A.Introduction
Meditation is a fundamental practice in Buddhism. In ancient history the Buddha had sat in meditation for forty nine days under the Bodhi tree before he attained Enlightenment, and Buddhahood. We are monks and nuns, and Buddhist laypeople who learn Buddhist teachings. We must follow the path the Buddha had taken, and not any other path. Even if the non-Buddhist path is said to be sacred and mystical, we must never take it. We must distinguish the meditation method which was not taught by the Buddha from the method which He actually taught, so as to have a correct view, and to practice and obtain good results based on the Buddhist teachings we have been following respectfully.
B. Main Part
1. Non-Buddhist Meditation Methods (not in the Buddha's teachings)
1a. Chakra meditation: This method teaches the practitioner to control his/her flow of energy from the navel backward to the spine, up to the head, then down to the navel again, in a circle.
1b- Meditation method to “drive the soul out of the body”: The practitioner is guided to open the vital points on his/her body in order to drive the soul out of the body, and to fly to meet some invisible and unkown master to learn. After that the practitioner will practice on his/her own. This method has two harmful effects. First, it teaches how to open the vital points, which, if done wrongly, may cause insanity. Second, the unknown master may be evil, dangerous and dishonest.
1c.Abdomen meditation: The practitioner breathes in, holds the breath at the belly button for a long time, then breathes out. Gradually, his/her lower abdomen gets bigger, like a pregnant woman. That is why this method is also called pregnant-like breathing meditation method.
1d.Chi (Energy) control and transformation meditation: The practitioner is taught to transform his productive and vital energy into some form of miraculous power .
This method originates in mystical Taoism, and emphasizes supernatural power.
1e.Yoga: There are many methods which all aim at good health, not liberation from birth and death.
These five meditation methods are not Buddhist meditation.
2.Buddhist Meditation
The purpose of sitting meditation in Buddhism is to develop wisdom, to stop illusions (attachment to the self, and attachment to merit attainment), and to liberate oneself from suffering and Samsara. There are three types of Buddhist meditation: Theravada (Original) meditation, Mahayana (Developed Buddhist) meditation, and Thiền (Zen) schools.
2a.Theravada meditation: popular in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. There are many methods in Theravada meditation. Following are the most popular ones:
Four Realms of Mindfulness: The body is impure, like a bag of skin inside which there are stinky blood, flesh, fat, and body wastes. The Buddha taught us to observe the body as it actually is, so that we can put an end to our attachment to the body and the self, which is the source of birth, death, and samsara.
Our sensations and feelings are unstable, hence they are impermanent (sufferings in Buddhist view). Happy feelings, unhappy feelings, and neither-happy-nor-unhappy feelings are impermanent, and subject to change, too.
Humans usually get attached to their own bodies, and to their own feelings, thinking they are real, and valuable. Our eyes demand beauty, our ears like sweet sounds, our nose, fragrance. Our desires never end, they keep growing, and we never stop asking for more. Because we do not see the truth, we get drowned in our desires for impermanent likes and dislikes, and as a result, we suffer. The Buddha taught us how to see the truth that our sensation and feeling are impermanent, filled with sufferings, so we no longer chase after desires and temptation from the outside world. Only then can we get liberation from sufferings.
Our conscious minds are impermanent: good thoughts and bad thoughts keep arising in our minds continuously, and they are always unstable, and impermanent. Because we usually think our thoughts are stable, or remain valid all the times, if anyone thinks or acts differently, we feel upset and angry. Because of such thinking, there are arguments, fights, killing, and wars, causing a lot of sufferings. Therefore, the Buddha taught us to observe our minds, so as to realize them as unstable, and impermanent. Then we won’t get attached to them, but will be able to get free from the illusory thought that we are always right, while others are wrong.
The world of phenomena is void. There are two ways to observe the world of phenomena. Sorrow, love, anger, hatred --all these have no substance, unstable, now happy, now sad, now loving, now hating. Hence they make us miserable. The Buddha taught us to observe these as unstable, unreal, so we won’t be trapped in the attachment to our "self."
All objects around us, such as tables, chairs, houses, which many others consider real, but which, to those who have wisdom, are unreal, are subject to decay or destruction. For example, the body, which is made up of the four elements (earth, water, wind, and fire), will soon perish.
The Buddha taught us to observe all phenomena as they really are, so we no longer get attached to the self, and realize that it is wrong to consider the body,the mind, and the phenomena as real. Once we see things as unreal, we no longer have illusions, and attachment, nor run after illusory people and objects in the world.
Vipassana meditation: The practitioner uses his/her wisdom and observes every movement of the body, or every thought arising. For example, when breathing in, the practitioner knows that s/he is breathing in, and the chest or the abdomen is gradually rising. When breathing out, s/he knows that s/he is breathing out and the abdomen is deflating. Any thought arises, s/he knows that it arises. Such meditation method is called Insight meditation or Vipassana.
Those who practice meditation in the Theravada tradition, follow either the Four Realms of Mindfulness, or the Vipassana, or the Five Ways to Calm the Mind (Ngũ đình tâm). These are the common methods used by Theravada meditation practitioners.
(To be continued)
Source:
Most Venerable Thích Thanh Từ
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phap-mon/thien-dinh/to-su/3355-Gioi-thieu-duong-loi-tu-thien-cua-Phat-giao.html
