Meditation These Three Buddhist Texts

Meditation

These three Buddhist texts illustrate the importance of the practice of meditation in applying Buddhist theory. The texts also show the importance of focusing on central Buddhist teachings in the act of meditation. Based on these excerpts, Buddhist meditation practice incorporates concepts like codependent origination. The practitioner is asked to witness the origination of thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment. Although these texts come from different eras and different Buddhist sects, they all point to concepts central to Buddhist thought.

The first reading, from Dhiravamsa's A New Approach to Buddhism is geared for a modern layperson audience. The author addresses concepts central to Buddhist thought, such as attachment, mindfulness, and self-awareness. The second writing also addresses mindfulness in a Theravadan Vipasanna context. The third excerpt comes from the Zen tradition but also demonstrates the importance of mindfulness to Buddhist teachings and meditation practice. Dhiravamsa uses practical examples of how Buddhist meditation and teachings can be applied to daily life. For instance, he states, "Fear is the greatest obstacle to freedom...Throughout life there is fear: fear of loss, of being deprived, of not having support, of not obtaining what is needed or wanted, of meeting people who may do harm, either real or imaginary." Through the practice of mindfulness in meditation one can simply watch the fear arise and pass away, without latching onto it or mistaking it for a permanent reality. Similarly, the passage from the Pali Canon makes reference to mindfulness, which is concretely obtained through watching the breath and observing feelings, thoughts, and sensations come and go: "So he abides contemplating feelings as feelings...He abides contemplating arising phenomena in the feelings, vanishing phenomena, and both arising and vanishing phenomena in the feelings." Nyanaponika Thera's writing based on the Pali excerpt demonstrates how conscious awareness of present in the body and stopping the mind from wandering: "This practice of mindful walking is, particularly for certain types of meditators, highly recommendable both as a method of concentration and as a source of Insight." Finally, the passage describing zazen meditation shows how simlar that practice is to Vipassana meditation, and how both Vipassana and Zen meditation represent the embodiment of core Buddhist teachings. The "beginner's mind" is the attainment of mindfulness, the ability to be fully present in the moment, simply observing thoughts and sensations without becoming attached to them. Through the types of meditation described in all three of these passages, practitioners can witness codependent origination in action and pursue that Buddhist path toward the liberation of the mind.