The History of Meditation
Our earliest ancestors
Meditation involves a shift from thinking and doing to just being… therefore our forebears had a head start on us: their lives were much simpler; there was a lot less to do and a lot less to think about and a lot more time to just sit and be as they stared into the fire or gazed at the sky!
Shamans: 15 000 years ago
Long before the time of the Buddha or the great Indian yogi's, shamans in the hunter-gatherer cultures throughout the world used meditative practices to enter altered states of consciousness, known as trances. Focusing their minds through drumming or rhythmic chanting, dancing in simple, repetitive steps, and sometimes using hallucinogenic plants, these powerful people left their bodies and journeyed to the "world of spirits". They then brought back sacred wisdom, healing abilities, magical powers and spirit blessings for the sake of the tribe.
1. Meditation in the East
Indian roots: 5000 years ago
Meditation's deepest roots are found in India, where sadhus (wandering holy men and women) and yogis have cultivated the practice in one form or another for more than 5 000 years. Contributing factors could include the hot climate which slows the pace of life, the monsoon which forces people to spend a lot of time indoors and the unbroken line of meditators over the ages.
The earliest Indian scriptures, the Vedas, don't even have a word for meditation, but the Vedic priests performed elaborate rites and chants to the gods that required tremendous concentration. Eventually, these practices evolved into a form of prayerful meditation that combined the use of breath control and devotional focus on the Divine. The deeper they delved, the more these priests realised that the worshipper and the object of worship, the individual being and the divine being itself, are one and the same – a profound insight that continued to inspire and instruct spiritual seekers through the ages.
From the Vedic and post-Vedic spirituality sprouted three of India's best-known meditative traditions: Yoga, Buddhism and Tantra.
Yoga
The practitioner of classical yoga aims to withdraw from the material world, which is considered illusionary, and merge with the formless but ultimate reality of consciousness. After preparing the body with asanas (the familiar "poses" cultivating refined energy states through various breathing practices), and excluding all external distractions, the yogi focuses on an intermediate object, such as a mantra (repetition of a meaningful word or phrase) or a sacred symbol, and then on consciousness itself. Finally, the yogi arrives at a state known as samadhi, where all traces of separation dissolve and the yogi blissfully unites with consciousness.
Buddhism
The historical Buddha was a Hindu prince who, according to the traditional story, renounced his luxurious life to find answers to the mystery of suffering, old age, and death. After practicing asceticism and yoga for many years, he decided that rejecting the world and mortifying the flesh would not lead to the understanding he sought. Instead, he sat down under a tree and began looking deeply into his own mind. After seven days and nights of intensive meditation, he woke up to the nature of existence – hence the name Buddha – or "the awakened one".
The Buddha taught that we suffer because we cling to the false beliefs that
- "things" are permanent and can be relied upon for happiness, and
- we have an abiding "self" that exists independently of other beings and makes us who we are.
Instead, he taught that everything changes constantly – our minds, our emotions, our sense of self, and the circumstances and objects in the external world.
To be free of suffering, he counseled, we must liberate ourselves from ignorance and eliminate fear, anger, greed, jealousy and other negative mind-states. The approach he prescribed involves both practices for working with the mind and guidelines for living in the world in a virtuous and spiritual way.
Meditation lies at the heart of the historical Buddha's approach. The practice of meditation he taught, known as mindfulness, involves wakeful attention to our experience from moment to moment.
The four traditional foundations of mindfulness:
- Awareness of the body
- Awareness of feelings
- Awareness of thoughts and mind-states
- Awareness of the laws of experience
(the relationship between what we think and what we experience)
Departing from other teachers of his day, who generally recommended withdrawing from the world to seek ecstatic union with the Divine, the Buddha taught the importance of gaining direct insight into the nature of existence and how the mind creates suffering.
By the end of 1000 A.D, Buddhism had developed into two major branches:
- Theravada, which emphasised a progressive path to liberation largely limited to monks and nuns
- Mahayana, "the great vehicle", which preached the ideal of the Bodhisattva, the "person who dedicates his or her life to liberating others". This branch was more egalitarian and offered the possibility of enlightenment to everyone, whether lay or monastic.
At this time Buddhism left India through wandering monks and scholars. Mahayana Buddhism mingled with many other spiritual teachings and evolved into a number of different traditions and schools (e.g. Zen Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism), which took the practice of meditation to new heights.
