Newbie questions

danny

Hi all!

So I have been researching meditation for a little while now and have tried to practice daily, but I figured I'd make a post and see if I can get any more useful tips.

I have seen a lot of the "how," but am starting to try to figure out the "Why?" Already I can see the relaxation benefits, but as I practice focusing on my breath and passing on the distractions I am wondering what the ultimate goal in meditation is. Is a perfect meditation one in which no thought arises? Now that I understand the basics of how to meditate (though a lot of improvement is needed) I can't figure out the main target of the meditation.

I hope I articulated that correctly, but if that doesn't make sense please let me know! I am enjoying the meditation a lot and can see how it can benefit me, but understanding some of the end goal may help narrow my focus a bit.

Stephen

The goal in Buddhism for meditation is to be able to obtain a one-pointedness of mind, and then to proceed to examine the concepts explained in the Buddha's teachings (craving, its cause and cessation, impermanence, selflessness, dependent arising). Being able to delve deeply into these concepts with a mind honed to a razor-sharp edge, and combining this conceptual knowledge with your own direct experience of life, eventually leads to an awakening of the mind to the true nature of reality.

danny

Aldrisang wrote: »

The goal in Buddhism for meditation is to be able to obtain a one-pointedness of mind, and then to proceed to examine the concepts explained in the Buddha's teachings (craving, its cause and cessation, impermanence, selflessness, dependent arising). Being able to delve deeply into these concepts with a mind honed to a razor-sharp edge, and combining this conceptual knowledge with your own direct experience of life, eventually leads to an awakening of the mind to the true nature of reality.

Okay, great. Let me make sure I understand you correctly. Beginning practice is to focus on the breathing as a way of centering you and ridding yourself of the mind's distractions. When this is accomplished one can move on to focusing on the teachings of the Buddha with this level of concentration without any distractions. Am I understanding you correctly?

Stephen

That's the basic idea, yes. The calming and focusing of the mind is all in preparation for meditating upon the teachings. That is, if your goal is the Buddhist goal; people do also meditate just to collect themselves without having any desire to really understand anything.

danny

Aldrisang wrote: »

That's the basic idea, yes. The calming and focusing of the mind is all in preparation for meditating upon the teachings. That is, if your goal is the Buddhist goal; people do also meditate just to collect themselves without having any desire to really understand anything.

Fantastic, it seems very straight forward - but I have not been able to find an outright answer on the why. Thank you very much, this is very helpful to me!

Stephen

The answer to the why is the awakening of the mind to the truth of reality. We're blinded to our existence by our self-centered desire and clinging to a sense of permanence, both in our "selves" and in the things around us we would possess and wish to remain. A couple of good sites to check out, to try the self-study and maybe read a book, are http://www.BuddhaNet.net and http://www.AccessToInsight.org - you really need a basic knowledge of what the Buddha taught to understand the "why" fully.

jinzang

In my tradition you usually don't think about the Buddhist teachings during meditation practice. There's some of that (the four thoughts that turn the mind to the dharma.) But for the most part meditation isn't deliberately thinking about stuff.

The understanding that comes from meditation is non-conceptual. It's like seeing that the sky is blue. Since it is non-conceptual, you can't get at it directly with conceptual thought. Our situation is that something is staring us in the face, but we don't see it because we're too distracted by or own mental chatter. "It's in front of your eyes, it's in front of your face. But you must open your eyes if you're to see the truth." The first stage of meditation is shamatha, where we practice to quiet down the mental chatter. When this happens, when there are definite gaps between our thoughts, we're able to see what been there all along. There are no guarantees of this, but it makes seeing the truth much more likely. This seeing is called vipashyana. It requires no particular effort because it's not a produced thing, it's a recognition. It's more restful than ordinary shamatha because our thoughts are dropped, like snow falling into a lake. Getting to this state has a definite effect on your life outside of meditation practice because it exposes the lie of ego. So that's what meditation practice is aimed at.

BrotherBob

May this benefit you.

http://clarkescott.org/what-is-meditation/

http://www.purifymind.com/MMeditation.htm

:):)

Anya

If you're interested in getting some books, I have a couple recommendations for you, from a fellow newbie

The Buddhist Handbook by John Snelling, and the Beginner's Guides by Jean Smith. Jean has 3 different beginners guides out: Beginner's Guide to Zen Buddhism, The Buddha's Eightfold Path, and Insight Meditation.

Dazzle

Hi danny,

I recommend this meditation series on You Tube. This one is the introduction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7a9Ur2x0o


Kind regards,


Dazzle

Brigid

Aldrisang wrote: »

The goal in Buddhism for meditation is to be able to obtain a one-pointedness of mind, and then to proceed to examine the concepts explained in the Buddha's teachings (craving, its cause and cessation, impermanence, selflessness, dependent arising). Being able to delve deeply into these concepts with a mind honed to a razor-sharp edge, and combining this conceptual knowledge with your own direct experience of life, eventually leads to an awakening of the mind to the true nature of reality.

jinzang wrote: »

In my tradition you usually don't think about the Buddhist teachings during meditation practice. There's some of that (the four thoughts that turn the mind to the dharma.) But for the most part meditation isn't deliberately thinking about stuff.

