Concentration, Contemplation Forms of Meditation

¶ … Concentration, Contemplation

Forms of meditation

Mysticism and meditation. Finding God within.

Tibetan Buddhist meditation and transcendental meditation

The differences between yoga and Christianity

Finding God within:

From Dream sleep to Awakening

From Illusion to realization

From Darkness to Enlightenment

From Imprisonment to Liberation

From Fragmentation to Wholeness

From Separation to Oneness

From Being on a Journey to Arriving at the Destination

From Being in Exile to Coming Home

From Seed to Flowering Plant or Fruitful Tree

From Death to Rebirth

It appears that every spiritual leader used a similar approach to the realm of transcendence. They all suggested that the key is found within oneself. Buddha, Christ, the Muslims and the Judeo-Christian Scriptures make reference to a process of introspection that leads to communion with God. Mystics from different religions have put forth their inner spiritual experiences. Such experiences contrast the physical world to spiritual realms that can be found in solitude and silence. Time and space become relative in such realms and the only real thing becomes the feeling of peace and happiness. The way spiritual realms can be reached is by a process of meditation.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the essence of meditation practices and to discuss the particular forms in which God is revealed through meditation, or how meditation leads to the discovery of the God within. Therefore, references are made to the religious traditions in which meditation is encountered, to the particular forms of meditation and decisive elements common to all forms of meditation. Another part of this paper is concerned with the discussion of the relationship between mysticism and meditation and the manifestation of God through meditation. This undertaking will highlight as well the differences and similarities of meditation in different spiritual traditions, mainly in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Certain cultures such as those in South Asian countries like India and Tibet, are still promoting a perpetuating long-term meditation as the way to achieve the highest goal of human life or 'enlightenment'. Enlightenment is also used to describe a certain state of equilibrium attained by the higher states of functioning of the human psychophysiology (Alexander CN, Langer EJ., 1990). The progressive development towards such states may be achieved by practicing meditation.

Many spiritual teachers believe that as a result of meditation the awareness of God's presence in every person is gained. Such awareness experienced as light and love generalizes the feeling of love, peace and understanding among people, as the belief that we all are the children of our father becomes prominent.

According to Herbert Benson although a great variety of meditation techniques do exist they seem to share certain elements. For instance meditation is usually performed in a quiet environment free of any distractions. A comfortable position should be assumed, and usually it is the upright sitting. The complete relaxation is followed by an alteration of the state of consciousness through a variety of mental devices: the mental repetition of certain words, sounds, or tones, mind focus is attained by visualizing certain objects etc. No matter the device, Benson recognizes as a key element the passive attitude in which the person who meditates quietly observes the activity of the mind but does not intervene upon it. Thoughts are eliminated while a simple state of awareness is developed.

Since meditation is an ancient practice, traced more than 2000 years ago, many forms of meditation exist nowadays. Daniel Goleman reviewed the major forms of meditation. Buddhist practice a form of meditation known also as vipassana, or insight meditation. The technique involves developing the ability to concentrate by mentally focusing on any of 40 prescribed objects, including one's breath, a light, or a wheel of color. As soon as concentration skills have been developed insight meditators focus on their awareness, by passively observing thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Such passive observation allows them to gain insights into the nature of their own thoughts and of reality, regarded by Buddhists as fleeting and perennial. Once this belief is experienced, meditators will become mainly interested in achieving total inner silence, known as nirvana. As soon as the state of nirvana is accessed meditators will become totally disinterested in their own mental life. The awareness empty of content leads to a new experience of one's life and emotions. Negative emotions for instance such as anger will fade away. This stage overcome the meditator is ready to be ranked as an arahant, a Buddhist saint.

