Introduction 3
Daoism 3
Confucianism 6
Buddhism 9
Conclusion 12
Introduction
Meditation is a way to transform the mind, relax, build an inner energy and increase life forces, a practice aimed to reach a specific altered state of consciousness. The beginnings of meditations date back to appearing of the major East Asian schools and religions as Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Nowadays, meditations are popular not only in the East but also in the Western countries. They are ways of personal growth and parts of psychotherapeutic programs that benefit people to attain the serenity of mind against the background of fast city life. Regular meditations help to overcome diseases, increase mood and develop a positive view of life.
This aim of this paper is to overview the East Asian schools of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. The paper gives a description of personal meditative experience and analyzes the connection between meditative practices and major concepts of these religions.
Daoism
Daoism is an ethical, philosophical, and religious teaching that originates from China and is strong on living in harmony with the Dao. The major area of Daoism is the world of nature that includes additional transcendental and supernatural dimensions. Historically, Daoism comes from the School of Yin Yang. The School of Yin Yang explained the universe from the perspective of basic nature forces including yin (female, negative, cold, dark) and yang (male, positive, hot, light), and the Five Elements (water, fire, earth, air, and wood). The representatives of the school believed human beings are a microcosm, and, hence, a deeper understanding of the universe could be attained through a better understanding of oneself. Daoism teaches that improving of the world starts with improving oneself.
Daoism concepts are common to the everyday practice of solving problems. Nobody can solve a problem without looking at it from the other end. Solving a problem or helping another people requires obtaining harmony with the Dao, embodying body-mind-energy, and finding the center that answers for right decisions.
During my East Meditation studies, I practiced moderation and identifying my limits. The Daoist concept of moderation means that exceeding limits disconnect people from their nature and it is necessary to tune into your body and your Dao. In Daoism, Dao is both the source of everything that exists and the force behind it. Daoism teachings highlight the importance of being in harmony with the Dao and Nature, fundamental things that determine the natural flow of events and actions. I felt like I hardly put attention to my inner limits, and that often became a reason of excessive exhaustion and feeling sick. To notice the difference, I alternated days when I applied the concept to my everyday life and when did not. The days without practicing were the same as usual, but other days made me feel better, even if I was forced to overcome my selfish principles and desires. For instance, I came to the café and ordered a dinner being hungry. As the result, the food I ordered was too much for me, and I could not eat all of it. Usually, I eat everything because I pay for the food and do not want to lose money. However, during the days of practicing, I listened to myself and stopped eating when my stomach was full. Gradually, I learned how much I could eat, started to order less food, and that allowed me to save money and to improve my general state. Of course, there were some activities where I could not always keep the concept, as getting up when I got enough sleep, but I fulfilled them during my weekends. Continuing to keep the concept, I started to feel less exhausted and noticed that I became more peaceful and started to plan my everyday schedule listening to my Dao. I stopped taking too much work and at the same time, tried to occupy my free time with something that could give me energy. Commonly, I do not feel comfortable when should go to bed early, and, being forced to get up in the mornings, I often feel tired. Usually, I overcome my desire to take a nap, but practicing moderation, I started to schedule time for it.
Practicing moderation provided me with the better understanding of my mind and body. I started to feel more harmonized and improved my health and view of life. One of the Daoism’s concepts is the Daoist body, a little universe inside every person. The body is ruled by inner spirits, and when people countermand the will of their spirits, they estrange themselves from Nature and their Dao. Lack of harmony between actions and inwardness leads to disturbance of the flow of qi, the vital energy that makes people alive and unites them with the universe. Harmony’s absence also prevents people from achieving the goal of Daoism, spiritual immortality, complete unity with the universe and Nature.
Also, I tried emptiness meditation and breathing meditation. I did both meditations sitting on the floor with my legs crossed and back straight. My eyes were half-closed, and I concentrated on the lower abdomen to balance my mind with my breath. The major idea of an emptiness meditation is to free yourself from all mental images, to forget everything, and to achieve inner quiet to replenish your “spirit” and vital forces. I can say that it is rather hard to free your mind if you are new in practicing such meditations. It is important to allow your thoughts and senses to appear and fall without “following” them. As for me, this meditation helped me to learn how to clear my mind. At first, it was difficult not to follow my ideas and thoughts, but then I started to control my impulsions.
Breathing meditation, or zhuanqi, concentrates on the breath and aims to unite mind with the flow of qi. If emptiness meditation reminds about Confucius’ idea of “heart-mind fasting,” breathing meditation is closer to Buddhism concept of mindfulness. There are two ways to practice breathing meditation. According to the first one, you simply observe your breath. The second one means that you follow certain rules of inhalation and exhalation. The second way is close to Qigong, an eastern practice that uses breathing techniques for stabilization and balancing qi. I tried the first way of breathing meditation. The concentration on my breath resulted in deeper, slower, and more equal inhales and exhales. The peace of my breath, in turn, resulted in the calm of my mind, thoughts and emotions, and general increasing of my state of health.
