CHAPTER VI
Meditation Techniques
Riding the Ox
Many Western studies on meditation have focused. on the physiological, metabolical, and psychological effects of practice divorced from the religious context; focusing on effects of short-term practice or assessing meditators of varied development without scrutiny of the long-term processes of meditation and spiritual practice. It has been suggested that for a psychological perspective on spirituality to be valid, it must proceed systematically to amass research and develop concepts for psychology and psychotherapy. The field of spirituality encompasses a great variety of experiences that need to be understood both in terms of phenomenology and their effects on subsequent mental life. The experience of emptiness is central to Buddhist philosophy and psychology. Orenstein (1971, cited by Shapiro, 1994) has commented that a person having the experience of emptiness in a laboratory setting will interpret the experience very differently from that of a person having the same experience in a spiritual context. It is thus important for a proper analysis of the effects such experiences have upon the mind to assess those effects within the spiritual context. The effects of meditation as a stress-regulation strategy has been the primary aim of most of the studies so far conducted, with fewer studies examining meditation as a self-exploration strate gy to enhance psychological health and effect changes in behavior. As more psychologists and psychiatrists come to incorporate Buddhism into therapeutic practice, it becomes important to clearly understand the overall process of Buddhist spiritual practice and the effects it can engender. Religious beliefs are one of the areas least addressed by modern psychology despite the critical role they have in life for many people. Numerous benefits have been positively correlated between spiritual or religious beliefs and physical and mental health including the incidence of substance abuse, marital satisfaction, and in regard to suicide, anxiety, and depression. A study conducted by Emavardhana & Tori (1997) assessed changes in self-concept, ego-defense mechanisms, and religiosity during a seven-day Buddhist vipassanii (insight) meditation retreat in Thailand that showed positive gains in all areas of self-representation relative to controls. Meditators in the study displayed significant changes in ego defense mechanisms (p < 0.0001) with coping characterized by heightened maturity and greater tolerance of common stressors. Retreatants increased scores in self-esteem, benevolence, feelings of worth, and self-acceptance. Emavardhana & Tori found retreatants less likely to use displacement, regression, and projection to defend the ego and were less affected by external stimuli and sexual impulses than the control group.
There has been noted a similarity between the practice of Buddhist mindfulness (the foundation of vipassanii meditation), and free association and self-analysis. The ego, through the practice of insight meditation, takes itself as the object of observation. Over time, the focus of this attention gradually changes from intrapsychic content to focus exclusively on intrapsychic process, the emphasis being placed upon the insubstantiality of thought. Buddhism has a different view of mind than that traditionally held in the West, but there are people who hold views that do accord with the Buddhist perspective of the appearance of a self arising as a result of cognitive processes. It has been suggested that control of cognition emerges from an interaction between preconscious cognitive modules functioning autonomously, asynchronously, and in parallel. No particular module has responsibility for control; it is passed among modules as momentary conditions determine. The system has the appearance of being controlled by a central agency, but it is the orderly flow of cognition, i.e. conscious experience, which gives this false impression. This is not a new proposition however; about a century ago William James concluded that a multiplicity of thought and agency give rise to the unitary flow of experience. Eastern spiritual traditions largely based on phenomenological models have similar views and have been used to understand conscious experience for millennia.
Many aspects of meditation have already been studied but these results come from a variety of meditation techniques and have not been conducted in spiritual settings or exclusively with unusually committed practitioners such as monks, priests, and nuns. Perez-e-Al beniz & Holmes (2000) reviewed 75 articles in the field of medita tion citing numerous studies showing psychological, physiological, and metabolical effects. The authors state that meditation, from the psychophysiological perspective, is an intentional self-regulation of attention and is similar to an interpersonal therapeutic encounter. Psychological effects cited include the integration of subjective experience, increased acceptance and tolerance of affect and increased self-awareness; optimizing the process of memory; increased vigor; greater happiness, positive thinking, increased self-confidence, and better problem-solving skills.
Enhanced compassion and tolerance of self and others, more relaxation, resilience, and an enhanced ability to control feelings were also cited by Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes. Physiological effects listed included increased cardiac output and slower heart rate; decreased renal and hepatic blood flow, decreased respiratory frequency, increased cerebral flow, apparent cessation of CO generation by muscle; increased skin galvanic resistance, decreased spontaneous electrodermal response, EEG synchrony with increased intensity of slow alpha in central and frontal regions, and an increase in theta waves in frontal areas of the brain along with increased alpha and beta coherence. Another point of interest with regard to the deliberate inducement of transformational experiences through spiritual practice is a change in the activity of the amygdala-temporal lobe. Heightened or abnormal activation of this area is associated with experiences of hallucinations; fear being the most common reaction due to feature-detecting neurons being activated and coupled with associated limbic emotions. This type of amygdaloidal activity may be crucial in engendering mystical experiences such as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, perceived as a highly profound experience wherein is found a mystery so frightening, it causes one to tremble, yet is so fascinating, it draws one toward it. It can occur as a result of an ongoing close encounter with death and is an emotional mix of terror and euphoria. Such experiences are central to ideas of developed religious experience in many traditions and as such, constitute an important aspect for understanding the dynamics of personality transformation through religious practice.
