What is Meditation?

Meditation has been defined as an effort that puts the mind into a wholesome state. This definition was mentioned several times by ven. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche (translated from his yellow book series "konzentrative und analytische meditation"). He is an extraordinary master of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and famous for his clear and easy-to-follow teachings on the training of mind. Let's have a look at the definition for the sake of clarity.

For a clear understanding we could translate the definition as follows: Meditation is ideally an effort that makes yourself and others happy - yes, it's that simple! If you break this definition down even further, you are left with three parts:

 

Well, if you take a closer look at our nature, it seems to be quite obvious that positivity, such as patience doesn't come as a natural response to negativity, such as stress. In most cases we have to deal with further uncontrolled negativity instead. This response is arisen effortlessly - we don't have to "create" it artificially, instead it's just there whether it really helps us or not. We don't have to think: I need to get angry. We just get angry instead. The opposite is true for patience, concentartion, awareness, kindness and so forth. Very often we even lack a clear idea of positivity. Living beings tend to lean towards destructive emotions without effort while constructive emotions and peaceful responses are rare to find (How many satisfied, and how many stressed, frustrated and depressed people do you know?). The proof for such a theory lies in our personal experience and right in front of our eyes.

 

The mind is the phenomenon connected to our body which is formless and knowing. The essence of mind is without physical matter, however closely linked to physical functions. It might for example cause a bodily response such as salivating while thinking of food and vice versa. When we see food, we might create desire to eat it and so forth. Its nature is formless and its function is to know. So it is a functioning thing arisen from causes, producing results. It's exactly this phenomenon, that could be put in either a positive, a neutral or a negative state. By positive I mean a state, that is able to create happiness for ourselves and others. By negative I mean a state that is causing harm and suffering for ourselves and others and by neutral I refer to a state that is causing only neutral results which are neither harmful nor a cause of liberation from suffering.

 

During meditation we practice techniques that put our mind into a positive state. Therefore the result is necessarily happiness.

 

The motivation of someone who meditates is playing a big role in the results his or her meditation-practice is showing. If your meditation practice makes you happier - great! What if you also could make others around you happier? What if you would sit down precisely because this very wish moves you? "May everyone be happy! May nobody experience suffering anymore!" If this touches you, you are moved by the two most powerful human states of mind. I am talking about love and compassion. How can I actually make others happy? Simple - you need to be happy first! How can I free others from suffering? It's similar - free yourself from it first or at least be on a valid path to liberation from it! How do I free myself and others from suffering and create abundance and happiness all around me? By practicing meditation! What is meditation? Take another look at the definition and you see that there can only be 2 correct motivations for your practice. The first is Love, the second is Compassion and both go hand in hand.

 

Really there are countless techniques around the world. There is an abundance of culture, preferences and education. Therefore there is an abundance of practice. You should choose from techniques that will help you to achieve your goals. Study well and you will easily find a correct path of meditation that liberates you from suffering and empowers you to become a medicine for others. Generally speaking there are two divisions we could give. There is analytical meditation and there is concentrative meditation. All meditation techniques on the world could fit in either category.