Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique or combination of techniques to train attention and awareness and detach from "discursive, ruminating thought", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not intending to analyze the effects, to judge its outcomes, or to create any expectation with regard to the process.
Meditation techniques are broadly classified into focused (or concentrative) and open monitoring methods. Focused methods involve attention to specific objects like breath or mantras, while open monitoring includes mindfulness and awareness of subjective experiences in the present moment, and can also involve the active cultivation of wisdom.
Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions, though it is also practiced independently from any religious or spiritual influences for its health benefits. The earliest records of meditation (dhyana) are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. Meditation-like techniques are also known in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in the context of remembrance of and prayer and devotion to God.
Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business and health. Several meta-analyses of clinical studies of mindfulness have demonstrated its mental and physical health benefits. Initially criticized for methodological weaknesses, meditation research now commonly employs randomized controlled trials, active control groups, and stronger methodological standards. Research is ongoing to better understand the effects of meditation on health (psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular) and other areas.
Etymology
The English term meditation is derived from Old French meditacioun, in turn from Latin meditatio from a verb meditari, meaning "to think, contemplate, devise, ponder".An universal etymological English dictionary 1773, London, by Nathan Bailey . In the Catholic tradition, the use of the term meditatio as part of a formal, stepwise process of meditation dates back to at least the 12th-century monk Guigo II,The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 p. 115 before which the Greek word theoria was used for the same purpose.
Apart from its historical usage, the term meditation was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices, referred to as dhyāna in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, which comes from the Sanskrit root dhyai, meaning to contemplate or meditate.The verb root "dhyai" is listed as referring to "contemplate, meditate on" and "dhyāna" is listed as referring to "meditation; religious contemplation" on page 134 of The Greek word theoria actually derives from the same root.
The term "meditation" in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism, or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm.
Definitions
Difficulties in defining meditation
No universally accepted definition for meditation
Meditation has proven difficult to define as it covers a wide range of dissimilar practices in different traditions and cultures. In popular usage, the word "meditation" and the phrase "meditative practice" are often used imprecisely to designate practices found across many cultures. These can include almost anything that is claimed to train the attention of mind or to teach calmness or compassion. There remains no definition of necessary and sufficient criteria for meditation that has achieved widespread acceptance within the modern scientific community.
Separation of technique from tradition
Some of the difficulty in precisely defining meditation has been in recognizing the particularities of the many various traditions;Lutz, Dunne and Davidson, "Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction" in The Cambridge handbook of consciousness by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, 2007 pp. 499–551 (proof copy) (NB: pagination of published was 499–551 proof was 497–550). and theories and practices can differ within a tradition. Taylor noted that even within a faith such as "Hindu" or "Buddhist", schools and individual teachers may teach distinct types of meditation. Ornstein noted that "Most techniques of meditation do not exist as solitary practices but are only artificially separable from an entire system of practice and belief." For instance, while monks meditate as part of their everyday lives, they also engage in codified rules with specific outcomes, living together in monasteries with specific cultural settings that include local rites and rituals as part of a unified set of practices.
Dictionary definitions Dictionaries give both the original Latin meaning of "think[ing] deeply about (something)", as well as the popular usages of "focusing one's mind for a period of time", "the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed", and "to engage in mental exercise (such as concentrating on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness."
Scholarly definitions In modern psychological research, meditation has been defined and characterized in various ways. Many of these emphasize the role of attention and characterize the practice of meditation as attempts to detach from "discursive, ruminating thought", not judging the meditation-process itself ("logical relaxation"), to achieve a deeper, more devout, or more relaxed state.
Bond et al. (2009) identified criteria for defining a practice as meditation "for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation", using "a 5-round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research" who were also trained in diverse but empirically highly studied (Eastern-derived or clinical) forms of meditation:
Several other definitions of meditation have been used by influential modern reviews of research on meditation across multiple traditions: Walsh & Shapiro (2006): "Meditation refers to a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration" Cahn & Polich (2006): "Meditation is used to describe practices that self-regulate the body and mind, thereby affecting mental events by engaging a specific attentional set.... regulation of attention is the central commonality across the many divergent methods" Jevning et al. (1992): "We define meditation... as a stylized mental technique... repetitively practiced for the purpose of attaining a subjective experience that is frequently described as very restful, silent, and of heightened alertness, often characterized as blissful" Goleman (1988): "the need for the meditator to retrain his attention, whether through concentration or mindfulness, is the single invariant ingredient in... every meditation system"
Classifications
Focused and open methods In the West, meditation techniques have often been classified in two broad categories, which in actual practice are often combined: focused (or concentrative) meditation and open monitoring (or mindfulness) meditation: Focused methods include paying attention to the breath, to an idea or feeling (such as mettā – loving-kindness), to a kōan, or to a mantra (such as in transcendental meditation), and single point meditation. Open monitoring methods include mindfulness, shikantaza and other awareness states.
Other possible typologies Another typology divides meditation approaches into concentrative, generative, receptive and reflective practices: concentrative: focused attention, including breath meditation, TM, and visualizations; generative: developing qualities like loving kindness and compassion; receptive: open monitoring; reflective: systematic investigation, contemplation.
The Buddhist tradition often divides meditative practice into samatha, or calm abiding, and vipassana, insight. Mindfulness of breathing, a form of focused attention, calms down the mind; this calmed mind can then investigate the nature of reality, by monitoring the fleeting and ever-changing constituents of experience, by reflective investigation, or by turning back the radiance, focusing awareness on awareness itself and discerning the true nature of mind as awareness itself. A similar distinction can be found in the Inchagiri Sampradaya, where mantra-recitation is used to quiet the mind, followed by self-inquiry, investigating what the source is of the "I" that is aware.
Matko and Sedlmeier (2019) "call into question the common division into 'focused attention' and 'open-monitoring' practices." They argue for "two orthogonal dimensions along which meditation techniques could be classified," namely "activation" and "amount of body orientation," proposing seven clusters of techniques: "mindful observation, body-centered meditation, visual concentration, contemplation, affect-centered meditation, mantra meditation, and meditation with movement."
Jonathan Shear argues that transcendental meditation is an "automatic self-transcending" technique, different from focused attention and open monitoring. In this kind of practice, "there is no attempt to sustain any particular condition at all. Practices of this kind, once started, are reported to automatically 'transcend' their own activity and disappear, to be started up again later if appropriate." Yet, Shear also states that "automatic self-transcending" also applies to the way other techniques such as from Zen and Qigong are practiced by experienced meditators "once they had become effortless and automatic through years of practice."
Technique
Posture
Asanas or body postures such as padmasana (full-lotus, half-lotus), cross-legged sitting, seiza, and kneeling positions are popular meditative postures in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Jainism, although other postures such as sitting, supine (lying), and standing are also used. Meditation is also sometimes done while walking, known as kinhin, while doing a simple task mindfully, known as samu, or while lying down, known as shavasana.
A 2018 pilot study scientifically compared the stability offered by three common meditation supports—a zafu cushion, a meditation bench, and a chair. The study found that the zafu provided the most stability against side-to-side body sway, while also concluding that chairs and benches are suitable alternatives for beginners, with chairs being specifically recommended for people with back pain or difficulty getting up from a low seated position.
Frequency The Transcendental Meditation technique recommends practice of 20 minutes twice per day. Some techniques suggest less time, especially when starting meditation, and Richard Davidson has quoted research saying benefits can be achieved with a practice of only 8 minutes per day. Research shows improvement in meditation time with simple oral and video training. Some meditators practice for much longer, particularly when on a course or retreat. Some meditators find practice best in the hours before dawn.
Supporting aids
Use of prayer beads