{"id":1307,"date":"2020-01-28T11:19:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T01:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/?page_id=1307"},"modified":"2020-01-28T12:09:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T02:09:57","slug":"five-elements-of-meditation-practice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/index.php\/five-elements-of-meditation-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation: Five Elements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kamalashila, the great eighth-century Indian Buddhist scholar, offers five essential elements that should form every meditation session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These may seem unfamiliar even to long-time practitioners\nbecause they are not rooted in a secular-scientific worldview but an Indo-Tibetan\none sensitive to the paradigm of interdependence and psychological causality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These five elements are taught at the outset of traditional\nTibetan Buddhist education. They are accessible to beginners, and can vitalize\nand deepen a more established practice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) \u200bPreparation\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) \u200bContemplation\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) \u200bMeditation\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(4) \u200bDedication\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(5) Application <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) Preparation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As a farmer prepares the soil for planting, we prepare the\nground of mind for meditation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three preliminaries\u2014(a)\ncreate a sacred space, (b) set up an altar and make offerings, and (c) prepare\nyour body and mind\u2014are the foundation of preparation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We create a comprehensive sequence of activities that\npurifies psychological hindrances, obstacles, and karmic imprints that might\nkeep us from liberating insight or realization\u2014the aim of meditation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, we cultivate positive energy or merit that\nwill foster insight and the development of virtuous qualities, uplifting our\npractice with the blessings of our mentors and lineage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation also entails reciting prayers and scriptures\nlargely abandoned in our scientific paradigm but essential to any spiritual\nculture. \u2026 I encourage you to internalize and embody them, not just read about\nthem\u2014reading them is more than an intellectual activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) Contemplation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Contemplation is the practice of focusing the mind on a\ntheme, internalizing it, and actualizing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common misunderstanding about meditation is that it is\nexclusively a nondiscursive practice, but here we are using our analytic minds\nto focus on concepts, exploring them more deeply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the extent of the presentation, the Lam Rim can\nbe made up of many themes, such as the preciousness of human life and the\nimmediacy of death, each arranged in a well-curated sequence. \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our \u201cpractice\u201d is to acquaint the mind with each theme systematically\nand repeatedly until they are all internalized in the depth of our being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only from there can they rouse a realization, causing a\ntransformational shift in consciousness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the monastic universities of India and Tibet, two devices\nfoster the process of internalization: memorization and studying the related\ncontext, and reasoning. Westerners don\u2019t seem to memorize anything anymore (not\neven phone numbers) because we\u2019ve become so reliant on technology, but if you\nthink about it, memorization brings information in from the outside, making it\ninternal and retrievable and us self-reliant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those great Tibetan lamas such as Gelek Rinpoche, Lama\nYeshe, and Lama Zopa, who were forced to leave their possessions and flee their\nhomeland during the Chinese occupation, safeguarded their practices and the\nlineage because they had memorized much of the Tibetan Buddhist corpus of\nextant spiritual literature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By learning the stages of the Lam Rim, for example, you will\ninternalize them, and they will become part of your inner lexicon, retrievable\nas needed, and thus easier to metabolize at the soul level. In other words, the\nstages of the Lam Rim will become part of your spiritual DNA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) Meditation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After preparation and contemplation, we can begin what most\nof us associate with meditation\u2014better described as nondiscursive, pinpointed\nconcentration, or focal attention, on the resultant affective experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if upon contemplating the preciousness of human\nlife, a feeling of gratitude and appreciation arises, that\u2019s when you\ntransition to meditation, focusing your attention on the feeling, not the\ntheme, to \u201cseal it in.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift in quality of attention is what deepens the\nprocess, fosters internalization, and ripens as realization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, when we are meditating, the affective response fades, we\ncan return to the theme, the commentary, and the lines of reasoning to\nreactivate the emotional response, and then return to focal attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this way, we vacillate between the activation of both\nbrain hemispheres\u2014the left is associated with linguistics, analysis, and\nattention, and the right with affective response and the scanning mindfulness\nthat brings attention back to its object so that it can serve as a laser beam\nof internalization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(4) Dedication<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dedication occurs at the end of your practice and is a way\nof capitalizing on the karmic energy (momentum), affective response, and\ninsight produced in your practice session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you grow to understand how karma works, you\u2019ll appreciate\nwhy dedication is so central to the overall schematic of meditation and other\nritual activities in Tibetan Buddhism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of it like this: When I can save a little extra money,\nI bank it in my kids\u2019 college fund. That ensures it won\u2019t be spent on something\nfrivolous because it is \u201cdedicated\u201d toward a specific, meaningful goal, in a\nplace where it can accrue interest over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, karmic merit accrued as a result of virtuous activities\ncan be earmarked for an ultimate goal: awakening for the benefit of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karmic investments need to be handled wisely or they will\nripen for mundane reasons instead of altruistic ones. Thus, it\u2019s best to\ndedicate them for our highest spiritual aspirations. There are many dedication\nprayers one can choose from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(5) Application<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The final step is to bring the skill, insight, emotional\nquality, and inspiration we have cultivated during practice to bear in our\neveryday life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole point of our meditation practice is to prepare us\nto live in the world with greater skill, yet often meditation practice feels\nconfined to a specific time and space, and our skills do not transfer off the\ncushion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a real opportunity to create a fluid experience\nduring and between meditation sessions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dedication and before people end their practice\nsession, I recommend they reflect and previsualize the ways they will apply\nwhat they experienced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifics are important. Practice becomes a soul contract to\nencourage yourself to think, speak, and act differently in daily activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This contract becomes the blueprint for the new life we are\ndesigning using karmic causality, cultivating virtue, eliminating vice, and\nusing mindful awareness, insight, and ethics to construct a new way of being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we previsualize and leave our cushion, we seamlessly\ntransfer mindfulness to the application of virtue and insight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what a basic session might look like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b Begin with preparatory activities. The simplest version is to clear your mind with a few rounds of breath meditation, take refuge, and generate the altruistic intention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b Then, contemplate a theme, such as the preciousness of human life or the kindness of living beings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b With this contemplation, a sense of appreciation or gratitude may arise, moving you to the next point. Now focus your mind on the sensate or visceral experience in your body, thereby sealing in the gratitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b If the visceral experience fades, you can return to the prior point of contemplation and review, or move to the next point. Dedicate the merits by directing your positive karmic momentum toward your original aspiration, such as self-healing, personal liberation, or the welfare of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b Before ending your meditation, previsualize how you will carry this sense of gratitude and purpose into your daily life. Perhaps you prime the mind for the next time you\u2019re disappointed, stuck in autopilot, or wondering what the hell it is we are doing on this planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autosuggest this to your mind: the next time I feel that\nsense of loss, I will remember this sense of gratitude born of the reflection\nof the precious human life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u200b Remind yourself of the word mindfulness, which comes from smirti<\/em>, \u201cto remember,\u201d to bring the mind back to the storehouse of positive emotions gathered during meditation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/strong>: Excerpted and lightly adapted (to suit the context of this website) from Neale, Miles. Gradual Awakening<\/em>. Sounds True. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Meditation:
Reflection: Five elements of meditation practice. (1) Preparation; (2) Contemplation; (3) Meditation; (4) Dedication; (5) Application.
<\/strong>(Based on Kamalashila)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

[Photo credit: Eva Peck]<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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