Meditation/Contemplation

I. Religious Studies

Meditation is a general term for different, variously contextualized methods of training consciousness that are found in various religions. The term itself originated in the Platonic/Neoplatonic Christian tradition (Platonism, Neoplatonism), where it means “intensively focused thought.” The works of Hugh and Richard of St. Victor as well as Bonaventura and J. de Gerson treat meditation as a stage in the progress of the spiritual life: lectio – meditatio– (oratio) – contemplatio (see also II below). Another medieval analysis (explicit in Bonaventura) is the tripartite division into purgatio – illluminatio – unio, which goes back to Dionysius Areopagita and the Neoplatonism on which he built. The meaning of the purification, spiritual enlightenment, or unification experienced in the various traditions differs diachronically and diatopically (confessionally) within individual religions.

Meditation is an intentional training of attention to alter the perceptions of the senses, to concentrate the will along with all cognitive and emotional functions so as to decondition learned models of behavior, feeling, and judgment. Often the goal of meditation is an altered state of consciousness (hyperalertness coupled with total relaxation). Primarily, however, meditation is centering and concentrating on a single point, producing a tranquil mindfulness focused on a concrete object of meditation (e.g. a sound, a verbal formula [mantra], a design [yantra], an image, [ maṇḍala ], breathing) or, in the absence of such a object, on the act of meditation itself. Since tranquility cannot be consciously willed into existence, one of the most important meditative techniques in religion is passive but controlled rhythmic breathing (in Yoga prāṇayāma). A relaxed bodily posture (in Yoga āsana) is also a necessary condition for totally coordinated breathing. Hyperventilation, attentive observation of bodily movement, rapid or slow walking all facilitate meditation. In any case, a careful balance between activity and passivity of the psychophysical system is a necessary condition for meditation (Body control techniques).

Several religions distinguish an apophatic way and a cataphatic way, leading to different methods of meditation: the emptying of all conceptual and emotional content (esp. in Buddhism, but also in Christian contem-¶ plation) versus ecstatic (Ecstasy) intensification of all earthly senses (personal experience of God, sexual metaphors) to transcend the ordinary range of thought and perception. Meditation and prayer are closely associated: the stages of prayer extend from dialogue with God to contemplative prayer (Teresa of Ávila), in which subject and object merge in a single stream of consciousness; this technique also resembles Asian methods of dissolving the boundaries of the self. The Jesus Prayer of the Eastern Church resembles Indian mantra meditation or japa. Particular religious contexts and traditional interpretations define the object of meditation more precisely (God, the absolute, etc.) as well as the goal. A distinction can be made between earthly goals (stress reduction, calm, concentration, efficiency, acquisition of parapsychic powers [Sanskrit siddhi]) and supernatural goals (liberation, deliverance, nirvāṇa ).

The effects of meditation are ambiguous and depend on the psychosocial environment and the religious interpretive horizon of the subject. They can be physical (altered heart rate, galvanic skin response, muscular relaxation, EEG), mental (reduction of stress, euphoria, altered perception [hallucinations, visions, auditory hallucinations], fear of dissolution of the self), and spiritual (sense of wholeness, certainty, emptiness, liberation). Meditation needs to be guided by competent instructors who can diagnose mental disturbances and spiritual instability.

II. Christianity

Meditation is an important expression of Christian spirituality. Within the environment of Hellenistic and Jewish meditation, there soon developed a Christian practice that phenomenologically displays clear parallels to other religions. Meditation is a methodical, holistic rumination on the part of an individual, not necessarily in the form of a prayer addressed to God, with the goal of experiencing an encounter with God.

