text: some one believe black magic?   black magic is casting negative emotions on someone. one can get rid of it. it is explained further in the explanation of spiritual meditation-  as one proceeds higher on the spiritual plane ... one becomes more and more conscious of the living being inside ... our atman the soul within ... hypnotism, hypnotic state are not the least related to the field of spirituality. the practitioners of hypnotism fall under the category of ... magic ... black magic ... medical treatment of patients where there is no choice left but to hypnotize the patient into a particular state of mind to get the actual facts of life. sometimes, hypnotism is also used on culprits to get the truth out.   in meditation ... there is nothing like a trance state ... one is all the more conscious when in deep meditation ... it is only at the pinnacle of meditation that one comes face-to-face with god ... how can then it be that one is in a trance and yet facing god. in deep meditation one gets more concentrated in the thought pattern ... all thoughts related to the materialistic life get washed away and what is left is thoughts pertaining to spiritual upliftment only.   before we discuss more on the matter ... we need to understand the actual meaning of word meditation ... meditation is the english word for yoga. and what is yoga? yoga in hinduism means trying to create synthesis between atman the soul within and the parmatman (god, the almighty creator).  every atman the soul within ... on its cosmic journey tries to establish a contact with the creator ... this is what we are doing while offering prayers to god almighty creator ... in a way prayers are also a form of yoga. why is it necessary for an atman the soul within ... to try establishing a contact with the god, the almighty creator?   right from the first manifestation as an amoeba to the last ... the form of a human being ... the only goal for the atman the soul within is attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death. this is just not possible without the grace of god. every human being ... a true seeker of spirituality meditates ... yet, we do not meditate on the center of a bulb but these instruments only act as a medium for us to concentrate our energies in trying to establish a contact with the creator.   the dialogues of plato are nothing else but a form of meditation. he tried to logistically weave out all that he and his associates considered as false ... once we weed out all that is untrue ... what remains is only the absolute truth. this is nothing else but practicing neti ... the method utilized by maharishi ramana to gain self realization ... in the process of neti negate all that is not god ... saying not this, not this ... and what finally remains is a face-to-face dialogue with god.   in hindi, yoga is derived from the word "yog". as two plus two equals four ... in hindi we call it two yog two equals four. the effort of the atman soul to combine with parmatman ... the effort of the soul ... to assimilate with god, the almighty creator is what we know as yoga ... that is meditation. most of the people i have come across in life have indicated that they have been long practicing meditation. when asked, how do they practice meditation ... most replied that they sat in a dark room and concentrated on the center of a small lit bulb. is that all to what meditation is all about?   people have been sitting in this posture not for months but have spent many years ... yet, they do not feel satisfied with the results. i am surprised to observe what kind of benefit they expected out of sitting in a dark black room doing nothing. yoga (meditation) means resolving all queries within us ... dissolving them forever ... and by the process of neti ... not this, not this ... what ultimately remains is one to one dialogue with god. more here- http://www.vijaykumar.com/spiritual_meditation.html