The Effect of Meditation on the Academic Performance of African American College Students

Abstract

With the dawn of the next millennium at arm's length, many individuals are starting to engage in practices that lead to altered states of consciousness. Altered states of consciousness refer to states other than the normal waking state, including sleep, meditation, the hypnotic trance, and the distorted perceptions that may be caused by the use of certain drugs (Rathus, 1997, p. G1). Meditation is one such process that alters one's consciousness. Meditation is a systematic narrowing of attention that slows the metabolism and helps produce feelings of relaxation (Rathus, 1997, p. G13). There are numerous forms of meditation, with two of the most used being transcendental and Egyptian. The goal is the same, yet the process is somewhat different. Transcendental meditation is a simplified form of Far Eastern meditation that was brought to the United States by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1959 (Rathus, 1997). During the process, an individual repeats and concentrates on a mantra. Mantras are words or sounds that are claimed to have the capacity to help one achieve an altered state of consciousness. Egyptian meditation involves focusing on and visualizing an Egyptian symbol that represents a certain quality or characteristic. The purpose of focusing on the symbol is to obtain a particular goal (e.g., ward off enemies, to bring wealth or happiness). It also involves chanting words of power that correspond to the goal (Amen, 1990). Although these forms of