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difference between meditation and buddhist meditation
upekka
Veteran
do you know any difference?
if so
what is it?
could you define the two
if so
what is it?
could you define the two
0
Comments
these days.
Buddhist meditation is very specific.
It is described in the suttas.
The most common is anapanasati.
ie. noting your in and out breath.
Personally I feel that Buddhists have the best tool set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation
Some meditations are more contemplation or concentration - calming procedures. At its deepest level there is no difference but the potential to get to the deepest levels is more readily available to Buddhists. :wave:
Q: What's the difference between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist?
A: The non-Buddhist thinks there's a difference.
IMO : "Regular" meditation is a tool mostly to help the physical body; by lowering stress, blood pressure, regulating breathing, feeding the body with more oxygen, nurturing it- while requiring almost no action...
"Buddhist" meditation is a tool more geared to unlocking/unblocking the mind; allowing focus, or free thought, (depending on your meditation goals), and recognizing how our own mind and emotional patterns work to enhance our happiness - or our suffering...
Meditation that clarifies the meaning in direct experience of impermanence, suffering, no-self, dependent origination are Buddhist meditations.
All jokes aside that was great. LOL
I cannot sit in any sort of cross-legged position, cushions or not (lumbar surgery and the attendant sciatica). I can, of course, sit in a chair. I can sit seiza for short periods, only because I haven't worked on it. It doesn't bother my back or leg. OK, that said...
In the little Pure Land sadhana I found, it has a place for "sitting meditation". I really don't know what I would be meditating on, and for how long. I would think (though I might be wrong) it might be something like a round of japa of namo amitabha buddha (or om namo abitabhaya buddhaya, or a variant) while contemplating Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, the Pure Land, my bodhicitta, reflection and contemplation on who I am, etc., or japa of om mani padme hum. My "meditation" has always been haphazard and consisted of letting thoughts come and go, letting my mind work something out, and just contemplation and reflection. Is this what we're talking about?
If your practice doesn't, it's something else..
other times I just sit
buddhist Meditation is very specific to other kinds of meditation. To meditate the right
buddhist way you have to do the Eightfold Path. Nothing more, nothing less.
Do read the Dighanikayo and you will find all instructions.
sakko
Some Sufi groups meditation starts with awareness on what many would describe as the 'heart chakra'. This is a technique I was taught, along with zhikr - mantrayana. Such awareness has to be monitored as focus on the heart can have physical consequences. Other Sufis engage in or watch singing and dancing. There even used to be a practice of 'gazing on the unbearded', contemplating the abstract concept of 'Allahs Beauty' by contemplating pretty young boys . . . makes some Tantra seem quite tame . . .
Perhaps the most relevant is mindfulness in gainful action. This would be similar to the practice of experienced Buddhist meditators.
Some western occultists adopt the 'Egyptian Pose' which involves sitting in a chair like a Pharaoh. Ritual enactment is also used as a form of altering consciousness. I have used both of these as well as major arcana contemplation.
Christian meditation may be centred around mantrayana, for example the 'Jesus Prayer' or other rosary based repetitions. I still occasionally do the 'Stations of the Cross' which is similar to Mandala based contemplation/meditation. Maybe the closest to most peoples idea of meditation is the Quaker form of quietude . . .
http://www.hermitary.com/solitude/quaker_silence.html
The yoke system of Hinduism (yoga) has a great variety of techniques, some of which are familiar to Buddhists, Japa yoga = mantrayana for example.
In Judiasm, contemplation of the letter of the Law (Torah) involves a focus and concentration on the Old Testament and its levels of meaning that would send an unprepared Rabbi to the Cross . . .
All of these practices change people, when they are ready. Are they so very different in form? Perhaps. All eventually lead to an emptying of form.
:wave:
i´m so disappointed, that people that say they studied Buddhism didn`t write or didn`t
know about the right buddhist meditation. Surely there are lots of meditations but there is only one, the meditation Gotamo Buddho gave us to apply it: The Eightfold Path.Nothing less nothing more. All the the states of mind, during the Eightfold Path is
written down in the 8 Jhanas. So you can control your succes on the path.
sacco
:coffee:
Oops I repeated myself haha
Two men need to cross a wide river. One dives in and starts swimming in circles while he practices and perfects his technique, with his swimming coach yelling from the shore. Finally he is deemed skilled enough and sets out, his strong arm and leg technique cutting through the current. He eventually reaches the other shore.
The other man jumps in and starts paddling the best he can. It's slow and sometimes the current sweeps him back to where he started, but he gets stronger with practice and begins to make progress while the other man is still swimming in circles. He eventually reaches the other shore.
One way to swim, Buddhist or not. Move your arms and legs so that your head stays above the water. On the other hand, there are as many ways to swim as there are arms and legs in the world.
The question we should be asking is, how did we get on the wrong side of the river in the first place?
I now return you to your regularly scheduled day.
to get the Right View one has to practice Insight Meditation (vipassana)
once one get the Right View only one can continue practicing Noble Eightfold Path which leads to Nibbana