Each 21 December is celebrated as United Nations (UN) World Meditation Day.

The Thammasat University Library collection includes several books about different aspects of meditation.

The UN website explains:

• Benefits of meditation

Beyond individual benefits, meditation fosters empathy, collaboration, and a sense of shared purpose, contributing to collective well-being. Celebrated for its universality, meditation is practiced across all regions of the world by people of all ages, backgrounds, and lifestyles.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the significant benefits of meditation, particularly mindfulness meditation. WHO’s discussions on stress management underscore the importance of learning coping mechanisms, such as meditation, to support mental and physical well-being.

According to WHO, meditation can be a powerful self-care tool to support treatment and enhance overall well-being, particularly in managing symptoms of anxiety. Incorporating mindfulness meditation into your daily routine, even for just a few minutes, can help you achieve a sense of calm and focus.

Additionally, WHO acknowledges the mental health benefits of practices like yoga, which often incorporate meditative elements. On the International Day of Yoga, WHO highlighted yoga’s contributions to lifelong health and well-being, emphasizing its role in promoting healthier populations and a more equitable and sustainable world.

• World Meditation Day

To raise awareness about meditation and its benefits, the General Assembly proclaimed 21 December as World Meditation Day, recalling the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Additionally, the General Assembly acknowledged the link between yoga and meditation as complementary approaches to health and well-being. Cultivating peace and unity through meditation.

At the United Nations, meditation holds a special place, exemplified by the Meditation Room at UN Headquarters in New York. Opened in 1952 under the guidance of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, this “room of quiet” symbolizes the essential role of silence and introspection in achieving global harmony.

As Mr. Hammarskjöld put it, this house, dedicated to work and debate in the service of peace, “should have one room dedicated to silence in the outward sense and stillness in the inner sense.” In times of global challenges, such as armed conflicts, climate crises, and rapid technological advancements, meditation offers a powerful means to cultivate peace, unity, and compassion.

World Meditation Day reminds us of the importance of nurturing human consciousness to address these issues and create harmony within ourselves and our communities. By fostering inner peace through meditation, individuals contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable world for current and future generations. Good health and well-being Meditation is increasingly recognized for its contributions to mental health — a fundamental human right — and its alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasize health and well-being as central to achieving sustainable development. Goal 3, “Good Health and Well-Being,” aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, addressing key challenges such as maternal and child health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and access to essential medicines and vaccines.

This target also highlights the importance of mental health, universal health coverage, and the reduction of health inequities to build resilient and inclusive societies.

Thammasat University students who are interested in allied health sciences, education, philosophy, psychology, sociology, may find it useful to download a free Open Access book, Mindfulness and Meditation at University: 10 Years of the Munich Model by Andreas de Bruin at this link.

Professor Andreas de Bruin, Ph.D. teaches aesthetic education at the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany.

His main field of research is the effects on physical, emotional, cognitive and social levels of mindfulness and meditation.

The TU Library collection includes many books about different aspects of mindfulness and meditation.

Professor de Bruin’s book examines the first years from 2010 to 2020 of a mindfulness and meditation program at his university.

Starting with fifteen students in a social work degree course, the program expanded to over ten times as many students in 21 different courses of study each semester.

The goal is to help students be better able to cope with everyday challenges, general pressure and stress of studies. If students learn to handle stressful situations in neutral and objective ways, then minor issues, such as family disagreements, are less likely to become more significant conflicts.

Mindfulness and meditation exercises teach students to pause instead of reacting impulsively, and think of different approaches to each situation, avoiding too much emotion.

Students reported that the course made them less interested in shopping, what is known as retail therapy. Many claimed to sleep better at night.

Professor Andreas de Bruin states that general mindfulness practices are easy to teach as part of the standard curriculum, as elective courses, or added to fields of study such as mathematics and computer science.

A quiet room is needed in which students can practice undisturbed, equipped with cushions, blankets and mats.

The university library should have related literature and films available for students to borrow. Certain university areas can be dedicated for mindfulness and meditation, such as tables in a dining room for students who prefer to eat silently.

Already in Austria, a master’s degree program at the University College of Teacher Education of Christian Churches in Vienna and Krems (KPH Vienna) has been established in mindfulness in education, counselling and healthcare.

Here are some thoughts about mindfulness and meditation by authors, most of whom are represented in the TU Library collection:

During walking meditation, during kitchen and garden work, during sitting meditation, all day long, we can practice smiling. At first you may find it difficult to smile, and we have to think about why. Smiling means that we are ourselves, that we have sovereignty over ourselves, that we are not drowned in forgetfulness. This kind of smile can be seen on the faces of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

• Thích Nhất Hạnh in Being Peace (1987)

There are three things I can recommend to you: arranging to have a breathing room in your home, a room for meditation; practicing breathing, sitting, for a few minutes every morning at home with your children; and going out for a slow walking meditation with your children before going to sleep, just ten minutes is enough. These things are very important. They can change our civilization.

• Thích Nhất Hạnh in Being Peace (1987)

Meditation on any theme, if positive and honest, inevitably separates the person who does the meditating from prevailing opinion, from that which … can be called “public” or “popular” opinion.

• José Ortega y Gasset, What is Philosophy? (1964)

People holds an inward talk with themselves alone, which they must regulate well.

• Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1699) 

If we spent half an hour every day in silent immobility, I am convinced that we should conduct all our affairs, personal, national, and international, far more sanely than we do at present.

• Bertrand Russell, “The decay of meditation” (1931)

Avoid all refined speculations; confine yourself to simple reflections, and recur to them frequently. Those who pass too rapidly from one truth to another feed their curiosity and restlessness; they even distract their intellect with too great a multiplicity of views. Give every truth time to send down deep root into the heart.

• François Fénelon