Goleman also makes reference to another form of meditation known as zazen, and practiced in Japanese Zen Buddhism. Although there are many forms of Buddhism, the common trait is their focus on meditators mind in what concerns his task of solving various riddles (questions, or a koan, for example "What is the sound of one hand clapping?," cited by Goleman, D.) that cannot be solved by rational thought, but by contemplation. The student is forced to spend therefore the entire day in deepest reflection, until his mind becomes exhausted of all thoughts and enters a transcendental state known as satori. Similar to nirvana, satori refers to a state of awareness secured from, ordinary thought. The koan is the pretext that teaches students to gain and master heightened awareness. Successful Zen meditators are thought to experience life with enhanced clarity and insight.

Other forms of meditation stem from the various disciplines of yoga. Goleman maintains that the Yoga Sutras, an ancient Hindu source on yoga is the foundation of this type of meditation. The element emphasized here is the act of emptying the mind of any distracting thoughts as these were considered to impede the union between man and God.

The yogi are also characterized by their adherence to a strict code of moral behavior and by their practicing of a set of physical exercises called asanas and breath control methods called pranayama. O distinct type of yoga is kundalini, focused on unlocking the reserve of spiritual energy that is thought to reside at the base of the spine. The released energy reverberates in the seven chakras or bodily centers which capture emotions and mental states. The energy, kundalini, has to be moved from the lower chakras - dominated by inferior emotions to more elevated chakras, located at the top of the head. Only when these chakras are activated the yogi experiences transcendental states. The modern version of kundalini yoga is siddha yoga in which meditation, breath control and different positions are associated.

The Moslem sect known as Sufism practice a form of meditation known as zikr, an Arabic word meaning "remembrance." The devotees are subdued to the remembrance of God through the constant mental repetition of His name and this act will lead the Sufi to a complete purification of heart and mind, facilitating the encounter with God. The ability to empty their mind of thoughts leads to a state called fana, meaning "lost in truth."

Within the Judaic tradition, mysticism and meditation are to be found as well. The writings of the Kabbalah, first put together in the thirteenth century, include meditation by making use of the name of God. This form of meditation had the same purpose - that of inducing a new and altered state of consciousness.

Meditation represents the process of observing the mind and body in a well defined moment in time. States of mind, thoughts or emotions are traced and observed with a certain distance, the experience is observed with a certain detachment. This approach to meditation is called mindfulness.

Another principle that guides the meditation is equanimity meaning that it is desirable not to block the flow of the mind-body process. The tendency in everyday life is to block the on-going process of consciousness and this leads to a sense of limitation and suffering.

A third approach to meditation is defined in terms of realization suggesting that the results of heightened awareness about the life of body and mind will result in important transformations that encompass acceptance and a pervasive sense of freedom and fulfillment independent of external or internal circumstances.

The key to meditation lies in the learning to let free the flow of consciousness, or to unlearn blocking it. The steady observation of processes - thoughts, emotions, perceptions - produces as a consequence the de-blocking of the flow and the gain of new, enriched awareness, of enlightenment. This state has been termed by many thinkers as an encounter with the God within.

The phases of meditation. Attention, concentration, contemplation

These are the three facets of the same process or degrees of the same process. Focusing the mind on a certain object or idea involves the exclusion of everything else. Attention involves eliminating all distracters, while concentration represents the mental focusing on an object or state of mind. The field of attention slowly narrows, the concentration becomes more intense and meditation is favored. However many believe that, in order to attain the most deepest state that leads to an encounter with the God within, this divine state should be desired. The words of Jesus "Ask and it shall be given unto you; seek and ye shall find; knock (on the door of heavenly mystery) and it shall be opened unto you" (Mt 7: 7; Lk 11: 9-10) are very often cited with respect to this matter. One should be aware that meditation is able to bridge the gap between humanity and divinity and the first step is to believe in the possibility and desire such a state. In order to attain the state of meditation, Evelyn Underhill (1930) states that an act of perfect concentration, of passionate focus of the self on a certain point, when the self dedicates itself guided by a pure intention to real or transcendental things is required to be performed. On this condition mystic consciousness is based on and as well is the main requirement that favors pure contemplation.

