1
EL29 Mindfulness Meditation
Lecture 1.1: What mediation is –
what its not
Your “learning coach” Don Macdonald
! B.Sc. M.Sc. Geology, U. of A, 1976, 1985
! Sr. Research Officer, Alberta Geological Survey, 1975-1989
! Sr. Manager, Alberta Department of Energy, 1989-2000
! Sr. Policy Advisor - Climate Change, Alberta Department of the Environment, 2000-2007
! Sr. Policy Advisor - Alberta Carbon Capture & Storage Development Council, 2008
• Term Instructor, MacEwan & U. of A., 2007 – 2015
• ELLA instructor, 2015-2016
• B.Sc. earth sciences & religious studies
• Practicing Buddhist for about 40 years.
• Ordained as a lay minister in the Jodo Shin-shu Buddhist tradition
• Currently living in Sidney, B.C.
2
Please introduce yourselves…. ! Your name?
! Something else about yourself – career, interests, whatever you feel comfortable in sharing.
General format of classes ! Part 1: Lecture on a given topic (30
min) ! Part 2: Hand’s-on practice of a
meditation style (15 min) • Brief instruction • Class practice
! Part 3: Time to write some reflections on what you experienced (5 min)
! Part 4: Sharing & group discussion (20 min)
3
EL29 Review of Course Outline
https://sites.google.com/site/ellaclimatechange/
Lectures posted at:
1st Lecture Overview
! Topics: • Definitions of meditation • Meditation and altered states of consciousness
• The role of meditation in religious traditions
4
Key Learnings: ! Key Learning #1: The term “meditation” has many
definitions especially among various religious traditions and in more modern secular usage.
! Key Learning #2: Meditation is one of many documented altered states of consciousness and reflects real neurological changes going on in the brain. . However, it is not going into a trance, losing consciousness, speaking to the spirit world, being on drugs or alcohol, zoning out, or being hypnotized.
! Key Learning #3: Meditation has played a relatively minor role in western (Christian, Islam, Judaism) religious hierarchies or epistemology, but is central to Buddhist knowledge.
Key Learnings: ! Key Learning #1: The term “meditation” has many
definitions especially among various religious traditions and in more modern secular usage.
! Key Learning #2: Meditation is one of many documented altered states of consciousness and reflects real neurological changes going on in the brain. . However, it is not going into a trance, losing consciousness, speaking to the spirit world, being on drugs or alcohol, zoning out, or being hypnotized.
! Key Learning #3: Meditation has played a relatively minor role in western (Christian, Islam, Judaism) religious hierarchies or epistemology, but is central to Buddhist knowledge.
5
Meditate/Meditation - Definitions ! Dictionary: think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of
time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.
! Wikipedia: Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or for the mind to simply acknowledge its content without becoming identified with that content, or as an end in itself. • The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices that includes
techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (qi, ki, prana, etc.) and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness.
• A particularly ambitious form of meditation aims at effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration meant to enable its practitioner to enjoy an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any life activity.
Deep origins of meditation
! Gazing into fires by early hunter-gatherers.
! Shaman's altered states of consciousness from ingesting hallucinogenic plants?
6
Christianity ! Meditation is a
structured attempt to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God.
! Discursive meditation, mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand our relationship with God
! Prayer: communicating with God.
! Contemplation or contemplative prayer: as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love”, passive & spontaneous – totally centered on God
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer,_meditation_and_contemplation_in_Christianity
God
Hindu ! Meditation: Our mind
is calm and quiet in the vastness of Infinity, but there is a movement; a train is going endlessly toward the goal. We are envisioning a goal, and meditation is taking us there.
! In contemplation we feel the entire universe and farthest Goal deep inside ourselves.
! When we are contemplating we feel that we are holding within ourselves the entire universe with all its infinite light, peace, bliss and truth. There is no thought, no form, no idea - everything is merged into one stream of consciousness
http://www.srichinmoy.org/spirituality/concentration_meditation_contemplation/contemplation/meditation_vs_contemplation
Atman/Brahman
7
Buddhism ! Meditation: a variety of
techniques all having the goal of bringing the consciousness of the practitioner to a state in which they can experience the end of suffering called; “Nirvana” “enlightenment”, “liberation”, or “awakening”
! Concentration: a companion and perquisite to meditation. Concentration and meditation are two key components of the 8-fold path.
Nirvana
God
14
Right now…….
What is the lens in which Christianity views meditation?
8
Atman/Brahman
15
Right now…….
What is the lens in which Hinduism views meditation?
16
Nirvana Overcome suffering
Right now…….
What is the lens in which Buddhism views meditation?
9
Key Learnings: ! Key Learning #1: The term “meditation” has many
definitions especially among various religious traditions and in more modern secular usage.
