 What is meditation?
It can be difficult to solidly define meditation. The dictionary definition of meditation is “continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation”. However, experts in the field expand this definition to suit their ideas of meditation. It is fairly widely written that meditation is a discipline of the mind in which an individual attempts to sink into a deep state of awareness and relaxation.
While it is easy to find dictionaries that define meditation, you must bear in mind that there are various forms of the art, and the definition usually found in books refers to the Western meaning of the word. However, the art of meditation is thought to have originated in the East, around the time of Gautama Buddha in 450BC. Defining meditation as it was known to people in this time is much more difficult, and the definitions that have been found tend to refer to meditation as a focus on the “cosmic whole”, or everything that exists, without the need to think, judge what you see, or become unfocused.
When we try to define meditation, it is useful to look at where the word originated. It comes from two Latin words, “meditari”, which means “to think”, or “to dwell upon”, and “mederi”, which translates as “to heal”. From this, we can see why some people simply define meditation as “healing with the mind”.
We can also see that all of these definitions of meditation relate to the conscious mind, and many people describe meditation as a different state of consciousness. The idea is that you will get beyond your normal thinking mind, and into this different, deeper state of being. While this is the basic, standard way of defining meditation, it is important to remember that different cultures and different religions have very different ideas and concepts.
In Buddhism, the religion thought to have created the discipline, we can define meditation as a method of “transforming the mind”, and then using the transformed consciousness to delve into itself, and look at the world in a different way. In Christianity, meditation is focused more on prayer, and in the Hindu religion, while meditation is defined, in a similar way to Buddhism, the process focuses more on yoga, which is designed to help control the mind and heighten the senses.
Islam views meditation in a similar way to Christianity, and focuses on prayer, with all Muslims having to pray five times every day. Muslims define meditation as a “feeling of spiritual peace”, and they believe that the process will “guide to soul to truth”.
Now that we have explored the differences in how religions define meditation, it is clear to see that there is no single correct definition. If you chose a random group of people who all practice the discipline, you would no doubt be given a wide range of answers if you asked “what do you think meditation actually is?” In fact, we have only looked at a small handful of different religious beliefs, and many other religions also practice meditation in their own ways. The best way to define meditation, then, is to simply practice it yourself and then use your own words to describe your feelings.
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