Letter # 64: "Medication and Meditation"

The words medication and meditation might seem far apart in meaning but they have the same linguistic roots.

While, we often need both medication and meditation, we tend to forget about the latter.

The word medication comes from the Latin word medicationem meaning "healing or cure".
The word meditation can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root med-, which means "to measure, limit, consider, advise", and gives rise to the Latin words mederi "to heal," and medicus "physician,"
Medication goes into the body, and alters the biology of it. The benefits would hopefully include better health, and better enjoyment of life, work and relationships. Discontinuation of the medication will often cause a return of ill health.
Meditation, on the other hand, starts from inside. Meditation alters a person's mental outlook, physiology, and the external world. Resulting benefits include a better understanding of life, better coping skills, enhanced enjoyment of life, better work capacity, and improved relationships. Meditation leaves a lasting effect that is not forgotten, and that comes in useful in times of crisis.

Marcus Aurelius [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius] (121 AD - 180 AD), a wise Roman Emperor, said “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”

So, develop the "weapon" of meditation.

God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2008

References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.