Meditation

Meditation. A form of mental prayer. In Christianity, the term has been used since 16th cent., in distinction from contemplation, as a discursive activity, which involves thinking about passages from scripture and mysteries of the faith with a view to deeper understanding and a loving response. Many methods of meditation were taught, especially by the Jesuits. Outside this historical context, the term meditation is used more widely, embracing contemplation; and in this wider sense, is applied to practices of many different kinds in virtually all religions.

Judaism

The Heb. terms hitbonenut, kavvanah, and devekut all refer to concentration on the spiritual world; they were much used by the kabbalists. The merkabah mystics strove for a contemplative vision of the merkabah, and the later kabbalists attempted to commune with the world of the sefirot (emanations from God). The meditative practices of the ḥasidim were influenced by the kabbalists of Safed, whose doctrines were largely handed down orally.

Hinduism

See DHYĀNA.

Buddhism

Meditation in Buddhism is the process of training, developing, and purifying the mind, which is likened to an animal (especially an elephant or an ox) which is dangerously destructive when wild, but supremely useful when tamed. It is the third element in the triple training (Skt., triśikṣā) along with conduct or ethics (Skt., śīla) and knowledge or wisdom (Skt., prajñā), and as such is essential to Buddhist practice. General terms for it include dhyāna/jhāna (Skt., Pāli, ‘thinking’), concentration (Skt., samādhi), and mindfulness (Skt., smṛti). There are two aspects, calming the mind (Skt., śamatha) and using the calm mind to see reality clearly (vipassanā). These are distinguishable but not distinct.