- Zen Buddhism: Buddhism in China
Zen is a unique blend of Mahayana Buddhism and the native Chinese tradition known as Taoism, which emphasises the seamless and undivided nature of live, known as the Tao. Zen departed radically from traditional Buddhism by emphasising direct, wordless transmission of the enlightened state from master to disciple – sometimes through behaviour that by ordinary standards would be considered as eccentric or even bizarre.
- Vajrayana Buddhism: Buddhism in Tibet:
Tibet's indigenous religion, called Bonpo, included magical practices designed to appease the local spirits and deities. When the great Indian master Padmasambhava brought Buddhism from India to Tibet in the 7th Century A.D, he first had to conquer the hostile spirits that resisted his efforts. Ultimately, these spirits were incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism as protectors and allies in an elaborate pantheon that included various Buddhas and dakinis (awakened women).
Tibetan Buddhists believed that the historical Buddha taught simultaneously at different levels, depending on the needs and abilities of his disciples. The most advanced teachings, they said, were kept secret for centuries and ultimately conveyed to Tibet as the Vajrayana ("the diamond way"). In addition to traditional mindfulness meditation, this approach incorporated elements of Indian Tantra and involved powerful practices for working with energy. Instead of eliminating negative emotions and mind states like anger, greed, and fear, as traditional Buddhism recommends, the Vajrayana teaches practitioners how to transform negativity directly into wisdom and compassion.
Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism also employs visualisation – the active use of the imagination to invoke potent spiritual forces that fuel the process of spiritual realization.
Tantra
Tantrikas (practitioners of tantra) believe that absolute reality and the relative world of the senses are inseparable. They use the senses (including the practice of ritual sex) as gateways to spiritual realisation. Needless to say, such an approach has its pitfalls: whereas yoga and Buddhism can veer toward life-denial, tantra can be confused with sexual indulgence.
Tantric meditation frequently involves practices for awakening the kundalini shakti, believed to be a powerful energy associated with the divine feminine that resides at the base of the spine. Once stimulated, the shakti rises through an energetic channel located in the spine and activates and opens each of the seven energy centres (or chakras) in its path. Ultimately, the shakti may erupt through the crown chakra in a burst of ecstasy. At this point, the practitioner realises his or her identity with the Divine, while still fully contained in a physical body.
SUMMARY OF MEDITATION'S EASTERN ROOTS:
INDIA
Yoga: the path of blissful union
Tantra: finding the sacred in the world of the senses
Early Buddhism: the roots of mindfulness meditation
CHINA: Zen TIBET: Vajrayana
"Just sit"; Detach Transform negativity into wisdom and compassion
2. Meditation in the Middle East
ARABIA (Mecca) - ISLAM: Surrender to the divine will.
Various sects:
- Shiah (Shiite): Believes that caliph Ali was the beginning of the true lineage of Mohammed
- Sunni: Based in conservative custom, accepts the first three caliphs as legitimate
successors of Mohammed
- Sufi: Islamic mysticism… "Surrendering to the Divine with every breath"
- Baha'i: Stems from Islam but has moved away from it. Now has worldwide appeal for its mystical pacifism.
3. Meditation in the Judaic Tradition
- Abraham: Historical evidence about meditation practice dates back to Abraham, the founder of Judaism
- Old testament prophets: Apparently entered into altered states through fasting & ascetic practices. Mystics of first few centuries A.D. meditated on a vision of the prophet Ezekiel
- First formal Jewish meditation: Centered on the Hebrew alphabet, which was considered the divine language through which God created the world.
4. Meditation in the Christian Tradition
- Jesus: Fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days and nights
- Egypt and Palestine: The Desert Fathers (3rd and 4th centuries) lived largely in solitude and cultivated awareness of the divine presence through constant repetition of a sacred phrase
- Medieval Europe: Monks, nuns & mystics - contemplated scriptures until its deeper significance revealed itself to the mind
- Greece & Eastern Europe: Monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church combined full body prostrations with the repetition of the Jesus prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner
- Father Thomas Keating: Developed "Centering Prayer" during the past few decades. It is a contemplative practice that opens the mind and heart to the divine presence.
Sources:
"Meditation for Dummies" by Stephan Bodian
"Meditation – the Complete Guide" by Patricia Monaghan & Eleanor Viereck
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