Method

Meditation

Overview

Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique or combination of techniques to train attention and awareness and detach from "discursive, ruminating thought", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not intending to analyze the effects, to judge its outcomes, or to create any expectation with regard to the process.

Meditation techniques are broadly classified into focused (or concentrative) and open monitoring methods. Focused methods involve attention to specific objects like breath or mantras, while open monitoring includes mindfulness and awareness of subjective experiences in the present moment, and can also involve the active cultivation of wisdom.

Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions, though it is also practiced independently from any religious or spiritual influences for its health benefits. The earliest records of meditation (dhyana) are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Meditation-like techniques are also known in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in the context of remembrance of and prayer and devotion to God.

Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business and health. Several meta-analyses of clinical studies of mindfulness have demonstrated its mental and physical health benefits. Initially criticized for methodological weaknesses, meditation research now commonly employs randomized controlled trials, active control groups, and stronger methodological standards.

Research is ongoing to better understand the effects of meditation on health (psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular) and other areas.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

In the original texts

Passages from public-domain books where Meditation is discussed.

_Against the First Meditation: Of things Doubtful._ ’Tis evident enough from What has been said in this Meditation, that there is no _sign_ by Which we may Distinguish our _Dreams_ from _True Sense_ and _Waking_, and therefore that those _Phantasmes_ which we have waking and from our Senses are not accidents inhering in Outward Objects, neither do they Prove that such outward Objects do Exist; and therefore if we…
René Descartes, Six metaphysical meditations
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Some, however, argue that contemplation or meditation is not the cause of devotion, thus: 1. No cause hinders its own effect. But subtle intellectual meditations often hinder devotion. But it is the consideration of those things which naturally tend to excite love of God which begets devotion; consideration of things which do not come under this head, but rather distract the mind from it, are a…
Aquinas Thomas, On prayer and the contemplative life
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To the questions of his driver whether he should proceed, he made no answer; and when he came to himself at nightfall, he was surprised to find the carriage at a standstill, and directly under a gallows. The mathematician Vieta was sometimes so buried in meditation that for hours he bore more resemblance to a dead person than to a living, and was then wholly unconscious of everything going on around him. On the day…
William James, The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1
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For most thinkers, doubtless, it would be a very unwise one; but we will not affirm that it may not sometimes be advantageous to a mind of the peculiar quality of M. Comte's--one that can usefully devote itself to following out to the remotest developments a particular line of meditations, of so arduous a kind that the complete concentration of the intellect upon its own thoughts is almost a necessary condition of…
John Stuart Mill, Auguste Comte and Positivism
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This scrutiny and analysis represent the _meditation of the genius of the species_ on the individual which may be born and the combination of its qualities; and the greatness of their delight in and longing for each other is determined by this meditation. This longing, although it may have become intense, may possibly disappear again if something previously unobserved comes to light.
Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays of Schopenhauer
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Meditation

Overview

In the original texts

Philosophers who discussed Meditation

Related ideas

Place in the tradition