Friends, today I am starting a separate series on Mindfulness, Compassion and Non-violence. I have been thinking in the past few years about starting a physical or a virtual center to focus on these topics. I even had chosen a name for it – Gautama Center for Ahimsa, Karuna and Pragna. Initially I considered the possibility of making it a center on a social media platform. Later I decided to stay with this blog site which I have maintained for more than 10 years and is easier to maintain. Hope you like this series. More important, hope you find these mini-essays helpful.
Meditation as an English word has several levels of meaning.
It stands both for the process and for a state of being, a mental state.
Patanjali who wrote the earliest treatise on this subject says that meditation
is to control the modifications of the mind (second sloka of his treatise on Yoga
shastra). At the end of the treatise he says that it is for reaching a state
at which one becomes merged into the supreme cause. But what is the supreme cause?
What is meant by merging into it?
Patanjali also gives the necessary steps including control
of the body, purification of the mind etc. Several schools of meditation have
sprung over the millennia based on this original writing. But many of them, including
the tantric schools have caused confusion, with each school emphasizing
different aspects of Patanjali’s ideas and developing its own special
interpretation. In the process, they have conflated the process with the goal. Most
individuals seem stuck with the process such as “how do I sit?”, “do I keep my
eyes shut or closed or semi-open?” and “do I breath with the right nostril or
left nostril?” etc. As I have mentioned elsewhere, during meditation symbols
do not matter, substance does; duration does not matter, intensity and regularity do; rituals do not matter, inner feeling and intentions (bhavana) do.
My view is that the only system which has given simple, practical
steps on meditation comes from Buddha’s teachings and is now supported by modern
neuroscience. It is not surprising since Buddha focused on how to live this
life well and deal with the ups and downs of our lives. These methods utilize what we all know (breath) and experience (agitated distracted mind) and teach
us how to focus and look deep inside ourselves. Of course, the roots are in
earlier Vedic insights. But the practical methods focus on the known and not on
esoteric concepts which may or may not be true.
There are several schools within the Buddhist tradition
also. My focus will primarily be on Mindfulness as taught by Rev. Thich Naht
Hahn and developed further by neuroscientists into Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.
Buddhist metaphysics and psychology acknowledge that all of
us are capable of experiencing several states of mind (51 by their count), some
of them wholesome and helpful (compassion, gratitude) and others not helpful
(anxiety, laziness) and some clearly harmful (anger). It acknowledges that all
of us are capable of developing our wholesome traits with practice. The methods
focus on developing the strengths in every one of us such as attention,
awareness and compassion. What is remarkable is that modern day neurosciences
give support to the psychology on which Buddhist meditation practices are based.
I plan to write several essays bringing the
essence of mindfulness meditation to the digital generation growing up in the
age of science, technology and social media. I have been writing about these topics in these blogs and elsewhere over the past
several years. Now, I plan to consolidate and update them.
The reason for starting this series now is my concern for
the future. Human civilization is experiencing several stresses all at once
with cumulative effects. As I wrote in my essay on Competition, Cooperation,
and Collective values on June 29, 2020, humanity has reaped the benefits of
science and technology coming out of the empirical approach of western
philosophies. Humanity is facing the negative side of those developments. Now
is the correct time for humanity to learn from the wisdom of the east which
emphasizes inner dimensions and interconnections.
Although these ideas on meditation come primarily from Hinduism and Buddhism, other traditions also had elements of these practices. But Western traditions de-emphasized meditation for various reasons. Many people in the west considered it as a religious practice. In fact, meditation is a spiritual practice open to all of humanity. It is to do with mind-body-spirit connection.
There is now more openness to meditation all over the world.
Meditation is taught in schools, colleges and workplaces as part of holistic
health and wellness programs. Most of them are based on mindful meditation
concepts popularized by Rev Thich Nath Hahn, Dr. Kabat-Zinn, H.H.Dalai Lama and
others.
I am focusing on Buddhist methods, particularly mindfulness, because they do not ask
you to suspend rationality. They do not orient towards any religion or personal
gods. In fact, Buddhism is classified as atheism in Indian philosophical texts.
The practices are in line with objectivity and rationality and supported by
neurosciences, particularly
neuroplasticity and neural states of the mind. Any one from any faith
can practice mindfulness meditation as part of daily life. The new branch of
contemplative neuroscience has developed tools (example: healthyminds
innovations) which any one can use.
I plan to write about meditation practices and theories
behind them. I also plan to write about compassion and non-violence because I
believe in them as the only sure methods for peace on earth. And as Rev. William
Sloane Coffin said: “The world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, and
too small for anything but love”.
I start with a suggestion for what we can hope to accomplish
with meditation. In other words: “why should one meditate?”
1 comment:
Thanks for this introduction. This subject is food for thought and for better living. It has many effective practical value for improved health and regulated living. I will await the next posting to continue to enjoy and benefit.
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