MEDITATION ORIGINS. Part 2 of 5.
He recommended that to be free of suffering, we must be free of ignorance and rid ourselves of fear, wrath, greed, jealousy, and other unpleasant emotions. He suggested exercises for dealing with mental, moral, and spiritual guidelines for life in the world.
Meditation was at the heart of the historical Buddha's practice. He taught mindfulness meditation, which involves paying attention to our sensations in the present now.
The four traditional mindfulness foundations are as follows:
1. Physical awareness
2. Feelings perception
3. Mind-state and thought-state consciousness
4. Understanding the Experience Rules. the connections between what we believe and what we feel.
Unlike other teachers of his time, who frequently recommended retreating from the world to achieve joyful union with the Divine, the Buddha emphasised the need to gain first-hand insight into the nature of existence and how the mind generates suffering. He likened himself to a doctor who administers medication to alleviate wounds rather than a philosopher who provides abstract answers to philosophical questions.
In Indian Tantra, the Divine is found in the domain of the senses. Tantra is sometimes associated with historic sexual practices that have been modernised to appeal to a broader audience. On the other hand, Tantra evolved as an essential sort of Indian spiritual practice and thought in the early centuries. Tantrikas ,tantric practitioners, used the senses as portals to spiritual experience in the first century A.D., thinking that absolute reality and the relative world of the senses are inextricably linked. On the other hand, Tantra can lead to sexual excess, whilst yoga and Buddhism can lead to life denial.
Tantric meditation usually involves techniques for awakening kundalini shakti, which is considered powerful energy associated with the divine feminine that sits at the base of the spine. When the shakti is triggered, it rises along an energetic conduit in the spine, beginning and closing each of the seven energy centres, or chakras, along its path. These centres, which vibrate at different frequencies and are associated with diverse physical and psychological functions, are located in the following order: perineum, genitals, solar plexus, heart, neck, forehead, and top of the head. (See our Reiki programs to learn more about the Chakras) Finally, shakti may erupt in a joyful rush via the head chakra. At this point, the practitioner recognises their Divine identity while wholly encased within a human body.
Buddhism experienced significant changes before departing India permanently at the end of the first century A.D. The early teachings evolved into what is now known as Theravada, the dominant form in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia that emphasises a gradual path to freedom for monks and nuns. Simultaneously, another prominent tendency emerged that pushed for the bodhisattva ideal - the one who devoted their life to liberating others. The Mahayana ("the great vehicle"), the second primary branch of Buddhism, was more egalitarian and offered the possibility of enlightenment to everyone, lay or monk.
Mahayana Buddhism was transmitted from India to China and Tibet by wandering monks and intellectuals across the Himalayas. It merged with indigenous spiritual teachings, grew roots, and evolved into several lineages and schools, most notably Ch'an (Zen in Japanese) and Vajrayana Buddhism, which raised meditation practice to new heights.
You've undoubtedly heard of Zen masters who beat their students with sticks or shouted at them from the rooftops. You may be surprised to learn that Zen is a unique blend of Mahayana Buddhism (which is egalitarian) and Taoism, a native Chinese tradition (which emphasises the seamless and undivided nature of life, known as the Tao). Although Indian monks introduced Buddhism to China in the early Christian era, Zen did not emerge as a unique school until the seventh or eighth century. Zen departed considerably from traditional Buddhism by emphasising direct, wordless transmission of the enlightened state from teacher to pupil — sometimes via behaviour considered unconventional or strange by ordinary standards.
Despite other Buddhist schools' increased emphasis on text study, Zen cut through the conceptual underbrush and declared, "Just sit!" Meditation became the fundamental tool for liberating oneself from a lifetime of connection to the material world and comprehending what Zen masters refer to as Buddha's nature. Each of us has this inherent wisdom.
Zen also presented koans, seemingly intractable problems like "What is the sound of one hand?" or "What was your initial look before your parents were born?" The monk may finally get insight into the nature of life by entirely immersing himself in the koan, which Zen masters call satori.
Zen developed some of Japan's fabled warrior aggression, giving rise to the austere, pure aesthetic that has made rock gardens and brush paintings so distinctively Japanese.
Of course, Zen made its way from Japan to North America, where it met the Beat generation of the 1950s, laying the groundwork for the recent increase in interest in meditation.
Tibet, like China ,where Buddhism collided with Taoism, had its indigenous religion known as Bonpo, which included magical ceremonies to appease local spirits and deities. In the seventh century A.D., when the famed Indian guru Padmasambhava introduced Buddhism from India to Tibet, he had to first confront hostile ghosts. These spirits were later integrated into Tibetan Buddhism as protectors and allies in a vast pantheon of Buddhas and dakinis, awakened women.
Tibetan Buddhists believed that the historical Buddha taught at several levels simultaneously, depending on the needs and skills of his disciples. They said the most profound teachings were concealed for years before being passed down to Tibet as the Vajrayana ("the diamond method"). This practice incorporates components of Indian Tantra, intense energy-working techniques, and regular mindfulness meditation. Rather than advocating the abolition of negative emotions and mental states like wrath, greed, and fear, the Vajrayana teaches practitioners how to transform negativity into wisdom and compassion.
Visualisation - the active use of the imagination to elicit essential spiritual forces that drive the path of spiritual enlightenment — is also utilised in meditation in Tibetan Buddhism.
Come back tomorrow for part 3.
Be well.
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