The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 4, 2019
Michal Pagis
8 citations
Sociologists study meditation as a social phenomenon, using it to explore larger questions about social life and organization. Meditation serves as a new institution balancing the secular and mystical, and being together versus being alone. It embraces individualization and secularization while being based on collective circles where affective effervescence is produced and people seek mystical, transformative, or therapeutic experiences. The chapter covers three themes: meditation as a religious and spiritual phenomenon embedded in contemporary themes of individualization, secularization, and religious syncretism; its popularization as a social movement in a globalized world; and the micro-social world of meditation practice, focusing on social relations and the social self.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 8, 2020
Juhn Y. Ahn
7 citations
In Buddhist traditions, the path to liberation was thought to require perfect concentration or supernatural insight, or both. Concerns about failing to achieve concentration or having insight go wrong were common; Buddhists called these undesirable conditions meditation sicknesses. This chapter surveys canonical Buddhist discussions of these two meditation sicknesses, starting with hindrances to concentration and then covering concerns about insight, which appear mainly in Mahayana, Chan, and Zen sources.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
March 14, 2019
Ayesha Nathoo
7 citations
Relaxation therapies developed in the early twentieth century, such as neuromuscular relaxation, visualization, and Autogenic Training, paved the way for secularized meditation practices that emerged later. From the 1960s, modern yoga and Transcendental Meditation gained popularity, followed by mindfulness-based approaches in the late twentieth century. These practices have been both distinguished from and combined with one another as they were marketed to health-seeking Western audiences. The chapter offers a historical perspective that helps explain why meditative techniques have been adapted for therapeutic use and what the limits of such adaptation are.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
January 13, 2021
Nobuyoshi Yamabe
5 citations
Buddhist meditation developed from early practices focused on mindfulness of the body, including mindful breathing and contemplation of a corpse's decomposition. Mindfulness of breathing, transmitted to East Asia, remains central in Japanese Sōtō practice. A more reflective and visual approach involved observing a dead body in stages of decomposition, as found in early scriptures; later texts taught a method of grasping images of a corpse, including enigmatic ones. Another development was Buddha visualization, appearing in undeveloped form in early Mahayana sutras and fully developed by the fifth century using statues as aids. This visualization was inherited by Esoteric Buddhism and continues today.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
March 10, 2021
Martin Laird
3 citations
Christianity has a two-millennia-old tradition of contemplative meditation. The central insight is that, through grace, all are united in the mystery of God in Christ, but most people live in ignorance of this. Contemplation aims to heal that ignorance and the inner noise it generates by training the mind to abide in silence, which fosters a loving mind that sees through the illusion of separation from God. The chapter examines teachings from five key authors or traditions spanning the fourth to fourteenth centuries to learn how to bring the mind home to itself, a self hidden in the mystery of God.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
February 10, 2021
Scott Kugle
3 citations
In the Islamic tradition, meditative practices expand on elements of ritual prayer, especially among Sufi Muslims, who use them to introspect, uncover the ego's delusion, and purify the heart. No single term means "meditation." Practices include dhikr (remembrance through repeating Qur'anic phrases or God's names), muraqaba (wordless contemplation of God's presence), and samaʿ (ecstatic listening with music or motion). Supplication, benediction, and litany recitation also have meditative qualities. All aim at waging the "greater jihad" against selfishness and egoistic delusion.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
December 15, 2020
Candy Gunther Brown
3 citations
School-based meditation programs for children aged 4–17, including Transcendental Meditation, ashtanga yoga, and mindfulness-based stress reduction, gained popularity between the 1960s and 2010s in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and India. Promoters distanced these practices from their religious roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, framing them as scientifically validated techniques to boost academic performance, physical and mental health, and moral character. The chapter evaluates meditation research and associated religious controversies, recommending an opt-in informed consent model to ensure transparency and voluntarism.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
November 10, 2020
Ann Gleig
3 citations
Meditation can serve either to stabilize existing social structures or to challenge them, depending on how it is adopted. The assimilative approach assumes that individual practice naturally leads to social change and has been integrated into schools, hospitals, and politics. The radical approach prioritizes structural change and collective liberation, using meditation as self-care and protest in activist communities. Both currents stem from the modernization of Buddhism during colonialism, which detached meditation from its traditional religious context and re-embedded it in settings focused on social transformation and justice.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
February 10, 2021
Carlos Henrique Do Carmo Silva
2 citations
Meditation in Western Christian and Hindu Yoga Sūtras traditions shares unexpected convergences, such as exercises in focused concentration and a hierarchy of consciousness states where the sense of self transforms progressively. Yet essential differences remain. The chapter critically appraises today's popular understanding of meditation, which emphasizes healing and psychobiology. Meditation is not a science but an art of mind transformation: desiring and thinking minds become the ferment meditation works on, no longer in control. Using St. Teresa of Ávila's metaphor, the process is like a windmill grinding independently of the will. Thus meditatio and dhyāna are rich traditions of creative spirituality, radically different from domesticated versions used for well-being.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 4, 2019
