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The role of meditation in our life
What is the importance of meditation to individual worshipers and society
What is the importance of meditation to individual worshipers and society
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Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on self-spiritual development. There are million of people worldwide who practice this religion. Buddhist do not believe in one personal god. Buddhist seeks to reach a state if “nirvana” to the Buddhist this means a perfect place of peace and happiness like Heaven. Nirvana is the highest state to attain, this is a state of enlightenment which means a persons desire and suffering will go away.
Meditation is a mental and physical action that people use to separate their thoughts and feelings in order to become fully aware. Buddhism meditation is a form of mental concentration that can lead to spiritual freedom or enlightenment. For the Buddhist meditation is extremely important for the body and mind. There are two types of meditations the Buddhist perform called Vipassana (insight) and Samatha (tranquility).
In Buddhism Vipassana meditation means insight into the true nature of reality. Vipassana
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Mantras are sacred sounds or symbols that are believed to possess supernatural powers. There are many Mantras that are spoken aloud or internally in ones thoughts. Some of these chants are either repeated continuously or just said once. Mantras are well practiced especially in Tibetan Buddhism where they are believed to have the power and attributes of gods. One of the best-known Mantras is Avalokiteshvara: Om mani padme hum. This chant is said for self-liberation and negative karmas.
Moreover, Mantras are also used for protection from evil spirits and misfortune. They are chanted in large public rituals to block negative danger and in private rituals to protect against illness and misfortune. For example, The Medicine Buddha Mantra is recited for success. To succeed in life the chant is recited everyday. The Medicine Buddha is said to eliminate problems of unhappiness and sufferings. Instead they want to gain happiness, inner growth, and
Buddhism is one of the prominent and influential religions and philosophies of the world. A basic tenet of Buddhism is that worldly desires and possessions cause all suffering. To absolve one’s self of necessities beyond basic human survival is one of the many plateaus that Buddhists strive to achieve. Furthermore, Buddhists free themselves from temptation via seclusion from society and attempt to allow nature to support them. They believe that Nirvana, the ascension to heaven, can be achieved by freeing oneself of earthly desires.
In this paper, I will discuss some significant differences of Mainstream Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Meditation is the action or practice of concentration and mindfulness. Now there are four important things to remember when meditating and they are your environment, body position/technique, motivation and support. I think these four things are pretty universal when it comes to meditation. According to Mainstream Buddhism there are two categories in which meditation falls under samatha and vipassana. Samatha translate into calming which is intended to keep you focused on a certain object for a length of time. The second one is vipassana, which means insight, and this is intended for you to gain wisdom and see things as they are. The way
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
Our present way of thinking; our perceptions, desires, feelings, and reactions control how we experience the world. Our minds are the core of our existence, everything we have thought is everything that we are, for everything is mind-made. If we are experiencing suffering, it is because our minds created it, and only our minds have the power of relieving it. Buddhist meditation is the practice of transforming the mind through the cultivation of mindfulness, concentration, detachment, insight, and objectivity. My background in psychology made me interested in discussing the concept of Buddhist mediation due its immense focus on mastering the mind. It has the crucial transformative effect on the mind that leads to new perspectives of oneself,
Meditation is a way to open up all areas of the body and release anything that may be toxic to the spirit. Channeling the spirit through meditation is another familiar practice due to the fact that is believed that the spirit is never dead, only the shell. Through meditation, people believe that they are able to channel their minds so that they might have a more intimate experience with God. People who practice the religion believe that there are more ways to reach God than through Jesus alone. Yes, Jesus is the central avenue but when a soul sees God in all things then they are able to experience the euphoria that comes with being one with
Meditation is a private devotion or mental exercise consisting of a number of techniques of concentration, contemplation, and abstraction to heighten spiritual awareness. It has also been defined as, “Consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness.” Meditation has been practiced around the world since the ancient times. It was used back then and still used today for spiritual growth (becoming more conscious). Meditation is mostly concerned about your attention, where it is directed to, and how it alters or changes a person’s consciousness.
