe it, but it does freak me out a bit.

[coolbreeze]

In my experience, meditation is nothing but helpful. I am more rested, in a better mood, and seem to get less physical injuries when I take time to meditate 30 minutes a day, even if I only do it a couple days every week. But yes, there are a lot of people out there who are against it, especially some medical professionals. I have no idea why this is, except for the fact that they have obviously not tried it themselves. My health teacher almost exploded when I told her meditation made my life better. Given, I have not read these articles, do you have any links to them?

[Moonburn33]

meditation is actively pursuing mental relaxation.  It stablizes a person's brain waves- not scramble them.

the processes that are at work in meditation are natural processes that occur in the brain on a regular basis...

almost every psychologist/psychiatrist/counselor i know meditates and promotes meditation... and I'd think that they'd know more about how the brain works than most.

[Tom]

If there are underlying conditions it is possible that meditation can activate them. Fortunately, it takes time to develop the ability to meditate so what usually happens is a gentle process of healing those underlying conditions rather than forcibly bringing them to the surface. It can seem like nothing is happening at all during this time, which can be very frustrating. That is where the tendency to push ahead at any cost can come in. It helps to do your meditation without that expectation of specific results, and instead to watch with curiosity as though it is someone else doing the meditation. The results will come and it is easy to overlook the initial signs of progress.