Cyril Hovorun
2 citations
Eastern Orthodox Christianity offers several meditation practices, including contemplation of sins, the Jesus prayer, hesychasm, and contemplation of Divine Light. The contemplation of God's uncreated Light is especially significant because it relates to theosis, the human capacity to seek and achieve divinization. This concept is not only an individual spiritual goal but also a central theological idea in Eastern Christianity. The chapter concludes by examining current interest in these meditation practices within the tradition.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
November 10, 2020
Caifang Zhu
1 citation
Chan (Zen) Buddhism, the Chinese adaptation of Indian dhyāna, developed through three major periods: the Pure Chan Period from Bodhidharma to the sixth patriarch Huì Néng; the Chanji Era, in which five schools emerged from Huì Néng's teachings—exemplified by Huà tóu Chan (Lín jì school) and silent illumination (Cáo dòng school); and contemporary Shēng-huó Chan. Huì Néng revolutionized seated meditation by defining sitting as having no thoughts arise when facing any circumstance and meditation as seeing the innate unmoved nature of mind. This reoriented Chan toward pragmatic religious practice in daily life, lay or monastic. The inner logic of Chan encounters is the mind's free flow at the opportune moment. Shēng-huó Chan adapts classical Chan to modern life through integral practice.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 4, 2019
Tim Lomas
1 citation
Meditation affects emotional experience through both direct and indirect pathways. Directly, practices target specific emotions such as dysphoric, compassionate, reverential, and ambivalent feelings. Indirectly, meditation influences emotions via physiological changes, cognitive processes, and experiences of self-transcendence. The chapter classifies meditation practices by four parameters: behaviors of mind, object, attitude, and form. It concludes by suggesting directions for future research into how meditation impacts emotional experience.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
April 4, 2019
Gavin Flood
1 citation
Meditation in Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions often involves visual contemplation of a subtle body with a vertical axis, along which different levels of experience correspond to levels of the cosmos. Practitioners aim to awaken power rising through these levels to achieve liberation, pleasure, or power. This visualization supports the soul leaving the body at death, while some traditions emphasize non-visual pure awareness. The essay examines these practices in major Hindu tantric traditions focused on Śiva, with references to Goddess, Viṣṇu, and Buddhist traditions, noting their influence on later Yoga and modern Western transformations.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
January 13, 2021
Katherine M. Auty
Interest in meditation programs in prisons has grown, but empirical evidence for their effectiveness is still emerging. This chapter reviews studies, mostly from the USA, evaluating meditation's impact on mental health, substance misuse, and reoffending. It covers practices like Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness, and Vipassana, examining their role as adjunct therapy for substance misuse and for enhancing well-being. The chapter critiques key concepts, considers philosophical and historical context, and discusses study limitations and future research directions.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
November 10, 2020
Sarah Shaw
In Southern (Pali) Buddhism, also called Theravada, the term "meditation" translates to bhāvanā, which encompasses chanting, devotions, offerings, and recollections, not just sitting practice. These activities support both samatha (calm) and vipassanā (insight) meditation. The chapter examines how sitting practice elements from calm and insight schools work together with these supports, and explores the complex relationship between the two modes. It emphasizes the tradition's focus on guided meditation and discusses adaptations as these practices have spread globally beyond their traditional homes in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
May 7, 2020
Manu Bazzano
Meditation practice is increasingly linked to a post-secular turn in culture, which reinterprets the usual opposition between secularism and religion by asserting immanence over transcendence. While meditation is often embedded in either a religious or secular framework, contemporary forms are increasingly secular. A third way is suggested, favoring a meditation practice that acknowledges the post-secular turn, especially when secular forms like mindfulness have been decontextualized to the point of undermining the ethical context of meditation.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 4, 2019
Etzel Cardeña
Meditation may be linked to exceptional abilities such as enhanced perceptual sensitivity, control over bleeding and heart rate, tolerance of cold and pain, and reduced metabolic responses. Some evidence also suggests that long-term meditation practice is associated with above-chance performance on parapsychological tasks like clairvoyance or precognition under controlled conditions. However, research on this topic remains limited, and more studies are needed to confirm these findings.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
October 4, 2019
Tomer Persico
Jewish meditation encompasses a wide range of techniques and practices that emerged across different historical periods, each with distinct characteristics. This chronological overview traces major trends from biblical times, through Merkabah mysticism, Kabbalah, and Hasidism, to contemporary spirituality. The author highlights how modern subjectivity and secularization have shaped the evolution of these practices, and notes an inherent tension between meditative traditions and the Halakhic (Jewish legal) tradition.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
August 12, 2019
Caroline Starkey
Meditation serves multiple roles in the lives of contemporary Buddhist monastics in Britain, especially for women. Drawing on ethnographic data from six Buddhist groups and lineages, the chapter examines the history, function, and value of meditation practices among ordained women. It compares approaches across traditions and challenges the assumption that meditation is primarily individualistic, instead emphasizing its communal role among monastic women in Britain.