History of meditation

The practice of meditation is of prehistoric origin, and is found throughout history, especially in religious contexts.[1]

Contents

Prehistory

Prehistoric religion involved repetitive, rhythmic chants.[2]

Antiquity

Some of the earliest written records of meditation (Dhyana), come from the Hindu traditions of Vedantism around 1500 BCE.[1] The Vedas discuss the meditative traditions of ancient India.[1] Around the 6th to 5th centuries BCE, other forms of meditation developed in Taoist China and Buddhist India. Dhyana in early Buddhism also takes influence on Vedanta by ca. the 4th century BCE.[1]

The exact origins of Buddhist meditation are subject to debate among scholars.[3] Early written records of the multiple levels and states of meditation in Buddhism in India are found in the sutras of the Pāli Canon, which dates to 1st century BCE. The Pali Canon records the basic fourfold formula of salvation via the observance of the rules of morality, contemplative concentration, knowledge and liberation, thus placing meditation as a step along the path of salvation.[4] By the time Buddhism was spreading in China, the Vimalakirti Sutra which dates to 100CE included a number of passages on meditation and englightened wisdom, clearly pointing to Zen.[5]

In the west, by 20 BCE Philo of Alexandria had written on some form of "spiritual exercises" involving attention (prosoche) and concentration[6] and by the 3rd century Plotinus had developed meditative techniques, which however did not attract a following among Christian meditators. Saint Augustine experimented with the methods of Plotinus and failed to achieve ecstasy.[7]

The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism introduced meditation to other oriental countries.Bodhidharma is traditionally considered the transmitter of the concept of Zen to China. However, the first "original school" in East Asia was founded by his contemporary Zhiyi in the 6th century in central China. Zhiyi managed to systematically organize the various teachings that had been imported from India in a way that their relationship with each other made sense.[8] Wonhyo and Uisang promoted Korean Buddhism in the 7th century.

There is evidence that Judaism has inherited meditative practices from its predecessor traditions in Israelite antiquity. For instance, in the Torah, the patriarch Isaac is described as going "lasuach" in the field - a term understood by all commentators as some type of meditative practice (Genesis 24:63). There are indications throughout the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible) that Judaism always contained a central meditative tradition.[9]

Middle Ages

With the growth of Japanese Buddhism from the 8th century onwards, meditative practices were brought to and further developed in Japan. The Japanese monk Dosho learned of Zen during his visit to China in 653 and upon his return opened the first meditation hall in Japan, at Nara.[10] Meditative practices continued to arrive in Japan from China, and were subjected to modification. When Dōgen returned to Japan from China around 1227, he wrote the instructions for Zazen, or sitting meditation, and conceived of a community of monks primarily focused on Zazen.[11][12]

Early practices of Jewish meditation grew and changed by the Middle Ages and Hasidic variations were developed later. Jewish meditation is a deeply religious activity that involves Kabbalistic practices involving prayer, mizvot and study.[13]

The Islamic practice of Dhikr (which means recollect or remember) had involved the repetition of the 99 Names of God in the Qur'an since the 8th or 9th century, and is based on statements in the Qur'an such as "Recollect God often" (Sura 33:40, 41).[14][15] It can include specific breathing techniques and physical postures, as well as prayer beads. The Dhikr became one of the essential elements of Sufism as it was systematized in the 11th and 12th centuries. It is juxtaposed with fikr (thinking) which leads to knowledge.[16] By the 12th century, the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques, and its followers practiced breathing controls and the repetition of holy words.[17]

Eastern Christian meditation can involve the repetition of a phrase in a specific physical posture, and can be traced back to the Byzantine period. Between the 10th and 14th centuries, hesychasm was developed, particularly on Mount Athos in Greece, and continues to the present. It involves the repetition of the Jesus prayer.[18] It is possible that there were interactions between Hesychasts and the Indians or the Sufis, but this can not be proved.[19][20]

Western Christian meditation contrasts with most other approaches in that it does not involve the repetition of any phrase or action and requires no specific posture. Western Christian meditation progressed from the 6th century practice of Bible reading among Benedictine monks called Lectio Divina, i.e. divine reading. Its four formal steps as a "ladder" were defined by the monk Guigo II in the 12th century with the Latin terms lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio (i.e. read, ponder, pray, contemplate). Western Christian meditation was further developed by saints such as Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila in the 16th century.[21][22][23][24]

Modern history

By the 18th century, the study of Buddhism in the West was a topic for intellectuals. The philosopher Schopenhauer discussed it,[25] and Voltaire asked for toleration towards Buddhists.[26] The first English translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead was published in 1927.[27]

New schools of yoga developed in Hindu revivalism from the 1890s. Some of these schools were introduced to the west, by Vivekananda and later gurus. Other schools were designed as secularized variants of yoga traditions for use by non-Hindus, e.g. the system of Transcendental Meditation popular in the 1960s, and numerous forms of Hatha Yoga derived from the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga school, which became known simply as "Yoga" in western terminology.

