What meditation is

Meditation explained by the Theravada Monk Ajahn Brahm is maybe the best way i found Meditation explained.
And yes out of my own experience in meditation i can say this explenation does seem to be correct,
But so far i have not come to the end part of what is explained here.

Meditation can well be summarized as going into the
center of things. One goes first to the center of time, called
the “now.” Then into the center of the now that is free of all
thought. Then into the center of the body with one’s breath.
Then into the center of the breath, which is the beautiful
breath. Then into the center of the beautiful breath, where
one experiences the nimitta. Then into the center of the
nimitta to enter the first jhāna. Then into the center of the
first jhāna, which is the second jhāna, and so on. This is
yoniso manasikāra, “work of the mind that goes to the
source.” As one goes deeper into the source of body and
mind, one comes to the source of will, the seat of the doer,
the citadel in which potential doing abides. And one sees it
all empty of a self.

Any thoughts?

I've never seen methods of meditation as 'correct' or 'incorrect', but just methods. They differ. The definition of meditation itself varies. Broad term meaning many things to many people.

Vinayaka said:

I've never seen methods of meditation as 'correct' or 'incorrect', but just methods. They differ. The definition of meditation itself varies. Broad term meaning many things to many people.

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With in Buddhism the method explaine in OP is how Buddha was teaching it, Meditation of other masters may look different of course, it depend on who the teacher is and how meditation was realized But yes different path different methods

Amanaki said:

Meditation explained by the Theravada Monk Ajahn Brahm is maybe the best way i found Meditation explained.
And yes out of my own experience in meditation i can say this explenation does seem to be correct,
But so far i have not come to the end part of what is explained here.

Meditation can well be summarized as going into the
center of things. One goes first to the center of time, called
the “now.” Then into the center of the now that is free of all
thought. Then into the center of the body with one’s breath.
Then into the center of the breath, which is the beautiful
breath. Then into the center of the beautiful breath, where
one experiences the nimitta. Then into the center of the
nimitta to enter the first jhāna. Then into the center of the
first jhāna, which is the second jhāna, and so on. This is
yoniso manasikāra, “work of the mind that goes to the
source.” As one goes deeper into the source of body and
mind, one comes to the source of will, the seat of the doer,
the citadel in which potential doing abides. And one sees it
all empty of a self.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

While I understand what is being communicated here, I think this explanation would be lost on one who doesn't practice or is just beginning to practice.

SalixIncendium said:

While I understand what is being communicated here, I think this explanation would be lost on one who doesn't practice or is just beginning to practice.

Click to expand...

Yes when a new person learn meditation in buddhism one start with the breath
One can not jump directly to jhana meditation for sure

this is all very interesting.Thanks for posting this

Could I ask a question?Maybe you explained this already but what is the first and second jhāna and what is nimitta?

Amanaki said:

Any thoughts?

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What does breathing mean to people living in Buddha's time period? Do they envision this as magical? Does the air contain thoughts? What do they believe breathing does?

Brickjectivity said:

What does breathing mean to people living in Buddha's time period? Do they envision this as magical?

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It's all magical when you enter "into the center of the breath, which is the beautiful breath". I would assume they understood that as experienced meditators today do from their own experience. It means something when you read those words to one's own experience.

Brickjectivity said:

Does the air contain thoughts?

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Sure. People talk over the airwaves all the time. It's called radio.

Brickjectivity said:

What do they believe breathing does?

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First as a focus of distraction for the mind away from its constant chattering. Second, it's hard to describe. As the mind and body opens, the breathing deepens and slows and expands, and with it the conscious mind into expansiveness. From there, on your way into infinity. The breath becomes still, expansive and all encompassing, breathing every living thing through your own being.

The breath is Life
When we teach a new person meditation the reason we start with beathing in, breathing out is because one has consentration on the breath it is one "thing" and not many thing at the same time. A normal untrained person have many thoughts in the head that make it difficult to have a silent mind. Why silent mind? meditation is easy if you knew how to end the thinking of past and future. But most peole do think " What if i did this. and not that" from something happend in the past. and they worry sick about something that "going to happen " in the future. But they do not see what is right here, right now.

Meditation helps a person become center and be in the moment (samadhi). But one can also go deeper in to truth then that. This is the Jhana and the nimitta part.

Jhana in it self means meditation. But not same as mindfulness meditation that is mostly people learn.

The beautiful mind is seen as a mind so silent that past and future no longer "exist" in our mind, only this very moment and nothing else. (you et access to the past when you have enter the first jhana, but only for seeing what you was in the past) But you still see it from your perspective, now it is time to let go of the meditator (the self) we are no longer aware of the self, the breathing the thoughts or the "outside world"

Before jhana the nimitta will arise as a light within. this means when you have calmed/silent mind and you do no longer feel the 5 senses in hearing, seeing, tasting, touching and feeling what is left is a "guiding light" called nimitta. This light is not a physical light but a light from the mind (not imagination)
When nimitta is totally standstill you have come to the first jhana. but before you can "enter" the first jhana there can not be any human attachments left, one will not be able to stay in jhana if one does judge what is there. from now on there is only observation, no thoughts.
I can not describe nimitta in how it look because it will look different from person to person who get this deep in to meditation.

The first jhana

If you get this far, you will know with no doubt that you experience the first jhana. But if you have any fear about it when you get here you will be kicked back out to nimitta. (my words can not eplain this situation good enought, so dont cling to the words)

When you enter the first jhana the "doer is compleatly gone" you do not controll from a point of self anymore. you can only observe, you still "know" you are there , but everything is "frozen"
But even one is "frozen" and can not feel body our outside world there is still nothing to fear.

