What is Meditation
In the West, the word
meditation means a concentrated state of mind in serious reflection. The Latin
root of the word meditation, mederi, means "to heal." It is an effort
to heal afflictions of the mind, the hurt ego, by trying to understand the
cause of the problem and finding a way to solve it, that is, by knowing what
counter-measures to take. To meditate thus, is to deepen a state of
understanding.
In the East, however,
meditation does not mean thinking at all but fixing the mind in a spiritual
ideal, to be one with it, or the thought-process dissolving in the
consciousness of it. According to Zen, meditation does not involve any concept
but is an awareness of inner silence. As per the Yoga of Patanjali, meditation
is a combination of three steps: pratyahara or abstraction, or
withdrawal of the mind from the sense-objects or attention to their memory; dharana
or concentration; and dhyana or contemplation which, however, is not a
thought-process but an absorption of the feeling of oneness with the ideal.
Awareness of an inner silence
is not something easy to achieve. It can be confused with a state of dullness
or being soporific, which is not the purpose of meditation. To meditate mean
does not mean to have a good rest while sitting pretty, and silence is not
productive without spiritual aspiration. On the other hand, few have the
capacity to think clearly, and too much of mental exercise could lead to
tension and confusion.
In Bhakti Yoga, meditation is
visualization of the image of a chosen deity, together with mental repetition
of a relevant mantra. For the Vedantin it is to contemplate on the meaning of
selected verses from the Upanishads or similar scriptures. For the Catholics,
it is saying the rosary, based on mantras like "Our Father which art in
Heaven," or "Hail Mary, full of grace." For them meditation also
consists in feeling close to Jesus after receiving communion and retiring into
a quiet place.
St. Albert the Great,
the teacher of St. Thomas
Aquinas, observed that meditation for philosophers is a process of
perfecting a thought, and for the devotees of their love of God. Prayers said
in silence as a dedication of oneself to God can also be called meditation,
because it means turning the mind inward to one's spiritual source, leading to
peace.
For, the Hindus, repetition of
a mantra, with or without a rosary, but with a feeling of spiritual oneness, is
meditation. A common Buddhist meditation consists in repeating the mantras: Buddham
sharanam gachchhami, sangham sharanam gachchami (I proceed remembering the Buddha,
the righteous path and the welfare of my community). The Tibetians base their
meditation on the mantra Om mani padme hum (I am Om, the jewel in the
lotus of my heart). For Muslims, meditation is called dhikr or
repetition of selected names of God from the Quran, generally with a rosary.
Feeling the breath, which is a technique in pratyahara, is an exercise
in Zen meditation (the word Zen is derived from dhyana or meditation),
as also counting from 1 to 20 or more, over and over again.
Excerpts from:
What is
Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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