Buddhist Meditation

Great religious traditions invariably begin with one person's  direct experience.  Buddha, who was born in about 560 BC, was a man who investigated his own mind and eventually attained spiritual awakening, or understanding of his own real nature.  Buddha is not considered a god to be worshipped.  Rather, he was a man who taught that the experiences and realizations that he found through meditation are available to everyone.

The main teaching of the Buddha is that human beings are unhappy because they do not understand their own real identity and potential. From birth, we are taught who we are, how to act and what to think.  We come to believe that we are this limited identity.  In meditation, our thoughts, which invariably center around this small sense of self are quieted.  We can discover that this sense of small self is a limiting concept.  This understanding brings great peace, lightness, joy and understanding.

  What is Meditation?

In general, meditation is a way to quiet the mind.  However, "meditation" is a very general term.  There are many practices which could be referred to as meditation and all the major religions include some meditative practices. "Buddhist meditation" is also a general term, as there are a multitude of meditation schools and techniques which come out of the various Buddhist traditions. Meditation can also be practiced without religious overtones (e.g., one can meditate with no religious beliefs in mind or one can be a practicing Christian or Jew and employ meditation techniques extracted from Buddhism).

Benefits of meditation include relaxation and stress control, control of blood pressure, pain management, facilitation of psychotherapy and enhanced immune function. These benefits come about chiefly through effects on the autonomic nervous system.  In a sentence, the "fight or flight" reaction of the sympathetic nervous system is controlled  by the relaxation response of the parasympathetic nervous system.  Meditation has also been used through the centuries as a path to self understanding and the most profound and direct spiritual experience.

TWO BASIC TECHNIQUES USED IN MEDITATION

Even though there are hundreds of types of meditation, if examined closely, all techniques fall into one of two categories:

1. Concentration, in which the mind focuses on a mental object (e.g., looking at a candle flame, counting or noticing one's breaths with eye's closed, reciting a chant or mantra with one's mind on the sound, or visualizing certain processes in the body, like the flow of energy).

2. Mindfulness, (sometimes referred to as awareness) in which the mind observes itself (e.g., sitting in meditation or doing a simple task while noticing when one hears a sound, feels a sensation or has a thought arise, without following the thought and becoming distracted).