What Is Meditation?
Asian Traditions of Meditation October 31, 2016 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.21313/hawaii/9780824855680.003.0001
Summary
Meditation is defined as an attention-based technique for inner transformation, providing a framework for cross-cultural studies. It highlights the differences between meditation and similar practices that do not modify the meditator's attention. The essay also explores the distinctions between meditation and other activities like prayer, mysticism, and relaxation techniques.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Meditation is differentiated from related practices by its focus on transforming the mode of attention rather than merely producing temporary states. |
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Abstract
This essay defines meditation as an “attention-based technique for inner transformation”. This generic definition establishes a common point of reference for the cross-cultural study of meditation, and it serves as a basis for discussing cross-cultural issues relating to the foci and modes of meditative attention, the attitudes toward the technical nature of meditation, and the relation between short-term changes of “state” and long-term changes of “trait” in the inner transformation that meditation brings about. Meditation is distinguished from related phenomena that sometimes go by the same name, but are non-technical, state- rather than trait-oriented, or mechanical in a way that fails to modify the mode of attention of the meditator, as in the automated and ritualistic repetition of mantras. The essay also discusses the fuzzy borderlines between meditation and a number of other practices, including prayer, mysticism, ritual, shamanism, medicine, martial arts and modern-day relaxation techniques and psychotherapy.