As an element of the spiritual life (Lifestyle), meditation, initially practiced by the Desert Fathers (Monasticism), soon was included in monastic rules (Benedict of Nursia). Biblical authority included ¶ Ps 1:2, where the Vulgate uses meditari to translate Hebrew haggāh, “murmur,” as well as Lev 11:3 and Deut 14:6; chewing the cud symbolizes meditation. The meditating individual “ingests” biblical texts into memory, so that they can be thoroughly assimilated through quiet “rumination.” Because meditation is a psychosomatic process, it has always involved certain bodily postures. In the Christian East, the meditative practice of the Desert Fathers gave birth to the Jesus Prayer or Prayer of the Heart (Heart, Prayer of the), still in use today, a method of meditation with psychosomatic components and a mystical horizon of expectation (Hesychasm). In the medieval West, a variety of forms developed, including – besides meditation on Scripture – penitential meditation, meditation on the life and passion of Christ, meditation in the context of the ars moriendi and veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as praying the rosary. The technique of meditation was shaped by the sequence lectio –meditatio – oratio – contemplatio, which systematized the complex meditation of the early period by setting it in a four-part schema (Guigo II). Lectio means memorizing texts, meditatiotheir affective and cognitive appropriation; in oratio the individual prays to God to be granted the salvation revealed through meditation, while in contemplatio God himself vouchsafes a foretaste of salvation. Monastic meditation and mysticism converge in assessing the experience of God (contemplatio) as the high point of spiritual exercises. All attempts to be methodical notwithstanding, this highest stage is vouchsafed solely at God's pleasure. Present-day theology is concerned to present contemplation (vita contemplativa) as a complement to active formation of a Christian life (vita activa).

Meditation flourished in the context of the devotio moderna . Systems of spiritual exercises were developed (G. Zerbolt) that were intended to enable the soul, fallen from its original relationship with God, to be restored as the image of God through methodical stages. The meditation of the devotio moderna influenced the nascent lay spirituality and monastic reform movements of the late Middle Ages.

In Catholicism meditation developed distinctive contours within the various orders. Ignatius of Loyola stands at the beginning of development in the modern period. His Exercitia spiritualia, based on the life-of-Jesus meditation of the waning Middle Ages, today provides the model for spiritual exercises. Carmelite meditation (Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross) placed more emphasis on contemplation. Francis of Sales with his practice of the presence of God (Quietism) was very influential outside the monastic world.

¶ In Protestantism Luther developed a Reformation version of the meditation that he had practiced in the monastery of the Augustinian Hermits. His understanding of grace precluded any system of spiritual ascent by stages. He maintained the quality of the mystical summit as the experience of God, but now conceived as the experience of a life lived in tension between challenges to faith and consolation. His triad oratio – meditatio – tentatio illustrates the shift of emphasis and well as continuity with the spiritual exercises of the Middle Ages. All in all, however, the practice of meditation in Protestantism has been a hidden trail visible only from time to time (J. Arndt, G. Tersteegen).

Since the early 20th century, an awareness of meditation as a central religious phenomenon has been growing.Vatican II called “prayerful immersion in God's Word” a means of knowing God. Protestantism rediscovered Catholic and Orthodox meditation along with its own tradition (W. Stählin, D. Bonhoeffer). All denominations have been influenced by psychotherapeutic techniques (Psychotherapy) and practices of other religions. Besides biblical meditation, nonobjective meditation is practiced as well as meditation on nature, music, images, and symbols. Christianity may yet discover the meditative tradition in the religion of its Jewish neighbors. Spaces for meditation are found in monasteries, communities, conference centers, and adult education institution

III. The Religions of India

In general, the terms meditation and contemplation are used in a broader sense in Indian religions than in their original (Christian) context. The Sanskrit-based religions (Hinduism,Jainism, Buddhism) employ a wealth of related terms and practices that have no parallels in the Western Christian context. The Sanskrit term most often translated “meditation” is dhyāna(from the root dhyai-, “to contemplate, meditate, observe, call to mind”), which has different meanings in such various systems as the Upaniṣads, Yoga, Tantra, etc. Through the spread of Buddhism, it traveled as far as Japan (Zen: II). The term bhāvanā (from the root bhū-, “to become,” intensive bhāvyate) is often translated “contemplation”; it denotes visualization that effects a transformation into the object visualized or a development of psychic conditions. Especially in the Upaniṣads, upāsanā is used in the sense of internalized ¶ identification with the object of contemplation (orig. outside a ritual context). Other important terms in this area include dhāraṇā (from the root dhṛ-, “ to hold fast”), denoting concentration, various methods of concentration and meditation; smṛti (Pali sati), literally “recollection,” hence “mindfulness”; and darśana in the sense of “vision, contemplation” (not in the ritual or philosophical sense). In all systems of Yoga, the goal of meditation is samādhi, “absorption, enstasy,” the highest stage of meditation. In Kashmiri Tantrism and Śaivism, samāveśa means “total immersion” or union (with the deity); the practice of inward mindfulness is anusandhāna. The terms vimarśa andparāmarśa, “act of conscious inner awareness,” are also used in the sense of meditation. Another group of words conveys more the basic meaning “reflection, rumination”: cintā, cintana;manana; vitarka, vicāra.

