Meditation is an essential part of Buddhist practise, but what is meditation? The dictionary defines it as: 'reflecting deeply, especially on spiritual matters'. Buddhism defines it as clear seeing; mental training leading to enlightenent.

Meditation is a tranlation of the Pali word 'Bhavana' but does not convey the same strenth of meaning. Bhavana includes not only sitting and walking meditation but also informal meditation, such as awareness and mindfulness in all daily activities. Bhavana is the corret Buddhist word for meditation and means 'cultivating the mind: helping the mind to grow and develop.'.

There are many shapes and forms of different meditation and, in the wake of alternative medacine, not all of these are Buddhist-only. These are the main two:

Samatha Meditation

This is the most common form of non-Buddhist meditation, often used as a form of alternative medacine or in prenatal classes.

Samatha or 'concerntration' meditation requires the peron meditating to be able to foucus their mind, to almost be able to hold it still.

It is fairly simple. Firstly, posture is important and the back must be straight. In the East we often see people sitting down on the floor to meditate, but in the West the more inexperianced meditators are likely to be sat in a chair to aid posture.

The first stage is to relax and to follow the path of your breath, often giving the breath an imaginary colour to make this easier. It is done with the eyes shut for about 5 minutes.

The next stage is counting. The subject counts 'one' at the end of every exhalation in sets of ten. This lasts for a further 5 minutes or more. After this the oppostie is done and the begining of each inhalation is counted as 'one'.

The object of this is to hold the mind on one thing and to only be aware of breathing.

The final stage is to concerntrte on the place where the breath enters the body. For most people this is an entirely new sensation. This phase lasts five or more minuets.

Many people find this very calming and are able to completely forget everthing but their breathing during these sessions

The main object of Samatha meditation for a Buddhist is to develop 'metta'- loving kindness and compassion towards all living creatures. The meditating is meant to help people learn to focus their minds on one thing and its calming effect can lower blood pressure and soothe anger.

Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana meditation or 'insight' meditation is the Buddhist-only meditation that eventually leads to enlightenment.

In this form the meditator watches thoughts submerge and obserbs them before letting them go.

The meditators aiming for enlightenment will try to focus on something symbolic of the Buddha's teachings- like a flower that grows, blooms and is beautiful before fading away and dying which is symbolic of Anicca (imperminance).

In Vipassana meditation, the meditator seeks understanding. Zen Buddhists use rhetorical questions to guide them, called koans. Examples of these are, 'if a tree falls in a forest and there is noboy around, does it make a noise' and 'what is the sound of one hand clapping?'. Most people would not understand them, but they are deeply philosophical questions intended to make the Buddhist think.

To be enlightened the Buddhist must fully understand the nature of life, death and the Buddha's teachings. When they beome enlightend they will be known as a Buddha- the ultimate goal of a Buddhist.

Meditation Links

For an online guided metta meditation, click here.

For more information on metta meditation, check out this link.