Six Sessions Of Serenity: Exploring The Six Daily Meditations In Buddhism

Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. It is a healing technique and a form of inner work, not just sitting and breathing. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā (mental development) and jhāna/dhyāna (mental training resulting in a calm and luminous mind).

There are three main Buddhist traditions that exist today: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The Theravada tradition emphasizes vipassana, which is gaining insight into the true nature of reality, coupled with the pacification of the mind. The Mahayana tradition, the largest major tradition of Buddhism, incorporates Theravada texts and introduces a vast corpus of philosophical and devotional texts, with the most distinctive feature being the great compassion, an inherent component of enlightenment. The Vajrayana tradition, often called Tantric Buddhism, is a central tradition of Tibetan Buddhism that adopted elements of Hindu Tantric methods and Mahayana Buddhism.

While there is no fixed rule for when to meditate, early morning (just before dawn) is said to be a good time for meditation since the world is still sleeping and the mind is very clear and less distracted.

The benefits of meditation

While there is no specific recommendation for the time of day to meditate in Buddhism, early morning, just before dawn, is considered a good time as the world is still sleeping and the mind is clear and less distracted.

Meditation has been shown to have many benefits, and its popularity is increasing as more people discover these benefits. Here are some of the advantages of meditation:

Stress Reduction

Meditation is well-known for its ability to reduce stress and anxiety. Research shows that it can help enhance your mood, promote healthy sleep patterns, and boost cognitive skills. By training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts, you can increase self-awareness and develop concentration.

Improved Emotional Health

Some forms of meditation can lead to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life. It can help you be kind to yourself and more caring towards others. Meditation teaches you to be less reactive when faced with difficult situations.

Enhanced Self-Awareness

Meditation techniques such as self-inquiry meditation aim to help you develop a greater understanding of yourself and your relationships with others. By gaining awareness of your thought patterns, you can learn to steer them towards more constructive paths.

Improved Attention Span

Focused-attention meditation helps increase the strength and endurance of your attention. Regular meditation can improve your ability to redirect and maintain attention, enhancing your focus and memory.

Better Sleep

Meditation can improve sleep quality and shorten the time it takes to fall asleep. It helps calm the mind and relax the body, placing you in a peaceful state that is conducive to sleep.

Pain Management

Meditation can help reduce the perception of pain in the brain. It can be beneficial for controlling chronic pain when used alongside medical care or physical therapy.

Lower Blood Pressure

Meditation has been found to reduce blood pressure, especially in older individuals and those with higher blood pressure. It helps control the "fight-or-flight" response and relax the nerve signals that coordinate heart function and blood vessel tension.

Increased Compassion

Practices such as loving-kindness meditation can increase positive feelings and actions towards yourself and others. It can help you understand yourself better and find your best self.

The importance of consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to Buddhist meditation. While there is no specific recommended time of day for meditation in Buddhism, the consistency of a daily practice is emphasized.

The benefits of meditation are said to come from regular and consistent practice. Even short periods of meditation, such as 10 minutes a day, can be beneficial, and this can be gradually increased over time. Consistency in meditation helps to cultivate a sense of calm, steadies the mind, and allows one to let go of stress and negative thoughts.

Meditation is seen as a vital interaction with oneself, a time for self-reflection and self-love. It is a way to practice being present and to develop mindfulness, which can then be carried over into daily life, helping one to become a better friend, family member, and colleague.

For those who are new to meditation or struggling to maintain a consistent practice, it can be helpful to connect with others on a similar path. Joining a meditation group or community can provide support, accountability, and motivation to keep up with one's practice.

In addition, while there is no fixed time for meditation, early morning, just before dawn, is often recommended as the mind tends to be clearer and less distracted at this time, making it easier to attain a meditative state.

Meditation techniques

Shamatha (Mindfulness)

Shamatha is a well-known Buddhist meditation practice that focuses on cultivating calmness, clarity, and equanimity. The initial stages of mindfulness meditation are non-denominational and can be practised by anyone. The aim is to develop a concentrated and stable mind, which can ultimately lead to inner peace and spiritual awakening.

The basis of shamatha is to sit in a comfortable meditation posture, keeping your back straight and maintaining a happy medium between too rigid and too relaxed. Observe your breath without manipulating it and pay attention to the breathing process, one breath at a time. Keep your awareness focused but be gentle, adopting an attitude of discovery and friendliness towards yourself. Acknowledge the thoughts that pop into your mind without engaging them, and gently bring your attention back to your breath.

Metta (Loving-Kindness)

Metta is a popular Buddhist meditation technique that aims to increase feelings of loving-kindness towards everyone. It begins with a period of shamatha to settle the mind, and then practitioners direct wishes for well-being and loving-kindness towards themselves, before expanding this to include others. This practice can be an effective way to eliminate hatred and anger towards others.

