“My Life Flows”: On Meditation in Zen Buddhism & Across World Religions
The spread of meditation across continents and cultures suggests it has always addressed a most intrinsic human need. Zen Buddhist meditation predated the recorded birth of Jesus by 500 years and was present in Asia Minor and Alexandria during His life. In the West, by 20BCE Philo of Alexandria has written on some form of “spiritual exercises” involving “attention” and “concentration,” while by the 3rd century Plotinus had developed meditative techniques.
The Islamic practice of Dhikr had involved the repetition of the 99 names of God in the Qur’an since the 8th or 9th century. By the 12 century the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques such as breathing control and the repetition of holy words. The Silk road transmission of Buddhism had introduced meditation to other Oriental countries, with a meditation hall being opened in Japan in 653.
And yet although recognized as a path toward greater understanding and acceptance — of the self and of the universe — meditation remains a most mysterious human endeavor. How do we define “meditation?” What does it mean to “meditate?”
The term mediation comes from the Latin term “meditari” which means to “concentrate” — but it’s far more than that. Evidence from neuroimaging studies suggest that major categories of meditation, defined by how they direct attention, appear to generate different brainwave patterns. Scientists, theologians, philosophers and writers have long recognized this process, but few if any have ever managed to define it.
Before examining the role of meditation from a spiritual dimension, therefore, let us first attempt to better explore its contours from the perspective of psychotherapy — where some of the most insightful commentary is to be found. A string of eminent psychologists have noted that meditation can bring about quite distinctive physiological, behavioral and cognitive changes.
In “Observing the Self” Arthur Deikman argues that Western psychology has much to learn from the tradition of mystical sciences — he emphasizes the value of meditation “as a means of realizing the transiency of all mind content, and bringing about a decreased preoccupation with one’s personal problems and suffering”.
In “Applications of Buddhism” M.R. Walley writes that meditation practice provides an antidote to “self-grasping” and the “self-cherishing attitude” which, according to Buddhist teachings, “cloud the inherent purity, warmth, openness and intelligence” of the “natural mind”. Its effect on the personality is described by John Welwood as a “cognitive shift” which replaces patterns of “self-destruction” with a “freedom” beyond “identity.”
Perhaps Michael M. Delmonte described the process best when he observed that meditation could be used to bring about “ascendance,” “descendence” and “transcendence” — or what the religious might describe as enlightenment, self-knowledge, and grace.
Indeed for thinkers like Carl Jung — himself no stranger to mysticism — meditation was in many ways a journey though what he describes as the “night-sea of the mind.” His description of how, in the myths of the Native American Pueblo, the emergence of consciousness from a dark and very dim beginning proceeds through a series of caves one above the other, to a full awakening on the surface of the earth, in the light of the Sun and Moon, is similar to Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, or the emphasis of the Yogis on “atman,” meaning the “transcendence of the self.”
Thus it seems that mythology, theology, science and modern day psychoanalysis — even if they don’t entirely understand it — all acknowledge the ability of meditation to alter consciousness, reorient identity, promote well-being, and foster a mindfulness which is compassionate, complete, and self-aware.
It is this discipline of the self, this of denial of the “ego” in favor of humility and wisdom, which is also at the center of all religions, and at the apex of meditative practice. It reflects that desire to become more than the sum of our parts, to confound our mortality, as itinerants, and prophets, saints, and “crazy men” have done for countless centuries in every culture on earth: in the words of Deuteronomy 8:2–3 “Man doth not live by bread alone.” There is amble evidence of this.
Western Christian meditation progressed from the 6th Century practice of Bible reading (“lectio divina”) among Benedictine monks. In the twelfth century the monk Guigo II defined the four steps of this contemplative practice as — lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio — for it then to be developed by saints such as St. Francis of Assisi, and later by Ignatius Loyola and Teresa of Avila in the Sixteenth Century.
In Buddhism these four steps become the “Noble Eightfold Path”; after meditating under the Bodhi tree Buddha returned to the world in order to teach the dharma, or truth, and to liberate human kind from the bonds of suffering and delusion.
In Tibetan Buddhism these eight stages become ten, as practices like mantra recitation, the study of sacred literature, hand mudras and prostration become some of the most integral aspects of the religious life. In Hinduism Yoga practice helps to control the senses and the mind through physical posture, emphasizing breath-control (which has been practiced since the time of Buddha), withdrawal of the senses, and focus of thought.
Jainism looks towards a “salvation path,” and an awareness beyond “attachment or aversion”, that can only be reached through the three crowns of “Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct.” In Judaism the mystical tradition of the Kabbalah is an inherently meditative field of study: in the Torah the patriarch Isaac is described as going “into the field” (Genesis 24:63) — understood by all commentators as a reference to meditative practice, while throughout the Tanech (Hebrew Bible) there are indications that meditation was central to the Prophets.