Rather than focusing on spiritual growth, secular meditation emphasizes stress reduction, relaxation and self improvement.[28][29] Both spiritual and secular forms of meditation have been subjects of scientific analyses. However, after 60 years of scientific study, the exact mechanism at work in meditation remains unclear.[30]

See also

References

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  2. ^ Joseph, M. 1998, The effect of strong religious beliefs on coping with stress Stress Medicine. Vol 14(4), Oct 1998, 219-224.
  3. ^ The origin of Buddhist meditation by Alexander Wynne 2007 ISBN 0415423872 page 4
  4. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: India and China by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0941532895 pages 15
  5. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: India and China by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0941532895 pages 50
  6. ^ Hadot, Pierre; Arnold I. Davidson (1995) Philosophy as a way of life ISBN 0631180338 pages 83-84
  7. ^ Hans Urs von Balthasar, Christian meditation Ignatius Press ISBN 0898702356 page 8
  8. ^ The Sutra of perfect enlightenment: Korean Buddhism's guide to meditation by A. Charles Muller, 1999 ISBN 0791441016 page 5
  9. ^ Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). Jewish Meditation. New York: Schocken Books. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0-8052-1037-7. 
  10. ^ Zen Buddhism : a History: Japan by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter 2005 ISBN 0941532909 page 5
  11. ^ Soto Zen in Medieval Japan by William Bodiford 2008 ISBN 0824833031 page 39
  12. ^ The Cambridge History of Japan: Medieval Japan by Kōzō Yamamura, John Whitney Hall 1990 ISBN 0521223547 646
  13. ^ Alan Brill, Dwelling with Kabbalah: Meditation, Ritual, and Study in Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law by Adam Mintz, Lawrence H. Schiffman 2005 ISBN 0881258652 page 146
  14. ^ Prayer: a history by Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski 2005 ISBN 0618152881 page 147-149
  15. ^ Global Encyclopaedia of Education by Rama Sankar Yadav & B.N. Mandal 2007 ISBN 9788182202276 page 63
  16. ^ Sainthood and revelatory discourse by David Emmanuel Singh 2003 ISBN 8172147287 page 154
  17. ^ Spiritual Psychology by Akbar Husain 2006 ISBN 8182200954 page 109
  18. ^ "Mount Athos: History". Macedonian Heritage. http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/General/AthosHistory.html. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
  19. ^ An introduction to the Christian Orthodox churches by John Binns 2002 ISBN 0521667380 page 128
  20. ^ "Hesychasm". OrthodoxWiki. http://orthodoxwiki.org/Hesychasm. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
  21. ^ Christian Spirituality: A Historical Sketch by George Lane 2005 ISBN 0829420819 page 20
  22. ^ Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 ISBN 0809136600 page 38
  23. ^ The Oblate Life by Gervase Holdaway, 2008 ISBN 0814631762 page 109
  24. ^ After Augustine: the meditative reader and the text by Brian Stock 2001 ISBN 0812236025 page 105
  25. ^ Abelson, Peter (April 1993) Schopenhauer and Buddhism. Philosophy East and West Volume 43, Number 2, pp. 255-278. University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved on: 12 April 2008.
  26. ^ Enlightenment and reform in 18th-century Europe by Derek Edward Dawson Beales 2005 ISBN 1860649491 page 13
  27. ^ Shakya, Tsering "Review of Prisoners of Shangri-la by Donald Lopez". online
  28. ^ A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response by George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 ISBN 0306466201 page 200
  29. ^ Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion by David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden, Stanton Marlan 2009 ISBN page 559
  30. ^ A clinical guide to the treatment of human stress response by George S. Everly, Jeffrey M. Lating 2002 ISBN 0306466201 pages 201-202