Amy Leigh Mercree - A Little Bit of Meditation: An Introduction to Mindfulness

Meditation and mindfulness have become trendy buzzwords in pop culture over the last decade. Meditation practices are no longer relegated to trained practitioners who live in monasteries or ashrams, or adherents to exotic religions and mystical groups. These days, meditation has become a practice that is accessible to almost everyone. It is no longer simply a spiritual tool, either; it has been quickly garnering the backing of neuroscience and other medical specialties because of the health benefits it supplies.

What has sparked the upsurge of interest in meditation? It is thought to have existed for many thousands of years, so why the sudden popularity among diverse groups of people? One answer is the simple fact that the scientific community is giving it credence as a reliable method of stress relief and tool to deal with things such as trauma. Some people believe that the rapidly growing popularity is also due to evolution of consciousness among humanity. Finally, in a world that is increasingly chaotic and moving at a frantic pace, people are seeking out ways to implement calmness and balance in their lives.

The earliest known teachings on meditation came from ancient Hindu religious forms, circa 1500 BCE, from the Vedic texts. This practice of dhyana translates roughly from Sanskrit as contemplation or reflection, and refers to nonjudgmental awareness and sustained attention. This concept was further developed centuries later in Buddhism, Jainism, and formal Hinduism, albeit with slightly different understandings of what it meant.

The internal urge to live a mindful life is not new. In fact, the idea of being present 100 percent of the time has been desirable to some people for thousands of years. Ancient peoples recognized that focusing on one thing at a time could increase productivity and also result in a more pleasurable life.

They worked to cultivate systems and protocols that increase the mind's ability to focus. Aspects of meditation were geared in this direction. In antiquity, this work combined with religious devotion to produce calm, focus, and connection to something larger than one's self.

Meditation can be a doorway to mindfulness. It's interesting how the world's different religions and cultures look to processes of quieting and stilling the mind, and thereby do everything from foster a religious connection to find peace amid stress. These endeavors signify evolution, humanity, and a revolution in understanding consciousness.

Some form of meditation exists in almost every major faith tradition. These largely arose out of the spread of ideas throughout antiquity and increased with broadening travel and trade during the Middle Ages. As groups of people began expanding outward more from their cultural centers, they took their spiritual practices with them. Many scholars believe that meditation practices first appeared in early Vedic teachings, and then developed further in other Asian traditions such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

Meditation forms were present in more than just the major religions of the world. Native American and other indigenous groups had numerous contemplative, meditative, and devotional practices.

Meditation in Hinduism developed out of early Vedic texts, and later, the Upanishads. The earliest forms of meditation were focused on trying to understand ultimate reality. Is the universe a projection of humanity, or is humanity a projection of the universe? Is the universe an illusion, or is our individual existence an illusion?

Scholars of early Hinduism are aware of four types of meditation based on the ancient texts. Rishis were ancient seers or sages who took what they learned from meditation and composed hymns about their conclusions. They wrote of mantra meditation, visual meditation, meditation on learned insights in the heart and mind, and, finally, an ecstatic state that occurs when merging with the universal reality of Brahman (divinity). Early Hinduism also had ascetic adherents who incorporated various other practices such as breath control and the ability to levitate. Similar descriptions of ascetic shaman-seers have been included in modern-day writings like Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Hindu meditation developed over the centuries as a multifaceted approach to self-realization called Yoga Vedanta. The yogic path includes components such as service, knowledge, and devotion, and is variable according to each individual's needs. Because Hinduism dates back thousands of years, many schools of thought have risen from it with nuanced differences in belief and practice.

Buddhism developed in India out of early Hinduism. Unlike the yogic eight-limb patheight guidelines to living a meaningful and purposeful life as outlined by the sage PatanjaliBuddhism emphasizes three trainings. Many Americans are most familiar with just the meditation training. However, the other two trainings, wisdom and ethics, are considered to be interconnected with the practice of meditation. Following the death of the Buddha, several doctrinal canons emerged with his supposed teachings. There remains scholarly debate on the authenticity of various portions of these canons, which helped give rise to the different schools of Buddhism.