Concentration and contemplation are two distinct phases in the process of meditation. The characteristics and issues addressed in these phases are given below (Robbins, J, 2003):

Calming the unconscious or automatic movements of the mind

Increased focus and cognitive structuring

Better understanding of one's personality and unconscious defenses

Increased empathy and compassion refined awareness of physical senses, emotions and thoughts enhanced awareness of wakefulness, sleep and dream state deeper understanding of spiritual metaphysical and psychological paths experiences of oneness, perfection and other mystical states.

Perfect contemplation have as an effect and also is based on love and clarity. Love and clarity in their turn are paths that lead to the expansion of consciousness. As long as love is involved it empowers the soul to see into the Truth, to attain a greater clarity of vision.

Forms of meditation

The forms of meditation also suggest a certain type of relationship between the individual and God. The forms described by Nan Little (2006) are the following: basic meditation, walking meditation, mindfulness meditation, imagery meditation, and loving- kindness meditation.

Basic meditation requires a quiet place, a comfortable position, and a specific technique, like mantra. Concentrating on a distinct word focuses attention and permits a deep relaxation of mind and body. The chosen word reflects the intention of the meditator to deal with a spiritual or emotional aspect of his life.

Walking meditation is especially recommended for cultivating awareness of sensation and experience. While walking, the meditator should concentrate on the succession of sensations in the body. The attention is focused simply on the act of walking. The masters advise to take only one step at the time in order to be able to witness the installation of piece of mind. One step at a time is the rule to be followed in other forms of meditation suggesting that transformation and spiritual ability are achieved gradually.

Mindfulness meditation is focused on developing awareness of what happens in the present moment, without making subjective reflections. Such type of meditation seeks to eliminate emotions in relations to given situations or events. Again, the perceptions and sensations in the body are of major importance. However, this type of meditation has been widely studied recently by psychologists and positive results were obtained in programs for stress reduction in patients and for different categories of professionals.

Imagery meditation includes visualizations of certain situations or scenes comfortable emotionally and physically. The details of scenes are imagined and the focus is on the positive feeling raised by it.

The loving-kindness meditation is focused on an emotional state. The feeling is embodied in a phrase that is repeated and confronted with the object of the emotional state; for instance, one may cultivate the feeling of love towards a person and then send the feeling out to them. A negative state or emotion may be transformed in a positive one and then it is sent out. The extended practice of such an exercise leads to a generalization of the feeling of love towards anyone and everyone.

Although there are many forms of meditation the most common elements recognized by many practicing people and writers are:

peaceful location: a quiet place free from distractions, in order to be able to focus attention comfortable posture: sitting, lying down, standing or walking.

A focus of attention: the focus of attention may become a mantra (a repeated word, sound or phrase), a certain object or deep breathing.

An open attitude during meditation in order to be able to deal with distractions, to observe them come and go, without stopping to think about them. Opening the mind also means letting go, while attention is brought to a point the spirit is the passive witness of whatever comes and goes. Opening the mind also allows to listen to the thought, in the sense that one becomes aware of its presence or existence and accepts it as it is.

Mysticism and meditation. Finding God within.

Lawrence LeShan stated that mysticism, both from a historical and a psychological viewpoint, represents a search "for and experience of the relationship of the individual himself and the totality that makes up the universe" while a "mystic is either a person who has this knowledge as background music to his daily experience or else a person who strives and works consistently to attain this knowledge."

Mystics are characterized, as a result of this attainment by the capacity to transcend the aspects of everyday life both positive and negative and to gain a superior understanding and way of life dominated by serenity, inner peace, joy and capacity to love.

This is a general approach to mysticism, the perception of the mystic's role of searching for a lost knowledge, by closing all the channels (factors) that prevent us from knowledge.

It appears that the relationship between mysticism and meditation is of inclusion - mysticism includes meditation. Another unifying thread is their similar results in what a deeper and superior understanding of life is concerned. Added to this, since the limits between the two are difficult to trace the schools based on mediation techniques are often called mystical training schools (such as Zen, Hesychasm, Yoga, Sufi, Christian mysticism, Hindu mysticism, Jewish mysticism, and so on) (LeShan, Lawrence, 1974).

