--- title: Why We Need Meditation in the AI Era description: Decades of research have demonstrated the benefits of meditation. canonical: https://time.com/7345147/we-need-meditation-in-the-ai-era/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-01-10T10:38:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T13:10:01.116Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why We Need Meditation in the AI Era og:description: Decades of research have demonstrated the benefits of meditation. og:url: https://time.com/7345147/we-need-meditation-in-the-ai-era/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadea74ebdbf75877/6998ccb947fe51e2f755c5c6/meditation-AI.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Meditation AI og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why We Need Meditation in the AI Era twitter:description: Decades of research have demonstrated the benefits of meditation. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadea74ebdbf75877/6998ccb947fe51e2f755c5c6/meditation-AI.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEASTime ideas # Why We Need Meditation in the AI Era by [Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://time.com/author/gurudev-sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) ## Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Jan 10, 2026 10:38 AM UTC  This is a photograph of a single water droplet splashing into Blue and Orange water. The water drop is frozen in time and was taken at a 2000th of a second This is a photograph of a single water droplet splashing into Blue and Orange water. The water drop is frozen in time and was taken at a 2000th of a secondskodonnell—Getty Images by [Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://time.com/author/gurudev-sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) ## Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Jan 10, 2026 10:38 AM UTC If you look through the eyes of a child, the whole world feels alive. There is life in everything and everything is in conversation. As we grow up, we start to perceive life as more mechanical. We adopt habits to cope with stress but which detach us from more dynamic ways of seeing the world. In the Vedic tradition, people believe they can instill _prana_, or subtle life force, into inanimate objects through a process called _pranapratishta_. Vedic astrology, too, attributes personalities to planets and speaks of the connection between the macrocosm and the microcosm. In the northern Himalayas and in Tibetan traditions, people believe they can communicate with deities. Indigenous cultures from Native American communities, Balinese healers, and Māori elders have long seen nature as alive, responsive, and mystical. Today, however, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. The world is on the edge of a profound transformation. Machines are beginning to predict and perform tasks once considered uniquely human. And due to advancements in artificial intelligence, they can do this faster, at greater scale, and at a fraction of the cost. While this promises extraordinary progress, it is also quietly unsettling something deeper. Across industries and institutions, people are confronting an unfamiliar frontier. There is not only economic disruption, but a growing sense of anxiety, disconnection, and doubt in human abilities. Against this backdrop, it is important to remember that long before algorithms and artificial intelligence, there were beliefs about an absolute intelligence which governs the universe. Through history, this philosophy has driven great minds to innovate, discover, and create. Meditation is humanity's oldest technology to tap into this dimension of intelligence. It offers something far more powerful than a deep rest and that it is an instrument to reach our higher consciousness and knowledge about consciousness. In my view, we live in more than one kind of space. The first is external space which comprises the physical world we see and touch. It is made up of the elements. This is the space where machines and algorithms now navigate with increasing precision. The second is inner space—the realm of thoughts, memories, and emotions. Your awareness naturally goes here when you close your eyes. This is where ideas synthesize and feelings arise. Most of what we call “thinking” happens in this very space. The third space, which I consider to be particularly powerful, is a space of complete awareness. In this space, there are no thoughts or emotions, only presence. In moments of deep stillness, I have found that it is possible to access this space. In the yogic tradition, these three spaces are known as _Bhoot Akash_ (outer space), _Chit Akash_ (the space of the mind), and _Chid Akash_ (the space of consciousness itself.) This deepest space is believed to be full of intelligence. Creativity moves through these three spaces in sequence. Wisdom exists first in _Chid Akash_, the space of pure consciousness. From there, it moves into _Chit Akash_, taking form as thought or emotion. Finally, it expresses itself in _Bhoot Akash_, the physical world. Based on this theory, intelligence can not be derived from data alone, because it originates in stillness. Have you ever noticed that your mind often oscillates between past and future? Perhaps you regret what has been done or are anxiously planning what comes next. I have found that the more one tries to control the mind using the mind itself, the more exhausting and futile the effort becomes. This is precisely why I believe meditation is so essential. Through meditation, the mind naturally relaxes, settles into the present moment, and grants us access to our consciousness and our own innate intelligence. This is when awareness shifts from processing information to listening to intuition. Decades of research have demonstrated the [benefits](https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858) of [meditation](https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/what-meditation-can-do-for-your-mind-mood-and-health-). And researchers worldwide are now acknowledging [breathwork](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/breathwork) as a critical tool for wellness. We are beginning to understand that genuine human progress requires not just economic indicators, but metrics of inner wellbeing, mental health, and collective peace. In a future shaped by machines that think faster than we do, the most powerful intelligence may be the one that needs no programming at all. I would argue that meditation is the doorway to that intelligence. Not artificial, not external, but absolute. And it has always been closer than we imagine. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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