Types of meditation

Our busy life generates stress and anxiety time and again; consequently our unhealthy and impatience mind lost its control, functions erratically. Had you learn how to meditate in any corner of your life? If you had and if you have been honest in practice and patience both, you will be one of the greatest minds of the world. You have to just wait and trust. Today I am experiencing the results of seeds that I had sown some years ago. There are mainly three types of meditations worth to mention here according to our Buddhist philosophy.

Types of meditation:

1.      Tranquility meditation/ samatha meditation

2.      Vipassana meditation

3.      Loving meditation

Tranquility meditation:  The fundamental objective of tranquility meditation is to calm down the mind, remove all anxiety and timidity and increase concentration. Skill of this type of meditation is useful for achieving following four ideal stages.

1.      Detachment from the interruption of external world and a consciousness of peace and happiness;

2. Objective focusing, with suppression of baseless reasoning and interpretation;
3. The passing away of unstable joy, but with the sense of tranquility remaining; and
4. This state of tranquility also brings about a state of pure self-possession and equanimity.

Vipassana Meditation:  The purpose of this type of meditation is the realization of truth, specially the truths of impermanence, suffering and "no-self."  This type of meditation is superior to the former one as it liberates us from the false confirmation of this cosmic world and its synthetic beauty. This is primarily practiced by Buddhist followers but anyone can learn this regardless of any creed or religious faith. This insight meditation focuses on the concept of mindfulness. Here, mindfulness is not meant to concentration.  Concentration means giving your total focus at a single object or matter without any deviation.  On the other hand, mindfulness is to think about it and comprehend its entire concept. This means not only to touch things or observe matter of concern, but also to attempt to learn about it with your focused and creative mentality.

You may think all these are just hypothetical and without any practical possibility. I also had thought in this manner. But the outcomes of my own experience astonish me at last. The systematic practice of meditation will creep into our subconscious realm; build new habits and disposition and establish the beautiful framework of our lifestyle as our wish. This is the way how dream comes true.

Loving meditation/ bhavana meditation:

Love, affection and kindness are central virtue of mankind.  A man’s identity as a divine creature relies on these parameters.  And meditation also needs these pleasant virtues because these are complementary to all types of meditation.  The need of loving meditation is to develop the mental habit of true love for the self and others. It is said to ‘bliss of life’.  In loving meditation, love is radiated not only towards nears and dears but also for neutral person and even for your enemy.  Paradoxically, love is only one winning weapon to fight against our enemy. And this is utilized here.  

All these types of meditations are adapted by many peoples of almost all countries as a universal custom. This meant to say that these have living proof about its affirmative outcome.