Words by Ajahn Brahm

"There is just a clear singleness of perception, an
experience of nondual bliss that continues unchanging for a
very long time. This is not a trance but a state of heightened
awareness. I say this so that you may know for yourself
whether what you take to be a jhāna is real or imaginary"

I think i stop here, and i can explain more in a later answer

Asana, Pranayama, Samadhi and Dhyana over the years has been a valuable practice to me. Tantra though is were I really need a teacher to guide me though (like Kundalini).

(of course, I come from a more Hindu perspective than a Buddhist)

To me meditation is 'focused thinking', when the mind is not distracted by other thoughts. To reach that state of calmness, the most popular method is to slow our breathing - though I used singing as my method - slow the tempo progressively till the mind stills. Jhana comes to a still mind.

Amanaki said:

Meditation explained by the Theravada Monk Ajahn Brahm is maybe the best way i found Meditation explained.
And yes out of my own experience in meditation i can say this explenation does seem to be correct,
But so far i have not come to the end part of what is explained here.

Meditation can well be summarized as going into the
center of things. One goes first to the center of time, called
the “now.” Then into the center of the now that is free of all
thought. Then into the center of the body with one’s breath.
Then into the center of the breath, which is the beautiful
breath. Then into the center of the beautiful breath, where
one experiences the nimitta. Then into the center of the
nimitta to enter the first jhāna. Then into the center of the
first jhāna, which is the second jhāna, and so on. This is
yoniso manasikāra, “work of the mind that goes to the
source.” As one goes deeper into the source of body and
mind, one comes to the source of will, the seat of the doer,
the citadel in which potential doing abides. And one sees it
all empty of a self.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Meditation is living in the present moment, or present moment awareness.

It is a state of thoughtless awareness, distinct from contemplation or thinking of any sort.

All thoughts comes from the memories, which extend themselves through associated thoughts and emotions, each triggering the next, usually without our being aware of the process. This can become a compulsive thought process in some.

Awareness is detaching oneself from this compulsive thinking and emoting process and being a witness to them instead. In awareness, functional memory is used while working or practical tasks, but there is no psychological involvement. Hence there is no reaction of emotional likes and dislikes but only a response to needs.

In deep mediation, that is when the mind is still and free from thought, awareness expands and a sense of forms does not arise. The moment the personal 'I' makes an observation, duality returns and the personal mind once again prevails. The more one continues this practice, the deeper the state of transcendent awareness.

The is this Sufi saying....
I contemplated God so persistently,
I finally became God.
Little by little, God drew nearer,
Slowly but slowly I passed away.

(You can substitute Oneness, Nirvana, etc., for God, what counts is the transcending of the dualistic personal mind, for the reality represented by such titles is one and the same, a glory beyond conceptualization.)

Amanaki said:

Meditation explained by the Theravada Monk Ajahn Brahm is maybe the best way i found Meditation explained.
And yes out of my own experience in meditation i can say this explenation does seem to be correct,
But so far i have not come to the end part of what is explained here.

Meditation can well be summarized as going into the
center of things. One goes first to the center of time, called
the “now.” Then into the center of the now that is free of all
thought. Then into the center of the body with one’s breath.
Then into the center of the breath, which is the beautiful
breath. Then into the center of the beautiful breath, where
one experiences the nimitta. Then into the center of the
nimitta to enter the first jhāna. Then into the center of the
first jhāna, which is the second jhāna, and so on. This is
yoniso manasikāra, “work of the mind that goes to the
source.” As one goes deeper into the source of body and
mind, one comes to the source of will, the seat of the doer,
the citadel in which potential doing abides. And one sees it
all empty of a self.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Buddha's original explanation still seems clearest of all.

Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna—namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.

“What are the four?

1) Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

2) He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

3)He abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

4) He abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

And the details of how to do these four follow,

The Satipatthana Sutta | Wisdom Publications

Meditation
Meditation is the highest method of mystical practice.

It is meditation as a method that allows one to cognize Living God and — at the very end — to come to Mergence with Him.

Meditation is the work of consciousness, not the work of mind. In meditation, the mind has to be silent, and there are special techniques which help one to learn stopping the work of the mind for the time needed for meditation. This is called mastering the mental pause.

With the help of meditation, a consciousness can be developed from tiny sizes — to the cosmic ones. The process of such a development of consciousness is called crystallization. It is meditation and crystallization that Jesus talked about when He said “God is Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That is, we must perceive ourselves not as bodies but as spiritual substance — consciousnesses — and as developed consciousnesses to aspire to the Consciousness of God.

One can master the initial stages of spiritual development within raja yoga or within any other analogous system of self-perfection. The further advancement is realized on the stage called by Krishna buddhi yoga — the yoga of consciousness.

In the classic scheme of advancement through the stages of spiritual development outlined by Patanjali, meditation (dhyana) is on the seventh place. It is preceded by learning the ethical principles, the rules of hygiene, making the body healthy with the help of special complexes of physical exercises, cleansing and development of the chakras and bioenergy channels, learning to control the mind and many other things. In the Patanjali’s scheme, meditation leads toSamadhi, where a significant amount of work within buddhi yoga has to be done.

Sathya Sai Baba says about the highest stage of mastering meditation the following: “The correct meditation is merging of all thoughts and senses with God,… when all actions originate from the God’s Consciousness and not from the mind of man”.


Encyclopedia of Spiritual Knowledge
Meditation