The purpose is to investigate the following; “Meditation in Christianity and Buddhism are different pathways leading to the same destination.” Buddhism is a philosophy than a religion was originated about 2,500 years ago in India and about 376 million followers worldwide. Prince Siddhartha Gotama (Buddha) worshipped for years to enlighten himself and found a “middle way” between his two lives, meaning finding moderation and balancing life’s extremes. Whereas, Christianity has about 2.4 billion followers worldwide and based on his teachings of Jesus, who lived about 2000 years prior. In Christian meditation, metaphysics and transcendentalism are used as philosophies because individuals think during their prayer to reflect on unseen things in a spiritual way, including Holy spirit and are observed to connect with God intellectually and spiritually. Nevertheless, Buddhist meditation is to focus on relaxing the brain by forgetting about the meaningless things.
As one can see, meditation is a sacred act that can have endless benefits. As well as being a physical act, activities such as transcendental meditation can also be fulfilling spiritually and mentally. Through deep concentration and relaxation, meditation becomes an altered state of consciousness. This essay has shown many ways as to why this is so. Through the simple acts of letting one’s mind go, there are endless possibilities that can happen. Without meditation and altered states of consciousness, the world as we know it would be completely different.
Over twenty-five hundred years ago, Buddha Guatama practiced meditation and came to what is known as “The Four Noble Truth,” an important principle in Buddhism (Elder, 2010). This principle informs the reader of what suffering is and how affect is. This is a great example of how valuable meditation is- on the very first session ever recorded, the awareness that came from it would later be the foundation of a new religion. This proves how powerful meditation can be. Furthermore, some form of meditation can be found in various religions. Although the styles, techniques, and ideology behind the meditation can vary per religion, personal transformation is the key goal (Modi, Singh, 2012). Today, in Western society, mindful meditation (a form of meditation) has grown in popularity, used for relaxation and to help treat those who suffer from mental illness’ and mood disorders. Viewed as alternative medicine for the mind and soul, it is beneficial for our emotional and mental
Meditation is essentially an umbrella term. It includes basically any practice that helps concentration and reaching enlightenment. In a sense, it includes techniques for self-regulating the mind and your desires. This means that meditation can include a number of different practices like love, compassion, mindfulness, breathing, emptiness, tantra or patience.
05 May 2014. Barbor, Cary. " The Science of Meditation.
-Buddhists in Tibet say :” Om mani padme hum .” This is a six-syllable holy mantra uttered in Tibet by the buddhists .During the prayer service a prayer wheel is rotated by the buddhists .Om means that god is hidden inside the ego . The word ma is uttered for getting protection from lust or asuras and the word ni is used to indicate a control over human passions . The word pad is uttered for the removal of ignorance and the word me is spoken for getting protection from hungry ghosts . The word hum is uttered with a belief that wisdom will save the worshippers from hell . Aum or Om is a spiritual symbol of Lord Buddha ( Ultimate Reality ) . Buddhists claim that our sins can not be forgiven by God . Oaths are also taken for abstaining from new sins .
Buddhists believe the meaning of life is to end suffering and find happiness within themselves and not from others or objects. They also believe that attaching ourselves to objects will cause temporary happiness, but when the object is lost at sometime, it will lead to unhappiness and suffering. Buddhists believe that we need to get to know that many things can lead to joy in life, but most things are temporary. They think that we should let go from attachment, and find enlightenment and joy in ourselves. Buddhism was founded by an Indian Prince called Siddarta Guatama, who lived sometime around 500BCE.
Hence, what is mindfulness meditation? Mindfulness refers to the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present with no judgment. Whereby, meditation is a spiritual and introspective practice involving components of both analysis and concentration as a part of a process of becoming aware of the present surroundings and the mind (Gordon et al., 2013). Meditation can also be defined as the practice of revolving your attention to a single phenomenon, which include focusing on the breathing,
Buddhism is the philosophy of being awake and conscious in life. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, shared his wisdom with the world and believed that the path to enlightenment was a process of elimination. These eliminations can be conquered through a process called Zen. He believe it was the only way to get rid of the burdens human’s carry of, ignorance, desire and suffering. Buddhism is almost the complete opposite of our western world because our society requires us to act a certain way in order to thrive or even survive.