For both Catholic / Christian mystics and non-christian meditators one of the primary goals of meditation is to experience God's love. Teresa of Avila described in her book the Way to Perfection the love experienced during contemplation (cited in Collins, Mary Ann, 2002):

In case you should think there is little gain to be derived from practicing vocal prayer perfectly, I must tell you that, while you are repeating the Paternoster [Our Father] or some other vocal prayer, it is quite possible for the Lord to grant you perfect contemplation. In this way His Majesty shows that He is listening to the person who is addressing Him, and that, in His greatness, He is addressing her, by suspending the understanding, putting a stop to all thought, and, as we say, taking the words out of her mouth, so that even if she wishes to speak she cannot do so, or at any rate not without great difficulty." distinction becomes clear between meditation and contemplation, made by both Christians and non-Christians: meditation is the process for arriving at the state of contemplation. Contemplation refers to a state of total mental silence and physical passivity (relaxation) which opens a channel for the non-verbal communication by "God."

Mystics make use of the same techniques in order to induce contemplation. They may use relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, affirmations or visualizations.

The purpose of relaxation techniques is to relax both the body and the mind. Mind relaxation consists of eliminating distractions. Teresa of Avila confessed that a meditation technique she used was focusing on a religious theme, that was often inspired by the life of Jesus on earth or simply repeating a prayer, such as Our Father:

In case you should think there is little gain to be derived from practicing vocal prayer perfectly, I must tell you that, while you are repeating the Paternoster or some other vocal prayer, it is quite possible for the Lord to grant you perfect contemplation" (Ibid.)

The next step is concentrating fully on God.

However, the persons that do not try to reach necessarily God, do not look for a union with God, may use affirmations in order to attain physical or emotional healing; affirmations of this kind may be self-induced beliefs that refer to one's health, happiness, love etc.

Visualization techniques require a personification of the person; the meditator becomes a symbolic object (such as a bird etc.) through visualization. By this means he enters a state of contemplation where he can be expecting God to mystically invade him.

Hinduism also is familiar to meditation as a way of finding God within. The meditator first of all has to quiet the mind and body, in order to prepare for entering the "true" reality and achieve spiritual enlightenment. The highest level of transcendental state is achieving "pure awareness."

Returning to the mystic, John MacArthur stated that his key feature is his tendency "disdain rational understanding and seek truth instead through the feelings, the imagination, personal visions, inner voices, private illumination, or other purely subjective means." As illustrated above with the case of Teresa of Avila, mysticism represents a search for unio mystica, personal union with God (Brian Moynahan, cited by Gilley, G.). Corduan W. (1991) signaled the existence of at least three distinct categories of mysticism: panenthenic (the collective unconscious is absorbed by the conscious mind); monistic such as found in Hinduism and Buddhism (the individual is merged into the impersonal All), and theistic in which the absolute is God. The mystic experience for these types is similar, but what differs is the object of union so to speak, which is determined by the mystic's belief system.

Gilley G., suggested that mystical experience involves three stages: purgation, illumination and union.

Purgation refers to the early stage in which the penitence and self-examination occur as a preamble of holy life. Purgation may be attained in several ways, by suffering, penitence, mortification, by detachment from material things and physical desires.

Illumination is the stage in which the mystic understands that there is genuine spiritual truth that escapes rational means. Illumination is attained by spiritual discipline, (contemplative) prayer and fasting.

Union with God is the ultimate goal of the mystic. The union was expressed in metaphorical terms by mystics. For instance, John of the Cross describes the union as a spiritual betrothal, in which the soul is married to Christ (Gilley, G.).

In this context, it becomes clear that the main role of spiritual evolution belongs to the practice of meditation. The heart of mysticism, Christian or non-Christian, is meditation or contemplation. In Christian mysticism, contemplative prayer is similar to meditation in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Contemplative prayer involves, first of all detachment. Gilley, G. cited Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline where he wrote that "Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it." In Hinduism and Buddhism a person empties one's mind to become one with the universe while Christian mystics empty their mind with the aim of becoming one with God, who is found within us. One way to illustrate such assertion is quoting from the Russian mystic Theophan the Recluse who described the experience using such words: "To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all seeing, within you." (cited in Richard Foster, 1998).

