meditation

meditation as covered by this entry refers primarily to Buddhist meditation, that is the set of techniques within Buddhism known by the Sanskrit term bhāvanā and its cognates. These techniques are varied, and mostly involve both ‘mind’ and ‘body’ in Western terms. Thus ‘mental’ imagery may be used to affect the ‘body’, and ‘bodily’ techniques such as breath control may be employed to calm or direct the ‘mind’. All these techniques have come to be known in modern English as ‘meditation’, while equivalent techniques in Hinduism are more frequently referred to as yoga. In fact, present-day Hindu and Buddhist practices have many similarities, both going back to a common body of Indian ascetic procedures. The term ‘yoga’ is used within some Buddhist traditions, and some modern Hindu teachers use the term ‘meditation’ (e.g. the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ‘transcendental meditation’). Related techniques are also found in East Asia (qigong, etc.), in Islam (among the Sūfis), and in Judaism and Christianity.

As with other aspects of Buddhism, one can make a general distinction between the Southern (Theravāda) schools (found today in Śrī Lanka and South-East Asia), the Northern schools (Tibet and Mongolia), and the Eastern Schools (China and East Asia). Theravādin Buddhist societies tend to use relatively simple methods, and place emphasis on breathing practices and body mindfulness. Codified by the fourth-to fifth-century author Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga, they were mostly not taught to lay people until modern times. Tibetan methods employ the full range of ‘Tantric’ yogic practices, involving complex imaginal transformations of the self and environment and the use of ritual formulae (mantra) and gestures (mudrā). Tibetan Tantra also includes procedures involving visualized and actual use of sexual intercourse, but these have never been common in Tibet or Mongolia, since most practitioners are monks and such practices are believed to require a very high degree of mind–body training for successful performance.

Tantric techniques are known in East Asia (e.g. Shingon in Japan), but the most common form of meditation in East Asia, known in Chinese as Ch'an (Japanese Zen), involves simple sitting for prolonged periods and, in some traditions, contemplation on paradoxical statements (Japanese kōan); both are intended to force a breakthrough to non-conceptual insight. While Theravādin meditation traditions were practised primarily in monastic and ascetic contexts until the growth of lay meditation centres in the twentieth century, Tibetan meditation has a longer tradition of lay involvement, going back to the early days of Buddhism in Tibet. East Asian traditions, which represent a synthesis of Buddhist and indigenous (Daoist, etc.) meditation tradition, have been incorporated to some degree into martial arts and other aspects of secular life, although the ‘Zen’ nature of Japanese flower-arranging, tea ceremonies, etc., has been exaggerated by Western popularizers.

Two terms widely used in both Theravādin and Tibetan contexts are śamatha (Pali samatha) and vipaśyanā (Pali vipassanā). They may be translated roughly as ‘calm meditation’ and ‘insight meditation’. Śamatha meditation is directed at the attainment of a series of mind–body states (dhyāna, Pali jhāna; also samādhi) characterized by calmness, reduction of involvement with sensory input, one-pointedness of mind, etc. Vipaśyanā is aimed at insight into the true nature of reality, ultimately leading to the duplication of the enlightenment or awakening (bodhi) of the historical Buddha. Śamatha is regarded as a necessary precursor to vipaśyanā, but it may also be practised for its own sake, since it is held to lead to the attainment of siddhi (psychic or magical powers).

Dominant forms of Theravāda meditation in the West today emphasize vipaśyanā and downplay śamatha, but monastic and recluse traditions in South-East Asia employ complex śamatha practices which are associated with the ascription of magical powers to highly-attained monk meditators. In the Tibetan context, śamatha and vipaśyanā are usually regarded as preliminary practices to Tantra. The contrast between the attainment of specific mind–body states and the attainment of insight into reality nevertheless forms part of Tantra too. There is a great elaboration of specific states associated with particular Tantric deities and practices, often intended to bring about specific this-worldly results (health, protection, prosperity).

Skilled meditators can undoubtedly develop a high level of conscious control over bodily processes (e.g. body temperature, breathing process). Indigenous theoretical models treat body–mind processes as aspects of a single whole, and may provide useful pointers to the direction a Western scientific understanding of these processes might take.

Geoffrey Samuel

Bibliography

Beyer, S. (1973). The Cult of Tārā: magic and ritual in Tibet. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Nyanaponika, T. (1969). The heart of Buddhist meditation. Rider, London.

See also Buddhism and the body; relaxation; religion and the body; yoga; Zen.