As is so often the case, here we can see geographically and temporally dispersed religions are asking very similar questions — although the path may vary, the object in sight, be it Dharma or salvation, remains the same. Thus we can conclude that Meditation is as much a spiritual reality as it is a psychic one.
This is particularly true in Islam. There are numerous references in the Holy Qur’an encouraging meditation. In Sūrat Al-Furqān, 25: 63–66:
“The worshippers of the Most Gracious are those who tread the earth gently…[and] in the privacy of the night, they meditate on their Lord.”
Later, in Sūrat Al-Shu`arā’, 26: 217–220:
“Put your trust in the Almighty, Most Merciful. Who sees when you meditate during the night…. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.”
These verses reveal a level of meditation developed by various Sufi orders, who aim to please God by restoring themselves to the primordial state of fitra, as described in the Qur’an. Over the centuries, and in spite of the often heated debate among the `ulamā’, the learned and theologians, with some rejecting the Sufi practice, meditation has become a broadly accepted form of communion with God within Islam.
As for Sufism itself, it was specifically recognized as a part of Islam by over 200 leading Islamic Scholars as part of the “Amman message,” at the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005
All of God’s creatures are endowed with the faculties for survival, but only man has the capacity to aspire beyond himself. It has been noted that René Descartes’ observation “I think, therefore I am” converges with the Islamic concept of tafakkur, which means “reflection upon the universe,” a form of thought and emotional development that can only emanate from a higher level.
Islam — and many other religions — believe that God created man in his own image… that we are capable of soaring as high as an angels, or crawling as low as a devil. Meditation, of course, is the embrace of the former.
It should also be pointed out that the Qur’anic verses that encourage Muslims to meditate (ta’ammul and tafakkur), have encouraged the search for knowledge, and, by the same token, have played a principal role in the efflorescence of the Islamic sciences.
An excellent example of the many verses that exhort the Muslim to contemplate the wonders of creation and the miracle of life is in Sūrat Al-Baqara, 2:164:
“In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the ocean with cargoes beneficial to man; in the water which God sends down from the sky and with which He revives the earth after its death, dispersing over it all manner of beasts; in the disposal of the winds, and in the clouds that are driven between sky and earth: surely in these are signs for rational men.”
It is verses like these that help the believer to maintain a sense of spiritual peace in the face of whatever challenges life may bring.
The Holy Qur’an teaches us that in the very creation of the universe, the signs of God lie hidden all around us. One who has developed the keen awareness mentioned in the verses just quoted, by reflecting upon the wonders of the world, is able to see the Creator and his creatures clearly. The meaning of the universe ultimately also becomes clear and becomes a permanent source of spiritual inspiration. The Muslim is therefore continuously drawing lessons from worldly experience, complemented by the Sufi tradition, which emphasizes concentration and introspection.
In essence it seems that all of us could do to meditate now and again — to consider self-development not simply in the professional, financial or economic sense, but perhaps in a wider, deeper, more universal and human sense.
The ability to reflect is profound. The ancient Greeks understood this well when they coined the aphorism “Know Thyself,” and regarded it as the root of all knowledge.
Today Meditation is practiced in every corner of the globe. Some say it is witnessing a resurgence. One of the most popular Hollywood movies of the year — “Eat, Pray, Love” — saw the heroine embracing meditation and travelling to Bali in search of a guru and a newfound sense of self. The “New Age Movement” has successfully incorporated elements of Eastern philosophy, mysticism, Yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism within a western cosmology, if to the distaste of the Vatican and American evangelicals.
An Indian philosopher once compared the soul of man to a crystal, because it takes the color of whatever is near it.
But perhaps the same could be said of meditation itself: few things are quite as protean or evident in so many places, in so many periods, of time. The modern world seems to so often fear introspection — we say we don’t have time for it, but perhaps there is something daunting about peering into that crystal reflection?
Just as serenity, harmony and compassion are the byproducts of the heart and mind so are their antipodes — war, famine, envy and selfishness.
Sri Nisargadatta once observed that “Love tells me I am everything. Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Between the two, my life flows.”
“Eye cannot see Him, nor words reveal him; by the sense, austerity, or words, He is not known. When the mind is cleansed by the grace of wisdom, He is seen by contemplation — the One without parts”
The Mundaka Upanishad, [3.1.8]
Excerpts from a private speech written by John Lillywhite, and delivered on the occasion of the opening of a Thai centre for meditation and self-development in Amman, Jordan. November 21st, 2010.
