What is Buddhist Meditation?

In Buddhism the person meditating is not trying to get into a hypnotic state or contact angels or any other supernatural entity.

Meditation involves the body and the mind.

In the most general definition, meditation is a way of taking control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused, and the meditator becomes more aware.

Working With the Mind

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.

(Dhammapada, Chapter 1:1-2)

These lines from the ancient Buddhist scripture, the Dhammapada, suggest that the mental states we experience are the key to everything in our lives.

If we are consumed by craving or aversion, we will experience the world very differently from the way we will experience it if we are overflowing with generosity and kindness.

Buddhist meditation is an invitation to turn one’s awareness away from the world of activity that usually preoccupies us to the inner experience of thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

For Buddhists, the realm of meditation comprises mental states such as calm, concentration and one-pointedness (which comprises the six forces: hearing, pondering, mindfulness, awareness, effort and intimacy).

Methods of Meditation

Some classical meditation methods use the meditator’s own breathing.

Meditators may just sit and concentrate on their breathing … not doing anything to alter the way they breathe, not worrying about whether they’re doing it right or wrong, not even thinking about breathing; just ‘following’ the breathing and ‘becoming one’ with the breathing.

It is important not to think: “I am breathing”. When a person does that they separate themselves from the breathing and start thinking of themselves as separate from what they are doing – the aim is just to be aware of breathing.

The Three Trainings

In the West, for many of those who want to explore a spiritual path, meditation is the first thing they encounter.

In Buddhist tradition, meditation is the second part of the ‘threefold path’.

There are many formulations of the Buddhist path to spiritual awakening but the threefold path is generally seen as the most basic one.

The first training, and the indispensable basis for spiritual development, according to the Buddha, is ethics (shila).

Buddhism does not have laws or commandments but its five ethical precepts are guidelines for how to live in a way that avoids harming others or oneself.

Meditation (samadhi) is the second training. Acting ethically gives rise to a simpler life and a clear conscience, which are a sound basis for meditation practice.

Meditation clarifies and concentrates the mind in preparation for the third training: developing wisdom (prajna). The real aim of all Buddhist practice is to understand the true nature of our lives and experience.

The Four Types of Meditation

A useful way of understanding the diversity of meditation practices is to think of the different types of meditation.

The meditation practices may be grouped under four types of meditation as follows:

• Concentrative
• Generative
• Receptive
• Reflective

This is not a traditional list – it comes from modern meditation teachers who draw on more than one Asian Buddhist tradition. Neither are there hard and fast distinctions.

A particular meditation practice usually includes elements of all four approaches but with the emphasis on one particular aspect.

Connected with meditation, but not quite the same as it, is the practice of mindfulness. This, too, is an essential part of Buddhist practice and means becoming more fully aware of what one is experiencing in all aspects of one’s life.

Mindfulness always plays a part in meditation, but meditation, in the sense of setting out to become more and more concentrated, is not necessarily a part of mindfulness.

Concentrative

If you focus your attention on an object, the mind gradually becomes calmer and more concentrated.

In principle, any object will do – a sound, a visual image such as a candle flame, or a physical sensation.

In the tantric Buddhism of Tibet and elsewhere, meditators visualise complex images of Buddha forms and recite sacred sounds or mantras (in fact these images and sounds have significance beyond simply being objects of concentration).

But the most common and basic object of concentrative meditation is to focus on the naturally calming physical process of the breath.

In the ‘mindfulness of breathing’, one settles the mind through attending to the sensations of breathing. There are many variations on how this is done. Here is a common version of the practice:

• In the first stage of the practice, you follow the breath as it enters and leaves the body and count after the out-breath.
• After the first breath you count ‘two’, and so on up to ten and then start again from one.

• In the second stage, the count comes before the in-breath.

• In the third stage, you stop counting and attend to the sensations of the breath entering and leaving the body.

• In the fourth stage, you focus your attention on the tip of your nose where the breath first comes into contact with the skin.

• Concentrative meditation practices can lead you into deeper and deeper states of absorption known as dhyana in Buddhism.

Generative

An example of a ‘generative’ practice is the ‘development of loving kindness’ meditation (metta bhavana). This helps the person meditating to develop an attitude of loving kindness using memory, imagination, and awareness of bodily sensations.

In the first stage, you feel metta for yourself with the help of an image like golden light or phrases such as ‘may I be well and happy, may I progress.’

In the second stage, you think of a good friend and, using an image, a phrase, or simply the feeling of love, you develop metta towards them.

In the third stage, metta is directed towards someone you do not particularly like or dislike – that is, a neutral person.

In the fourth stage, it is directed towards someone you actually dislike.

In the last stage, you feel metta for all four people at once – yourself, the friend, the neutral person, and the enemy.

Then you extend the feeling of love from your heart to everyone in the world, to all beings everywhere.

Scripture on this practice says: ‘As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings. With goodwill for the entire cosmos cultivate a limitless heart.’ (Metta Sutta)

Other generative practices in Buddhism include tonglen – the Tibetan practice of breathing in the suffering of others and breathing out a purifying white light. This practice is aimed at cultivating compassion.

Receptive

In the mindfulness of breathing or the metta bhavana meditation practice, a balance needs to be struck between consciously guiding attention and being receptive to whatever experience is arising.

This attitude of open receptive attention is the emphasis of the receptive type of meditation practice.

Sometimes such practices are simply concerned with being mindful.

In zazen or ‘just sitting’ practice from the Japanese Zen tradition, one sits calmly, aware of what is happening in one’s experience without judging, fantasising, or trying to change things.

A similar practice in Tibetan tradition is dzogchen.

In both cases, the meditator sits with their eyes open. (Usually people close their eyes to meditate).

Zazen and dzogchen practices gain depth from the underlying belief in the significance of being in the present moment.

Reflective

Reflective meditation involves repeatedly turning your attention to a theme but being open to whatever arises from the experience.

Reflective practices in Buddhism include meditations on impermanence and interconnectedness as well as faith enhancing practices such as meditation on the qualities of the Buddha.

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Source: Content on this page is based on the following website link. https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/customs/meditation_1.shtml#top

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