The Indian cultural world is undoubtedly home to the earliest unbroken and still vital tradition of a variety of techniques of meditation and contemplation. Its origins probably go back to the pre-Vedic Indus civilization (c. 2500 bce), as evidenced by seals depicting figures (of deities) seated in the Yoga position. In Vedic literature (Vedas), meditation makes its first appearance in the Upaniṣads (c. 800–200 bce). One of the earliest descriptions of the meditative state is in theBṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad: “Whoever knows this is quiet, subdued, satisfied, and collected; he sees the ātman (“self”) in himself, sees all as ātman” (IV, 4, 23). The Chāndogyopaniṣad describes meditation on the innermost space in the heart, within which is contained the vast space of the cosmos (VIII, 1, 1–5). The Kaṭhopaniṣad describes stages of meditation, starting with introspection, in contrast to the extroversion of the senses (cf. IV, 1). Meditation consists in collecting speech in thought, thought in understanding, understanding in the great self, and the great self in the ātman of peace (cf. III, 10–11, 13). Control of the senses and attention to breathing are essential elements of meditation (cf. V, 5). The goal of meditation is to overcome suffering and death through experience of the supreme, divine reality, which also presupposes grace (cf. II, 20). The Upaniṣads also contain precursors of Yoga.

In a general sense, yoga denotes any spiritual practice; specifically, it denotes the psychophysical techniques employed by the school of Yoga. A summary of Yoga practice in ancient India is contained in the Yogasūtra of Patañjali (c. 2nd cent. ce). The final three stages of the eightfold way of Yoga involve concentration (dhāraṇā), meditation (dhyāna), and absorption (samādhi). Meditation eliminates mental agitation (II, 11), the goal of Yoga (I, 2).Dhyāna is defined as a “fixation of consciousness on a single perception” or “attention to one visible object” (III, 2). In absorption (samādhi), the distinction between subject and object vanishes; reality alone is illuminated (III, 3). The triad dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi practiced collectively is called saṃyama, (IV, 4); it involves a continual process of psychic union, the inner core of all Yoga (IV, 7). The goal of Yoga, according to Patañjali, is to achieve the identity of own self with the power of the spirit (IV, 34).

In most schools of Indian spirituality, mantras, sacred words, play a major role in meditation – especially the sacred syllable Om, the sound form of the absolute repeated inwardly in combination with other syllables of words (japa). When images of deities are worshiped,dhyāna can also mean visualization of the form of a deity. This differs from purely spiritual meditation, as described in the Vijñānabhairavatantra: “Meditation is imperturbable insight without form and without foundation …” (V, 146). According to the same text, true contemplation (bhāvanā) consists in constantly realizing the presence of transcendent reality (V, 145).

In every tradition, the form of meditation is dependent on the particular philosophy and the goal of the spiritual path. Apart from forms of meditation that aim to attain supernatural powers (siddhi), the ultimate goal of meditation is generally redemptive knowledge, union with the deity, and deliverance from the cycle of rebirth (Reincarnation: IV), from suffering and death (mokṣa). Three major models can be identified: (1) extreme asceticism, which seeks to overcome the body and the senses and leads to total disengagement – probably the earliest form of Indian spirituality, preserved most fully in Jainism as well as some schools of Vedānta; (2) Tantrism, which includes in meditation everything experienced by the body and the senses, seeking to transform it (so also kuṇḍalinī yoga, which awakens the divine energy deep within the body); and (3) various forms of theism, love of God ( bhakti ), involving either contemplation of the beloved God or a quest for union with the deity. In all these forms, introspection plays a major role, to experience the divine in one's own heart.