Therefore union with God is possible through contemplative prayer, since God resides in us. Detachment and silence precede God's revelation and prepare the ground for God taking control of our actions.

The techniques of contemplative prayer or Christian meditation are identical with meditation techniques in other mystic traditions (i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism). For instance, a mantra may be used in the form of choosing a word such as Jesus or Father as the focus of attention in contemplative prayer. The setting and the appropriate state of mind is described by Richard Foster, when he suggests a sitting position on a chair or armchair, with the palms up, eyes closed to remove distractions, while all attention is centered on Christ. Repeating the sacred word has a paradoxical effect as it opens the way to enter the great silence of God, where He will reveal to human consciousness. The repetition of the mantra clears the mind of other thoughts leading to a blank mind.

Paul Harris, a leader of the Ottawa Christian Meditation Centre, stated that people using the mantra "undertake an inner journey of silence, stillness and simplicity,... (and) go beyond all distractions of thoughts, words and images." He also describes Christian meditation as "simple and practical... about experience rather than theory, a way of being rather than doing," and as the "missing dimension of much Christian life today." (cited by Brennan, B., 1993).

The mysticism of Buddhism is triggered by a similar type of meditation practice. With respect to Buddhism the mysticism takes the form of monistic mysticism in that consciousness is absorbed in the unconscious psychic termed nirvana. Another mystical element is the denial of empirical reality, the uselessness and emptiness of all things. Once this fact acknowledged, the abyss opens up and the individual is absorbed in this void. These are the premises of Buddhist meditation. Such meditation practice underlying a mystical approach, although based on similar or identical techniques as the ones described above, suggests a form of impersonal mysticism since God is not involved in the spiritual endeavor. (Davy, M., 1972).

Hinduism belongs to the same monistic approach that places as the goal of meditation the identification of the individual with the Cosmic force. God is not perceived as in Christian tradition but it takes the form of a multitude of deities. However, Hinduism lacks the conception of God as holy, full of goodness and love. Man is perceived to be good at the core of his being, but the material world lead him to an estrangement from the divine world. Man ignores his own divinity and therefore bad karma and reincarnation occur. However, man is perceived to be one with God, as opposed to Christianity, where divinity has the role of redemption from sin. In Buddhism and Hinduism the purpose of meditation is rather of self-actualization and of gaining knowledge and awareness about the nature of the self and of the world, while in contemplative prayer the mind is concerned with discovering the nature of God within ourselves. Perhaps the distinction may be pushed a little bit forward by suggesting that the Eastern forms of mysticism are prompted by the search for "enlightenment" while contemplation prayer is based on God's revelation to the human soul. An illustration of the two mystic schools is given below.

Tibetan Buddhist meditation and transcendental meditation

Buddhism has been referred to as to a religion focused on conquest of self, suppression of greed and practise of meditation to control the mind. Buddhism is well-known even in the West as a religion of outstanding mind-control, serenity and calm.

The two traditions use different techniques, for instance the best known techniques of Tibetan Buddhism being the 'Six Dharmas (or 'Yogas') of Naropa and Niguma'. The Tibetan tradition aims particularly at strengthening specific mental abilities such as maintaining focus of attention or feeling compassion for suffering. Perhaps the best known form of meditation in the U.S., for example, is Transcendental Meditation, or TM, that was made popular by an Indian, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In contrast with the Tibetan tradition, Transcendental meditation is focused on clearing all mental content in order to discover the light of the underlying creation. Of the Tibetan techniques the 'Yoga of the Clear Light' appears to have in common with Transcendental Meditation, awareness to no mental content but to the intelligence of creation underneath. The particular techniques investigated aim to strengthen specific mental abilities such as maintaining focus of attention, or experiencing 'compassion towards suffering', and are described below. Transcendental Meditation consists of an effortless mental technique that emphasizes solely the phonetic qualities of a meaningless sound, or 'mantra', to 'turn the mind inwards towards its source'. Mental effort, concentration or any particular mental abilities are not supported by the techniques in Transcendental meditation. This form of meditation does not involve neither concentration nor contemplation. In the yoga tradition of meditation from which Transcendental Mediation issued 'dhyan' (the process of meditation) involves an expansion of awareness, mediating between the focus of 'dharana', and the unbound awareness of 'samadhi' (transcendental consciousness) which has the quality to attract the human mind naturally and automatically. In TM 'concentration' is considered a recently introduced mistranslation of the words 'dharana' and 'dhyan', and results in failure to transcend (taken from Hankey, a., 2006).