Vipassana (Insight)

Vipassana is a meditation technique that involves paying attention to the arising and passing away of sensations in different parts of the body. It is considered the pinnacle of meditation practices in Theravada Buddhist schools, and it is the main method for developing insight into our true nature. It is often practised in conjunction with samatha meditation.

Koans

Koans are phrases or questions that a meditator repeatedly brings to mind. They are not solvable through conceptual thinking but are believed to push the meditator's mind into an experience beyond thought, leading to direct realisation. A well-known koan is, 'What is your original face before you were born?'

Shikantaza ("Just Sitting")

Shikantaza is an objectless meditation where the aim is to remain in a state of concentration on the act of sitting while being aware of what arises in the mind. Insight is gained from powerful concentration, allowing one to see the arising and passing away of all phenomena in every moment.

Walking Meditation

Walking meditation is often practised in conjunction with sitting meditation, especially during full-day retreats. It involves paying close attention to the movement of the feet as one walks slowly back and forth in a small, defined area.

Deity Meditations

Deity meditations are common in Vajrayana Buddhism (Tibetan Buddhism) and Mahayana Buddhist schools. They involve visualising oneself as the deity, reciting their mantras, and meditating on their spiritual qualities. This helps to break free of self-clinging and cultivate enlightened qualities.

Contemplative Meditation

Contemplative meditation involves reflecting on fundamental Buddhist teachings, such as "The Four Thoughts that Transform the Mind." These contemplations encourage dedicated practice and mindful living.

The obstacles to meditation

Sensory desire

Sensory desire (kāmacchanda) is seeking pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and physical feeling. It is an aspect of the mind that's preoccupied with things like wanting to feel good. It spends a lot of time in fantasies, daydreams, and plans. When you feel unworthy, you may be consumed with the desire to be better or different. It's like a thirst or hunger that seldom lets up.

Ill-will

Ill-will (vyāpāda) is feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred, and bitterness. You may feel mad at yourself for being so inadequate. The angry mind becomes engrossed in aversion, resentment, or hatred.

Sloth-and-torpor

Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha) is half-hearted action with little or no effort or concentration. It refers to mental states while "torpor" refers to physical states that are the result of food or time or mental states. If torpor results from food or time, then one diminishes it through energy; otherwise, one removes it with meditation.

Restlessness-and-worry

Restlessness-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca) is the inability to calm the mind and focus one's energy. When your mind is filled with shame, it becomes unsettled and seethes with unharnessed energy that's uncomfortable to sit with and stay with. It can make you feel like you want to crawl out of your skin, like you need to do something or go somewhere else.

Doubt

Doubt (vicikiccha) is a lack of conviction or trust in one's abilities. You may wonder if meditation serves any purpose or can help you in any way. You may become filled with self-doubt and believe that it isn’t possible to heal and be okay with who you are. This makes it all the easier to fall into the other four hindrances.

Overcoming the hindrances

To overcome the hindrances, the Buddha taught various methods, including the practice of satipatthana and the development of the seven factors of enlightenment. In addition, the Pali commentary and post-canonical Pali literature provide methods and paths for escaping the hindrances, such as jhanic suppression, insight, and the attainment of the four stages of enlightenment. Furthermore, the five mental factors that counteract the five hindrances are: vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā.

The history of meditation

The two major traditions of meditative practice in pre-Buddhist India were the ascetic practices of Jainism and the Vedic Brahmanical practices. The early Buddhist texts mention that Gautama Buddha trained under two teachers, Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, who taught him formless jhanas or mental absorptions, a key practice of Theravada Buddhist meditation. Alexander Wynne, an Indologist, considers these figures to be historical persons associated with the doctrines of the early Upanishads. Johannes Bronkhorst, another Indologist, argues that some of the Buddha's practices, such as extreme fasting and meditation without breathing, were influenced by the Jain ascetic tradition.

According to the early texts, the Buddha rejected the more extreme Jain ascetic practices in favour of the "middle way". The two key meditation practices that emerged from the Buddha's teachings are samatha (calming the mind) and vipassana (gaining insight). In the Theravada tradition, these are seen as opposing techniques, while Mahayana Buddhism stresses their interplay.

The oldest material on Theravada meditation practices can be found in the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas. The Visuddhimagga, a 5th-century text, is the most influential presentation of Theravada meditation, though it includes some non-canonical instructions. It focuses on kasina-meditation, where the mind is focused on a mental object.

In Mahayana Buddhism, there is no single set of practices that applies to all practitioners due to the loose connections between groups and associations. However, many Mahayana Buddhists in northern India and Central Asia practiced meditation similarly to the Sarvastivada school. This involved samatha meditations, divided into fivefold mental stillings, each recommended for a particular personality type.

In summary, the history of Buddhist meditation is complex and diverse, with roots in ancient Indian traditions. The Theravada and Mahayana traditions developed different interpretations of key meditation practices, and the Mahayana school itself encompasses a wide range of practices.

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