IV. Buddhism

In the various forms of Buddhism, meditation (Sanskrit and Pali bhāvanā, lit. “development, cultivation; calling into existence, generation; unfolding of the spirit”) covers an extraordinarily diverse range of techniques and “states” associated with “calm abiding” (Sanskrit and Pali śamatha) or “concentration” (Sanskrit and Pali samādhi) and “insight” (Pali vipassanā). In meditation, proper concentration leads to various stages of absorption or immersion (Sanskrit dhyāna, Pali jhāna; borrowed into Chinese as Chan, Japanese as Zen), associated with a range of experiences or insights. Several stages (4, 8, or 9) are already identified in early texts. The first stage typically brings “detachment from unwholesome consciousness”; the second brings “inner tranquility, oneness of mind, and rapture and joy free from thought-conception and discursive thinking.” The third stage leads to “living in equanimity, mindful and clearly conscious, and the experience of a specific happiness,” the fourth to “the disappearance of joy and grief, purified by equanimity and mindfulness.” The fifth level of absorption is the realm of boundless space, the sixth the realm of boundless consciousness, the seventh the realm of nothingness, the eighth the realm beyond perception and non-perception, and the ninth the cessation of all feeling and perception (cf. Schneider, 87–95). The ultimate goal of meditation is to achieve enlightenment (IV).

In Theravāda Buddhism (Hīnayāna), the 40 “standard forms” of meditation put forward by Buddhaghoṣa (5th cent.) in the Visuddhimagga (“Path of Purification”) acquired a special status. It must be emphasized that many exercises must be specifically assigned (selected by a master as being appropriate to the character of the candidate, the end desired, and the stage of absorption), although some of the exercises are generally applicable. To achieve insight (Palivipassanā), Buddhaghoṣa listed 18 different exercises (Visuddhimagga XX), including observation of impermanence, suffering, no-self, and emptiness. Extensive prior moral attainments or purification exercises are considered indispensable. Specific postures are listed, and value is placed on external circumstances (e.g. freedom from interruption). Under these conditions, meditation is limited to the circles of the ordained. With the advent of so-called Buddhist modernism (Buddhism: I, 2.3), lay meditation emerged in certain circles of Theravāda Buddhism. In Europe around the turn of the 20th century, this form of Theravāda attracted the attention of individuals highly interested in meditation (a disproportionate number relative to the situation in Southeast Asia). In Western circles, it was probably satipaṭṭhāna meditation (“presence of mindfulness”) that attracted the greatest interest: a technique that seeks to know all modes of being and all objects as they are.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, divergent doctrinal development influenced the practice of meditation. The ¶ various schools developed differing conceptions and practices, which were nevertheless able to be mutually stimulating. In the West, Buddhist meditation is commonly identified with Zen, but meditation is an important element of other Mahāyāna Buddhisms (Chinese/Japanese: Hua-yen/Kegon, Tiantai/Tendai, Ch'ing T'u/Jōdo-shū [as well as Japanese Jōdo Shin-shū], Zhenyan/Shingon).

In Europe and America, forms of Buddhist meditation have generally been adopted via Japanese Zen. Although in the years before World War II Zen meditation was familiar in Europe, thanks to the work of D.T. Suzuki, and found adherents such as Eugen Herrigel, wider interest first appears in the 1960s. From the United States, a Zen Buddhism substantially adapted to Western thought reached primarily those engaged in the youth and protest movements, especially in academic circles. The influence of Japanese techniques of meditation also reached Europe directly, independently of this “detour.” In particular H.M. Enomiya-Lasalle (1898–1990), a Jesuit priest who had studied Zen meditation with Japanese masters, had an extraordinary gift for sharing these traditions with (primarily Catholic) Christians.

In the Buddhisms of Vajrayāna, meditation also plays a substantial role. Visions are induced with the aid of yi-dams, maṇḍalas, and mantras; they are intended to introduce practitioners via several stages (identifications) to final realization of the “void” (and thus overcome all “adherences”).