Buddhist Meditation

Buddhist meditation is a practice within the religion and philosophy of Buddhism in which a person attempts to train the mind to transcend the body and achieve total awareness and freedom. Buddhist meditation can be practiced alone or in groups.

Practitioners believe dedicated meditation enables a person to overcome one's dual nature and attain peace of mind. The goal is to cease thinking all thoughts and free the mind of earthly concerns. By dissociating from the activity of the outside world, a person can focus on the inner nature of his or her thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.

Buddhists practice meditation in the pursuit of enlightenment and Nirvana. Non-Buddhists often practice this art of meditation for other reasons.

History and Dissemination of Buddhist Meditation

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha, a prince born possibly in the fourth century B.C.E. in Lumbini in modern Nepal. The Buddha was influenced by the Brahmanist religious leaders of northern India. Brahmanism encouraged the practice of yoga and meditation to accomplish a liberated state called nothingness. After living in luxury for much of his early life, as a young man Siddhartha relocated to the forest and dedicated his life to spiritual endeavors.

Siddhartha came to reject certain aspects of the Brahmanist tradition, however, because he believed nothingness was not liberating. Siddhartha believed a liberated self could be achieved in life, whereas Brahmanists found liberation only in death. Eventually, Siddhartha did achieve this liberated state, after which he was known as the Buddha, or Awakened One. The Buddha incorporated the Brahmanist practice of meditation into his teachings. He regarded mindfulness and insight as important undertakings in the path to full awareness. The Buddha taught total enlightenment, a spiritual state in which human desire and suffering is transcended. Active and constant meditation was especially important to attaining this goal. Once enlightened, an individual could then work toward the ultimate goal of Buddhism: Attaining Nirvana, a state of perfect happiness and peace.

The Buddha devoted the rest of his life to spreading his teachings across India. Buddhism did not gain a significant following until many years after the Buddha's death, by which time the community had grown into a religion. By 500 C.E., his philosophy was known throughout much of Asia and Buddhist meditation took hold in Eastern countries such as China, Thailand, Japan, and Sri Lanka. Buddhist meditation varied in different cultures, where it had evolved based on the specific customs and interpretations of the people. A number of Buddhist schools emerged over the years, and with them assorted understandings of the Buddhist meditative practice.

As the centuries passed, the Buddha's philosophy eventually made its way to the Western world. By the twentieth century, North America had taken a great interest in Buddhist meditation. Scientists also began studying the practice in neurological terms, examining meditation's effect on the human brain. Individuals began refashioning meditation for purposes other than religion. A number of twentieth century psychologists incorporated Buddhist meditation into their therapeutic practices. People began utilizing meditation to alleviate conditions such as depression, anxiety, and addiction, rather than to achieve enlightenment.

Goals of Buddhist Meditation

The Buddha established a number of sutras, or dialogues, related to the Buddhist philosophy of life. These sutras include the Four Noble Truths, which outline the goals of Buddhism. These truths state first that individuals can only achieve enlightenment by ridding themselves of material desires and pleasures. Secondly, worldly pleasures lead to dissatisfaction and rebirth, conditions that thwart attempts at enlightenment. Once a person is free of these earthly cravings, they must next adopt a lifestyle of decency and discipline. Finally, the fourth truth instructs a person to follow the Noble Eightfold Path—eight aspects of Buddhism that liberate the spirit.

Meditation is a significant element of the fourth truth. For the Buddha, the meditative state was crucial to the liberation of the mind. He believed meditation fosters mindfulness, a concept that calls upon meditators to focus on all experiences that have made them the person they have become. Identifying the internal and external experiences that ground a person to the material world allows one to strip oneself of these sensations. The meditator can then experience insight into the nature of enlightenment.

The ultimate goal of Buddhist meditation and the path of enlightenment is Nirvana. The Buddha's path to Nirvana took six years of meditative effort. He described Nirvana as an awakening of the true knowledge and vision of being. To practitioners, attaining Nirvana means that a person will never be reborn into a physical life and exists in a deathless, timeless world from that point on. With Nirvana comes the shedding of all fear and suffering as well as distraction and ignorance. The mind exists completely clear and free of all worldly concerns.

Buddhist tradition holds that Nirvana is dual in nature. A person first experiences Nirvana in his or her own lifetime, during which the person is still attached to a physical body. An individual then experiences Nirvana after death, referred to as parinirvana. Nirvana after death means a person ceases to exist in the physical world and one's karma—the consequential actions of one's life—will not pass into a new life. No part of the person's soul remains in the human realm, and her or she is completely free.

Bibliography

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