The understanding that comes from meditation is non-conceptual. It's like seeing that the sky is blue. Since it is non-conceptual, you can't get at it directly with conceptual thought. Our situation is that something is staring us in the face, but we don't see it because we're too distracted by or own mental chatter. "It's in front of your eyes, it's in front of your face. But you must open your eyes if you're to see the truth." The first stage of meditation is shamatha, where we practice to quiet down the mental chatter. When this happens, when there are definite gaps between our thoughts, we're able to see what been there all along. There are no guarantees of this, but it makes seeing the truth much more likely. This seeing is called vipashyana. It requires no particular effort because it's not a produced thing, it's a recognition. It's more restful than ordinary shamatha because our thoughts are dropped, like snow falling into a lake. Getting to this state has a definite effect on your life outside of meditation practice because it exposes the lie of ego. So that's what meditation practice is aimed at.

Those are two of the best short descriptions of Buddhist meditation I think I've ever read. The approach to the insight meditation practice (vipasana?) may be different but both are equally helpful to me since I haven't progressed that far yet. I'm still watching the breath, taming the mind. I've always been a bit unsure about how I was going to progress to the insight/vipasana (is that right? vipasana is the same as vipashyana, right? Just the Pali and Sanskrit?) part but now I see why different people were explaining it in different ways.

Thanks for the clear, incredibly concise posts! I really appreciate it.

Brigid

danny wrote: »

Hi all!

So I have been researching meditation for a little while now and have tried to practice daily, but I figured I'd make a post and see if I can get any more useful tips.

I have seen a lot of the "how," but am starting to try to figure out the "Why?" Already I can see the relaxation benefits, but as I practice focusing on my breath and passing on the distractions I am wondering what the ultimate goal in meditation is. Is a perfect meditation one in which no thought arises? Now that I understand the basics of how to meditate (though a lot of improvement is needed) I can't figure out the main target of the meditation.

I hope I articulated that correctly, but if that doesn't make sense please let me know! I am enjoying the meditation a lot and can see how it can benefit me, but understanding some of the end goal may help narrow my focus a bit.

Hi, Danny.

I just wanted to say that generally speaking there really isn't any such thing as a 'perfect' meditation and that's not what you want to be striving for. From what I understand, it's best not to label one's meditation sessions as 'good' or 'bad' because in reality those labels don't actually apply.

I've often heard that a light touch when it comes to meditation is helpful and I'm pretty sure that applies to the ways we think about meditation as well. Loose, flexible, open, and light.

(Hope I'm not on the wrong track....)

Subjectivity9

Danny,

There are many different types of meditation, which teach us many different things. But most all of them, I would say in summing up, help us to see beneath the surface of life and understand things a bit more deeply than we ordinarily would have.

This may be by quieting some of the chatter going on constantly in our mind, which keeps us distracted and confused.

Some meditations allow the chatter to go on, (like sitting beside a steam and not interfering with it), in this way teaching us not to hold things quite so tightly and identify with them, giving us objectivity.

In these ways we gain some clarity of vision, and see things a bit more deeply. (Sort of like stopping to smell the roses.)

'Seeing things clearly' has to be one definition for wisdom, and I would say that is only the beginning of what can be gained.

Lastly, while advancing along this path, we begin to wrestles with some of the larger questions that have always plagued man's minds, made man wonder; like "Who am I?" 'What is really doing here on earth, and why?" "How do I fit in this picture, if at all?" and lastly and probably most importantly, "Why do I suffer, and how can this be made to stop?"

Not to mention an all time favorite, "How can I make myself happy once and for all, or at least content?"

These are not tiny concerns, and the answers all become possible/knowable through such a small investment of time out of our day.

And:

One really great thing about meditation is that it is a ‘pay as you go plan.’ You don’t have to wait until the very end of the road, gritting your teeth for years, in order to find the proverbial pot of gold at the very end. You will notice your life improving right from the beginning, and increasingly all alone the way, like somebody has dropped little breadcrumbs along the way in order to keep you nourished and to encourage you to continue.

Have fun on your path.

Warm regards,
S9.

nori

Hi,

The ultimate goal of meditation as taught by the Buddha (from the original teachings - The Tipitaka) is to gain understanding; particularly into the true nature of suffering or 'The Four Noble Truths'.

That is, to recognize its existence, to understand its cause(s), and to find a way out from it.

The technique presented is to develop Samahdi - or collectiveness of mind and discernment (that is the faculty of recognition of what is subtle).

Meditation develops this.

With this faculty, one then uses it to investigate into ones own existence, and the nature of himself, and how he exists; especially in regards to the Four Noble Truths.

The way he does this is by maintaining awareness on the 'Four Frames of Reference' throughout the day.

And what are the 'Four Frames of Reference'?

Here are some excerpts from the Satipatthana Sutta which describes meditation:

From Maha-Satipatthana Sutta:


"Katame cattaaro?

What are the four?


Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu

Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu



1. kaaye kaayaanupassii viharati aataapii sampajaano satimaa vineyya loke
abhijjhaadomanassa.m,

abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful;
having put away covetousness and grief for the world,


2. vedanaasu vedanaanupassii viharati aataapii sampajaano satimaa, vineyya loke abhijjhaadomanassa.m,

He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful; having put away covetousness and grief for the world,


3. citte cittaanupassii viharati aataapii sampajaano satimaa vineyya loke
abhijjhaadomanassa.m,

He abides contemplating mind/heart as mind/heart, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful; having put away covetousness and grief for the world,


4. dhammesu dhammaanupassii viharati aataapii sampajaano satimaa vineyya loke abhijjhaadomanassa.m."

He abides contemplating mind-objects/ideas as mind-objects/ideas, ardent, fully aware, and mindful; having put away covetousness and grief for the world,

In maintaining ones awareness throughout the day on these 4 phenomena, one learns and gains wisdom.


With Metta,
Nori