Literary notes about meditation (AI summary)
The term “meditation” in literature is remarkably versatile, serving as a metaphor for deep introspection, spiritual discipline, and even casual contemplation. In many works, such as those by Paramahansa Yogananda, meditation is presented as a sacred practice—a conduit to divine insight and self-realization ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]). At the same time, authors like Mark Twain and Cicero harness the term to describe moments of thoughtful rumination or to underscore the burdens of existential thought ([6], [7], [8]). For figures like Dante and even in classical military treatises like Sunzi’s, meditation bridges philosophy and practical wisdom, suggesting that reflective thought underpins both beauty and strategy ([9], [10]). Moreover, literature occasionally imbues the act with a lighter, even ironic, tone—as when characters become absorbed in their own private reveries or when the deliberate stillness of meditation is intermingled with everyday life ([11], [12]). Overall, “meditation” emerges not only as a spiritual exercise but also as a literary device that deepens character insight and enriches narrative texture.
- Often have I seen it in meditation!
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - " 3-4: In deep meditation, the first experience of Spirit is on the altar of the spine, and then in the brain.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - Directly below the hall, built into the very bluff, two solitary meditation caves confront the infinities of sky and sea.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - I sat down and went into a deep meditation, unceasingly thanking God not only for answering my prayer but for blessing me by a meeting with Babaji.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - To assume that one can fully know Him by forty-five years of meditation is rather a preposterous expectation.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - He was soon deep in meditation, and evidently the longer he thought, the more he was bothered.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - For the whole life of a philosopher is, as the same philosopher says, a meditation on death.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - I have now said enough about the effects of exercise, custom, and careful meditation.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - As meditation on death and on life make equally for wisdom, so the expression of sorrow and joy make equally for beauty.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - Let them be a subject of meditation.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - A dog, a good country dog, black and woolly gray, a dog rich in leisure and in meditation, scratched and grunted and slept.
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - Guess!” Nancy frowned in meditation.
— from Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter