Meditation is in one way or another, a method of praying. Praying is raising the mind and heart to God. Vocal praying involves using words like in a normal conversation, either our loud or silently. Meditation or to meditate on the other hand, is using the imagination instead of using speech like this.
Catholic meditation is very different from the perception of some religions where “meditation” involves setting the mind free of thinking about things, “quieting the mind”. Catholic meditation is the opposite which is more a very active and thoughtful responsibility, not physically but mentally, a kind of prayer.
Catholic meditation has a set of four different steps for meditation. But before going into that, one should also consider posture and choosing a topic.
Posture
The position of the body in catholic meditation is not essential, but there are proper ways to position your self for meditation. Like praying, it can be done kneeling or sitting. In sitting, it is always best to do it in the liturgical way of sitting posture; feet flat on the floor, slightly back, hands on the lap, palms down, shoulders a little bit forward, and head slightly bowed.
Choosing a topic
Meditating on something is going to be needed. Choosing something from the gospel is best. Any scene or event recorded by the Evangelists or a recent gospel you heard or a gospel just about to come up. A mystery of the rosary or a station of the cross as a topic for mediation can also be used.
4 steps of Catholic Meditation
* Place yourself in the God’s presence
Before beginning meditation, it is important to bring to mind God’s presence. This doesn’t mean that you must be physically in a church, you just need to think of yourself being watched over by God and not being alone. Sometimes this can be done quickly, but sometimes it may take a while, but in any way, it is very important to do this before beginning to meditate.
* Ask for God’s help
Seeking for God’s help is recognizing that any benefits from the meditation are God’s free gift and not a result of our own natural thought process. No person can do without God’s help. Ask for help in your prayer from the Blessed Mother, the Saints, or Angels in the church that you are meditating in.
* Actual Meditation
The meditation consists of two parts: the first thing to do is to imagine a scene you have chosen to meditate on, picture the scene, the appearance, and also the sounds. Include the background or any noticeable smells in your imaginary scene. The key is to make as vivid and realistic scene as possible; the second phase of meditating is to place yourself into that scene you’ve just imagined and interacting with the scene as what you may have done if you were really there.
* Give thanks
First thank God for his help in your meditation, then proceed to thanking all those whom you asked for help during the second step.
The catholic mediation is complete after the fourth step. The catholic way of meditation has always been differentiated from other forms of meditation, as its basis of the meditation is faith and belief of the Catholic religion.
BUDDHIST MEDITATION
Summary: The differences and similarities of Buddhist meditation to other techniques.
Is Buddhist meditation a religion in itself or simply a mind exercise like most others? While Buddhist meditation is not a religion, it is inspired by the goals of the Buddhism religion. After all, the human mind is the heart of the Buddhist teaching.
The Dhamma, or the teaching of the Buddha, is probably the most misunderstood among all other religions. The Buddha is also being likened to God and people have considered the Buddhist meditation as a hypnotic method to flee from the real world.
There are eight noble truths involve in Buddhism. The first noble truth is the dukkha, a Pali word which means the unpleasant experiences like worry, pain, sorrow, fear, etc. The second noble truth points out that dukkha are the consequence of desire and craving. The third noble truth says that dukkha can be resolved, while the fourth noble truth tells us the means by which the third noble truth can be achieved.
Buddhism, through the fourth noble truth is then closely linked to Buddhist meditation. It was transformed into a method or discipline of releasing people from the bondage of negative feelings and enhancing the nature of human life. This part of the Dhamma is known as the Noble Eightfold Path, which encompasses lessons that can influence the personal and social aspect of one’s life.
It may be understood therefore that the cause of everyone’s agony is psychological. Logic would tell us that the cure would be psychological as well. Thus, Buddhism designed mind exercises called the Buddhist meditation, aimed to cure these psychological problems. However, the Buddhist meditation is often confused with other practices that that claim to have possessed powers after engaging in meditation, which is totally in contrast to the Eightfold Path.
Some people view meditation, Buddhist meditation included, as a higher state of the pious life. That meditation is a step towards sainthood or being a holy person. Meditation is not an act of converting a sinner to have a deeper commitment to his religion. But it is just a good instrument to free oneself from the clutter that fills the mind in order to have a more serene life.
The goals of Buddhist meditation do not differ much from the other methods of meditation. Specifically though, Buddhist meditation aims to get rid of the dukkha and attain Nibbana. According to many Buddhist meditation practitioners, Nibbana is too difficult to put into words. But they describe it as the highest point of moral and psychological maturation.
Since Buddhist meditation, like any other technique, is a personal experience which brings about self-fulfillment, it must be practiced according to one’s conviction and faith that enlightenment and bliss are attainable.
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