Some emphasize a still, formal posture, while others are less strict and more focused on internal movements of consciousness. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we are quite naturally present to this moment-where else could we be? Meditation is simply a way of knowing this.ĭifferent Buddhist schools recommend a variety of meditative postures. In Tibetan this is called shicha, a transcendent yet immanent dimension of timeless being that vertically intersects each moment of horizontal linear time-past, present, and future. In the Dzogchen tradition we refer to a “fourth time,” the transcendent moment of nowness. Meditation masters teach us how to be precisely present and focused on this one breath, the only breath this moment, the only moment. From one point of view, it is the means to awakening from another, it is awakening itself. Meditation embodies the way of awakening: both the path and its fruition. It lifts the fog of our ordinary lives to reveal what is hidden it loosens the knot of self-centeredness and opens the heart it moves us beyond mere concepts to allow for a direct experience of reality. It is the happy marriage of doing and being. Meditation, simply defined, is a way of being aware. There are also techniques that shift back and forth between the field and the object. Some focus on the field of perception itself, and we call those methods mindfulness others focus on a specific object, and we call those concentrative practices. Different techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. Here is where all contemplative practices have a common root, a vital heart that can be developed in an almost infinite variety of skillful directions, depending on purpose and perspective. The philosopher Simone Weil characterized prayer as pure undivided attention. In time, I came to discover that it included a great deal more than any one meditation technique and also that the many forms of Buddhist meditation shared fundamental elements. Suddenly I realized that I might have to broaden the scope of my understanding of Buddhist practice. “What will you concentrate on when you stop breathing?” he asked. He asked what kind of meditation I was doing, and I told him mindfulness of breathing. Milarepa, The One Hundred Thousand Songsĭuring my initial private meeting with the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, my first root guru, I asked him about the main points of meditation. Is the certain way to waste one’s learning. Clinging to one’s school and condemning others
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |