OK, I'll bite. Meditation allows you to gain an otherwise impossible level of control over somatic functions (heart rate, pressure). That's why it's often used by freedivers to learn to hold their breath for example, and, to a greater extent, it's used in static apnea to help you hold your breath for a ridiculous amount of time (see Jacques Mayol).

That doesn't mean it's only useful to static apnea champions, though. The potential uses are wide-ranging, perhaps stress control and introspection is what most people can get from it.

That is plain nonsense.

There copious amounts of solid empirical evidence on the effects of meditation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation

One hell of a placebo though: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314170647.ht...

Placebos are highly underrated.

shrug. placebos are pretty powerful. it's a useful tool. since starting meditating regularly i use it quite practically. it helps when you're in an environment with screaming kids, for example. i don't really care if it's placebo (which would be what? working only in my mind? you don't say...?) or not (but what else could it be?). it helps.

Are you speaking as someone who has practiced meditation regularly or from an non-practicing perspective?

Perhaps you've been doing it wrong? Thats quite a bold statement.

whatever is a mystery is a placebo. That view wont help you mate.

Care to back that up?

I think the request for proof lies with something that claims to have a certain effect or benefit.

On the other hand, it has been proven that taking breaks can enhance concentration and endurance. Meditation should be no exception.

The placebo effect is strong though!

Meditation in the context of these bobo articles is just prayer for westerners who hate Christianity. It's a warped solipsistic form of prayer, however. Of course if they knew a damn thing about real Buddhism or Hinduism they'd avoid using terms from those religions, too.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about Westerners practicing Eastern religions. If your practice is Christianity and you are happy in your practice, why does it bother you how other people find the same relief?

I'm not christian and I have no chip. I just think the social dynamics of this meditation stuff are highly noteworthy and important. It is absolutely rooted in western self hatred and rejection of tradition.

Anyway, these people aren't really practicing eastern religions. They're simply remaining ignorant enough about the faiths that their PC sensibilities aren't triggered.

At least in the community of practitioners that I am a member of, that doesn't ring true. Many people, including myself, did not connect with the faith they were born into, yet found something that spoke to them in Zen practice, which is deeply rooted in tradition (albeit one novel and unfamiliar to most Western practitioners). To say that 'these people aren't really practicing eastern religions' is a sweeping statement. Again, it may apply to some folks, but not generally to members of the communities I have experienced.

I'm curious about your connection of self-hatred to 'the social dynamics of this meditation stuff.' Could you expand on what you wrote?

All of these statements are false.

Prayer is communication with a God(1), while meditation is simply quieting of the mind(2).

Therefore, one is not a warped form of the other. The two are distinct.

Finally, meditation is a etymologically a western term(3)

(1) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer (2) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation (3) http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meditation