Meditation

Meditation translates several Sanskrit and Tibetan terms, including bhavana (Skt.; Tib. gom; Wyl. sgom), samadhi (Skt.; Tib. ting nge dzin; Wyl. ting nge 'dzin) and dhyana (Skt.; Tib. samten; Wyl. bsam gtan). It is one of the three higher trainings.

Types of Meditation

• His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that, broadly speaking, there are two approaches in meditation:
  

1. Meditations on loving kindness, compassion, bodhichitta and so on. In these the practitioner is trying to cultivate or generate a state of mind, or transform the mind into these qualities. The meditation and the object of meditation are the same.

2. Meditations on impermanence, selflessness and emptiness. The meditating mind already has the nature of impermanence, selflessness and so on, so meditation here entails focussing the mind on these truths and taking them as the object, and then cultivating familiarity with them.

• Buddhist meditation is often divided into the practices of

1. shamatha or 'calm abiding' and
2. vipashyana or 'clear seeing.'

• There is also the division into

1. analytical meditation (Tib. chegom; Wyl. dpyad sgom) and
2. settling meditation (Tib. jokgom; Wyl. 'jog sgom).

External Links

• Meditation Series on Lotsawa House
• 'What meditation really is' - an introduction to meditation with illustrated instructions and video teachings.