An integral investigation into the phenomenology and neurophysiology of Christian Trinity meditation

In a small group of 10 practicing Christians who meditated for at least 15 minutes, the meditation process generally moved from body to mind to spirit, with participants reporting increasingly relaxed, contented, and focused states of consciousness marked by Christian Trinitarian imagery, wonder, surrender, peace, bliss, openness, and formlessness. Brainwave recordings showed significant increases in alpha and beta activity from baseline to meditation, along with rising trends in theta and gamma activity and decreasing trends in delta activity, muscle tension, blood volume pulse, and respiration. The findings suggest that brief sessions of Christian Trinitarian meditation may enhance spiritual life and support everyday conscious behavior.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This integral investigation explored phenomenological and neurophysiologic, individual and collective dimensions of Christian Trinitarian meditation experiences in a volunteer, convenience sample of 10 practicing Christians, 6 men and 4 women, with a mean age of 48 years and an age range from 21 to 85 years. Participants meditated for a minimum period of 15 minutes, during which neurophysiologic data in the form of electroencephalographic (EEG), electromyographic (EMG), blood volume pulse (BVP) and respiratory activity were recorded. A phenomenological analysis indicated that the meditation process generally involved a movement from body to mind to spirit as evident in reports of an increasingly relaxed, contented and focused state of consciousness characterised by Christian Trinitarian imagery, wonder, surrender, peace, bliss, openness and formlessness. The neuropsychological findings indicated significant increases, from baseline to meditation recordings, in the alpha and beta range, accompanied by increasing mean trends in the theta and gamma range, and decreasing mean trends in the delta range, EMG, BVP and respiration. Integrative findings indicated the practical theological value of small doses of Christian Trinity meditation to enhance spiritual life for those forms of waking, thinking, conscious behaviour needed in everyday world involvement and healing. Findings were discussed in relation to further integrative investigations and interventions with practical theological implications.