The structures of the limbic system also appear to generate the feelings of rapture and euphoria, states commonly sought through spiritual practice. Buddhism acknowledges mental states of heaven and hell as delusional states that often accompany progress on the path of mental “purification.” The amygdala can process sensory and emotional stimuli simultaneously with many single amygdaloidal neurons multimodally responsive. Usually much of these data are filtered and suppressed preventing the visualization of sound or the tasting of colours. Forms of deprivation and isolation are used in Buddhist practice in conjunction with meditation and other disciplines. These events can produce stresses resulting in depletion of serotonin and other neurotransmitters that typically inhibit sensory reception within the amygdala. The limbic system stressed in this way, or denied normal modes of input, may become hyperactive so that stimuli that are normally subject to sensory filtering are instead perceived. According to Joseph (2001), limbic sensory acuity will be increased, and he states that what is perceived need not be an hallucination, but may represent a perception of overlapping sensory qualities normally filtered out. Differences in the phenomenological nature of the beginning stages of meditation between Western and Eastern practitioners have been pointed out. Westerners frequently experience a worsening of emotional symptoms with the perception of inner agitation. However, in the context of Buddhist meditation, this is not perceived as a problem, but as part of a larger overall process of development.
40 SUBJECTS OF MEDITATION
These are the traditional meditation practices used in the Theravadin tradition and constitute a variety of methods for elevating consciousness to different levels of organization and functioning which conduct the practitioner through the process of enlightenment. Not all of these practices need to be engaged in. Typically, a monk or yogi will do several but few will seek or need to develop all of them. There are of course, many kinds of meditation that have been developed and far more than can be reasonably listed. Many variations exist in each particular practice as well. All of the techniques listed here work with tranquility meditation but only anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) extends to the development of insight as well. These meditations may take a lot of concentrated practice to fully develop. Many people involved in Theravadin meditation currently prefer insight practice as it is the form of meditation said to have been developed and used by the Buddha to gain enlightenment.
10 KASINA BHAVANA – COLOUR AND ELEMENT DISKS
A kasina is a material object used for the focus of attention. The colour kasinas might be made of cloth and dyed or painted, or composed of groups of appropriately coloured flowers. The meditational colours are yellow, blue, red and white. The elements are earth, water, fire and air. Limited-space and light are the last two objects used in kasina bhavana. A bowl of water is used for the water kasina. A small circular disk of reddish clay is used for the earth kasina. Fire uses a small screen to block out all but the solid orange part of a single flame. The air kasina is perceived by sight or touch; the sway of leaves or the feeling of a breeze on the skin. Light is viewed as it enters a space through a window, or as a bright patch on a wall. Limited-Space is seen as a crevice in a wall, a window opening or a small hole in the earth may be formed. Practice with a kasina eventually gives rise to a nimitta, the sign or light, similar to an afterimage, that is then used in place of the actual kasina as the new meditation object. From this level the meditator can progress into the attainment stage (appana) of the practice.
1O ASUBHA BHAVANA – THE CORPSE MEDITATIONS
Corpse meditation might seem a bit maudlin but it does have a very practical utility in dealing directly with issues of personal mortality. A human corpse is used as it is necessary to engender a deeper level of identification with the body. This necessary identification will not arise if an animal corpse is being used. While it can still be a meditation on death, it will not bring the mind to the levels of access and attainment sought through this practice. Places where one can view the dead were common in ancient times. Monks would often go to stay at such places to cultivate their detachment and overcome their fear of death. The sutras list nine types of corpses and a skeleton for the practice of reflecting upon death. The types of corpses are: swollen, dismembered, discoloured, cut and dismembered, festering, bleeding, fissured, worm-infested and mangled. Each type of corpse is related to particular kinds of attachment. For example, a swollen corpse was considered suitable for one who lusts after beauty and form. The skeleton, the tenth type of meditation in this category, is probably the most common form of this practice now used.
10 ANNUSATI – THE SIX RECOLLECTIONS AND FOUR PRACTICES OF MINDFULNESS
These are contemplations of the qualities of the subject being meditated upon and can be used as analytical meditation. Analytical meditation is meditation in the Christian sense of thinking about a subject in great depth. The six recollections are the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the higher beings or devas, morality and liberality. The four practices of mindfulness are breathing, death, mindfulness of the body and tranquility.
4 BRAHMA VIHARA – THE DIVINE ABODES OR EXCELLENT QUALITIES
The four brahma vihara are qualities of the mind when it has been liberated from negative elements and complexes. They are classified as loving-kindness or benevolence, sympathetic joy, compassion and equanimity. The practice of cultivating these qualities can be used to enter the absorptions of form (rupa jhana). For a more detailed description see the