What is meditation?

Jeffrey

I asked this to @DavidCollier in his thread about enlightenment. But my topic does not focus on DC. By far anyone can contribute. (or not )

What do YOU think meditation is?

I've thought about this a little bit and I think that there must be something that we can set up that is a wholesome stage for understanding our minds and our lives. Why is it wholesome? Well part of it is bodhicitta. The honor we give the practice sets up our wishes to be peaceful and inquisitive.

What is meditation?

genkaku

What do YOU think meditation is?

Ready!
Set!
Go!

Straight_Man

@Jeffrey, Meditation for some is reaching an over-and-above-mere-manly mind. And then getting it to reveal things, insights and for some, inspirations is the word they use.

For others it is what some would call contemplation taken to a higher standard.

But in practice, we each develop our own definition and goals for meditation. We each change our definition from time to time, depending on where we are in our practice.

So, in summary, Meditation is our while-physically-alive ideal goal of practice, and a stepping stone to enlightenment. That is the best I can do now, being a somewhat newbie to Buddhism terms.

swaydam

You(the Buddha Mind) are meditation. Meditation is reality. What isn't meditation?

...I also like how Adyashanti described it. He said two essential aspects of meditation are surrender and self enquiry. I think those correspond with shamatha (tranquility) and vipassana (insight) meditation.

But I don't know. I suck at both.

I also like to think of meditation as the gradual negation of all concepts.

I think perhaps my favorite terse explanation comes from Dan Millman though. He said meditation is the practice of enlightenment. He probably got that explanation from who knows where. When I think of meditation as the practice of enlightenment, it makes me think that meditation is nothing. Meditation is doing nothing, thinking nothing.

pegembara

Meditation(bhavana) is mental training or cultivation. To meditate one doesn't necessarily need to sit formally on a cushion or chair. The aim of Buddhist meditation is the removal of greed(desire), hatred(aversion) and delusion (of separate self).

swaydam

I think the practice of enlightenment comes from Zen (Dogen). Here is my own thought on it. "There is no division between the practitioner, the practice, and enlightenment."

I can sense the essential state here and now, yet conception and grasping keep me from it. I need to be hit with a stick. =(

lobster

Being at Ease

That would be the simple answer. We have to enter or practice that in a variety of ways. Physically, emotionally and mentally. Formal meditation in the Buddhist tradition allows us to sit still, breathing calmly, allowing the mind and emotions and physical agitation to settle . . .
. . . until we are . .

a Being at Ease . . . :om:

John_Spencer

What is meditation?

It's only a tool.

Sabre

Funny thing is the suttas don't have a word for meditation. The word that comes closest is the word "bhavana" which is occasionally translated as meditation, but more literally means cultivation.

I tend to refer to sitting meditation when using the word meditation, but 'cultivation' can happen at all times we are not sleeping. So meditation in a broad sense is not a specific activity or state of mind, its our willingness to learn about and cultivate the mind. In that sense it doesn't matter whether we are sitting down on a cushion, pushing a lawnmower, doing the dishes, driving a car, or whatever.

betaboy

Meditation is the complete letting go of all thoughts and desires.

seeker242

Breathe in, breathe out. That's pretty much it!

DavidCollier

Meditation is focus if it is anything: we meditate on something, surely. I do anyway, when i need to get clarification. This includes meditation on 'nothing'.

jll

Meditation is doing the thing that runs counter
to popular beliefs.
most people believe that you need to do something to
be happy.
movies, video games, food, sex, etc.
meditation is the opposite of all that.

lobster

DavidCollier said:

Meditation is focus if it is anything: we meditate on something, surely. I do anyway, when i need to get clarification. This includes meditation on 'nothing'.

Perhaps.
Perhaps what you are describing is more contemplation.

Meditation, such as Japa and vipassana may focus on sound or breath.
Awareness of nothing is quite different to contemplating nothing.

Also concentration exercises such as candle staring or nidra, common in yoga are concentration exercises. These techniques, to focus or concentrate the untrained mind are common in esoteric Buddhist systems . . .
http://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/31454196568/elements

The more awareness orientated meditation can be found here
http://www.kamalashila.co.uk/blog-2/styled-3/

how

Sometimes

Meditation is no thing
but
the entropy of our manipulative intent.

Nothing survives it.

John_Spencer

how said:

....the entropy of our manipulative intent.

That is beautiful @how ...

newtech

The truth is that people sit or do the meditation doing all kind of things:

-some people sit focusing
-some people sit training posture
-some people sit opening chakras
-some people sit training "doing nothing"
-some people sit "doing observation of the present moment"
-some people sit relaxing
-some people sit "seeing change"
-some people sit thinking
-some people sit "no thinking"
-so on...

What a persons does it not the same the other person does. They all train different skills. All those exercises lead to different places.

So the question is: Wich one the buddha was doing.

Jeffrey

If you're thinking what I'm thinking then we must be thinking of different things

upekka

before meditation:
mind involves in everything comes through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind itself

during meditation:
1. at first 'we' give an 'object' (breath or buddho etc.) to the mind to hold onto
(this is first effort)

2. if some other thoughts come into the mind we try to get rid of them and bring back the mind to the 'object' we provided
(this is second effort)

if one is successful in 1. and 2. and have a calm mind only with 1. for a long time one will be at First Jhana
(at this stage one's mind is with savithakkam, savicaram (the given object only), piti, sukam and ekaggatha which are the qualities of First Jhana)

unless one comes to this stage it is useless to talk about higher jhanas

Jeffrey

So, @upekka, your answer is that meditation is the path leading through the jhanas or dhyanas (sanskrit)?

upekka

Jeffrey said:

So, @upekka, your answer is that meditation is the path leading through the jhanas or dhyanas (sanskrit)?

whether one knows or knows not, if one practice 1. and 2. in upekka's previous post, one experiences Jhana/dhyana, then one has to pay attention (yoniso manasikara) to the Doctrience (Dhamma that heard/read -parathogosa)

which is Vipassana meditation that is the path leading to the first stage of enlightenment (samma dhitta/sothapanna/sovan/stream-entry)