! Key Learning #2: Meditation is one of many documented altered states of consciousness and reflects real neurological changes going on in the brain. However, it is not going into a trance, losing consciousness, speaking to the spirit world, being on drugs or alcohol, zoning out, or being hypnotized.
! Key Learning #3: Meditation has played a relatively minor role in western (Christian, Islam, Judaism) religious hierarchies or epistemology, but is central to Buddhist knowledge.
States of Consciousness According to Freud, there are three main Levels of Consciousness:
! Conscious Mind: what we are aware of in everyday life
! Preconscious Mind: where we store information we have learned
! Unconscious Mind: where we keep information that is not yet readily available to us (unpleasant memories)
Psychologists divide the Study of Consciousness into two distinct categories:
! Waking Consciousness - The awareness of sensations and thoughts while we are awake (aka consciousness awareness)
! Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)
10
Alerted States of Consciousness
Altered State of Consciousness: a state of consciousness in which there is a redirection of attention, a different type of mental state.
! Examples of ASC are:
• Daydreaming • Sleep • Dreaming • Hypnosis • Meditation • Drug induced states
of mind http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00625/full
Consciousness States: Spiritual
Hindu Yogic
Mahayana Buddhism
11
Meditation is not just psychological: neuronal changes happen
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/ 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01551/abstract
http://sitsshow.blogspot.ca/2014/12/boost-brain-power-meditation-will.html
Quick check: How much can you recall so far? ! Which of the following is the most correct
regarding meditation? a) Like a trance b) An altered state of consciousness c) Similar to mediums speaking to the dead d) Like being drunk or stoned
12
Key Learnings: ! Key Learning #1: The term “meditation” has many
definitions especially among various religious traditions and in more modern secular usage.
! Key Learning #2: Meditation is one of many documented altered states of consciousness and reflects real neurological changes going on in the brain. . However, it is not going into a trance, losing consciousness, speaking to the spirit world, being on drugs or alcohol, zoning out, or being hypnotized.
! Key Learning #3: Meditation has played a relatively minor role in western (Christian, Islam, Judaism) religious hierarchies or epistemology, but is central to Buddhist knowledge.
Meditation and religious hierarchies
Christianity - Catholicism Buddhism - Asia
Islam - Shite
13
Epistemology and religious hierarchies - Christianity
Christianity - Catholicism Christian Mystics
(meditators) Very little influence.
Religious scholars &
philosophers
Epistemology: from God via holy books,
interpreted by Church
hierarchy
Meditation and religious hierarchies - Islam
Islamic Mystics
(meditators) Tolerated at times and/or persecuted at other times – threat to the
Koran?
Religious scholars &
philosophers
14
Epistemology and religious hierarchies: Buddhist Asian
(traditional)
Buddhism - Asia
Meditators (central to theology & philosophic
interpretation)
Religious scholars & philosophers
(frequently meditators themselves)
Devotional (praying for
luck, chanting Buddha’s name, generally not committed to meditation)
Epistemology: from
meditational practice, Buddha,
Dharma & Sangha
Meditation and religious hierarchies: Buddhist North American
Buddhism - Asia
Meditators (central to theology & philosophic
interpretation)
Religious scholars &
philosophers (almost always
meditators themselves)
Retreat Centers or Small
Sanghas lead by Eastern or
Western teacher
Small group of dedicated
monks
Retreat or Small Sangha
participants (part-time)
15
Epistemology and religious hierarchies: Buddhist North American
Buddhism - Asia
Meditators (central to theology & philosophic
interpretation)
Religious scholars & philosophers (almost always
senior meditators trained by the leader
and serious meditators themselves) Retreat Centers
or Small Sanghas lead by
Eastern or Western teacher
Small group of dedicated
monks
Retreat or Small Sangha
participants (part-time)
Epistemology: from the Leader (plus, individual
meditational practice, Buddha
Dharma & Sangha)
Secular Meditation hierarchies: North America
Meditators
Psychology, neuroscience
researchers (not usually
meditators themselves)
Institutes lead by
Professors or health care professionals
Approved satellite
institutes following the same therapy
Clients or patients
suffering from trauma and
other disorders)
16
Secular Meditation Epistemology North America
Meditators
Scientific research
efficacy results by psychologist, neuroscientists
(not usually meditators themselves)
Institutes lead by
Professors or health care professionals
Approved satellite
institutes following the same therapy
Clients or patients
suffering from trauma and
other disorders)
Epistemology: from the Leader
(Professional credentials, Ph.D., and/or institutional
university credentials)
Anecdotal evidence of
improved health, wellness by
clients
Quick check: How much can you recall so far? ! Which of the following is the most correct
regarding traditional Asian Buddhist meditation and its epistemology? a) Senior monks & meditation, 50/50 influence b) Tolerated, but not widely accepted c) Absolutely central d) Undertaken by laypeople and monks alike
17
Part 2: Hand’s on practice - candle meditation