The differences between yoga and Christianity

The two approaches have distinct concepts of God. Both of them advocate a union with God. But from the perspective of Yoga the unification with God or Brahman is interpreted in pantheistic terms. This explains why most yogis conceive God as a universal spiritual substance, encompassing reality as a whole; Yoga creates the image of an impersonal God. Contrary to this perspective, the Bible reveals a different image of God as the Creator of the universe and Savior of the world.

The perspective on man also differs in the two spiritual traditions. Since God is in everything, a pervasive presence in the world, Yoga considers man as being God. Christianity makes clear the boundaries between man and God in that God is the Creator and man is the creature. In Yoga, man is not able to realize his godly condition, and the purpose of meditation is to bring about self-realization. The union with God, finding God within is nothing but a process of self-realization and enlightenment. Christianity identifies sin as man's primary problem, which places a gap between man and God the perfect Creator. Meditation bridges the gap and suggests the purity of redemption and salvation, in Jesus' name, made available as a result of God's unlimited love. Love accompanies meditation and revelation.

However, in his book Contemplative Christianity: An Approach to the Realities of Religion, Benedictine monk Aelred Graham summarizes the common themes in the Eastern and Western traditions (cited in Brennan, B., 1993). Both traditions reinforce the idea that there are three paths to God: adoration (expressed in private and community worship), selfless service for others (expressed through caring acts in the benefit of both individuals and society), and the quest to experience truth through contemplative meditation. The Catholic Encyclopedia resumes the gap by highlighting that Christian mysticism involves a personal relationship with God based on union, not absorption.

After concentrating on the differences in the experience of meditation in different religious traditions, the following pages will undertake the mission of exploring the similarities of the most important role of meditation - that of finding God within.

The progress of self to the unity with God has been defined over time by making use of suggestive metaphors. The transformations of lifestyle, soul and spirit as a result of this encounter have been termed in the following ways (Miller, I, 1985):

1. dream sleep to awakening;

2. illusion to realization;

3. darkness (or blindness) to enlightenment;

4. imprisonment to liberation;

5. fragmentation to wholeness (unifying);

6. separation to oneness (unifying);

7. journey to destination (arriving);

8. being in exile to coming home (returning);

9. from seed to flowering or fruiting plant or tree (unfolding);

10. from death to rebirth (renewal, resurrection).

Finding God within:

1. From Dream sleep to Awakening

Many traditions emphasize that our ordinary state of consciousness resembles a dream state, as opposed to awareness or to an awakened consciousness. This analogy is found both in Christian texts and in Sufis and Buddhists texts. A regular program of meditation provides arising from sleep. The awakening may be sudden (described by the moment of satori), gradual or marked by regressive periods. Jesus himself used the metaphor of staying awake in relation to the disciples. Longer and longer periods of wakefulness may be trained through meditation.

2. From Illusion to realization

Awakening is followed by a breakthrough when realization occurs in the form of acknowledging the true nature of creation. The transformation of consciousness involves the transcending of the veil of illusions. Indian philosophers have long preached that the world as we perceive it is maya meaning "appearance." N. order to make sure that we are not guided by illusory perception, the channels of perception - the senses - must converge to the "eye center" (Miller, I, 1985). The transformation is complete when self-perception becomes self-realization, when the self is perceived as the source and center of our world.