Confucianism
Confucianism is a system of ethical and philosophical teachings that highlight the importance of education as physical, moral, and mental perfecting oneself. The one can achieve perfection through an appropriate relationship with other people. Historically, Confucianism originates from teachings of Confucius who wanted to revive the importance of Dao and to bring harmony between Heaven and human beings. Those days, ancient China was under the last years of the Zhou dynasty rule. That historical period was marked by social upheaval, political fragmentation, and the following crisis. Confucius tried to find a solution to that crisis and came up with the idea of training scholar-officers who would be able to reform political and social systems of China according to proper moral principles. In spite of the fact his idea of a perfect ruler failed, Confucius was a great educator, and his teachings attracted many followers who continued to spread ideas of their teacher after his death.
Confucianism consists of concepts that define its major principles and ideas. The first concept of Confucianism is Learning. Learning is one of the most important aspects of the teaching. It means developing into a trustworthy and honest person who lives according to proper moral rules and acts with integrity and genuineness. Learning includes interpersonal relationship and communications and implies learning from mentors and other older honorable people, observation and adaptation of their virtues for raising the level both of the individual and society. The next concept is Reflecting. Reflecting means an appropriate application of learning to everyday life. In other words, it is self-reflection, a combination of “heart” and “head.” It involves investigating, questioning, and self-adapting of learned values. Together with Learning and Realizing, Reflecting constitutes a part of becoming self and joining the world around. Realizing is the last stage of becoming a full member of society. It implies making learned values real both in an individual and his or her attitude towards other people and knowing things that are really the case.
The concept of Ren means “goodness” and “human-heartedness.” It refers to the idea that an individual cannot become a full person on his own. Ren is something that gives people humanity, makes them real and sensible, “a self for others.” Human’s values should focus not only on self-education but also on lifting up people around disassociating from egoism and selfishness. The concept of Deference means being attentive, sensitive and speak from the heart. It refers to seeing heart and soul of other people and helping them to bring out their best. Dao, the key term of most Asian teachings, is “path” or “principle.” It is everybody’s life journey. The concept of De means “power” or “virtue.” De relates to developing one’s virtues and personal becoming. As Confucius taught, De could be accumulated through doing the best, acting appropriately, and living up to your words. Together with Dao, De supports the idea that an individual attains harmony with the environment only when gains a full insight into his inner world. The concept of Li is “benefit,” “propriety,” a guide to human’s actions. Along with Ren, Li forms a basis of Confucianism. Li shows the direction of proper behavior and internalization. Confucius recognized that the expression of Ren needs a well-ordered society, and Li is a guide to Ren’s embodiment. As a guide to human relationships, Li positively defines the way things should be done (Do is better than Don’t) and underlines the hospitability of people. As a guideline for social order, Li limits the individuality (every action influences on someone else) and has an answer to every question limiting an improvisation (otherwise an individual can be at a loss). The next concept is Yi. Yi means making bonds with your inner truth and performing acts starting from your inner integrity. It is the moral inclination to do good, the ability to make the difference between good and evil. Practicing Yi is similar to Ren. One more concept is Xin, “feelings” or “disposition.” Xin relates to human heart as a center of human cognition. The concept of He means “harmony” and refers to proper collaboration that increases better traits of people. Rectification of Names is using words to help everyday activities, not disrupt them. The Ming concept translates as “fate” or “destiny.” It means the rule, the will of fate and includes opportunities and limitations of life. Ming relates to universal forces and conditions that determine our everyday life and their cooperation. These forces are beyond the human’s control, but Ming says that everybody should do what he is supposed to do without focusing on achievement of success. The concept of Junzi, “noble man,” or “gentleman,” refers to “exemplary person,” being the role model of appropriate conduct (Yi) and ritual propriety (Li). One more concept is proper judgment. The judgment for everyone should be different. Confucianism focuses on needs of other people. Thus, every action should be analyzed with knowledge of people’s motives and life situation. Xiao Ren means “the small man,” a small-minded individual resistant to education. Shengren is “sage,” the ultimate ideal.
During my studies, I practiced one more Confucian concept, the concept of standing by my word. Keeping your words means making other people trust you and proving that your words are a reality. In a real sense, it is much more difficult than sounds. First, my meditation required careful thinking. I evaluated every word I was going to say, estimated if I had enough skills and knowledge to realize my words, and kept all of them in mind. Sometimes I even noted my words being afraid to forget about them. Second, I immediately started to think about the way I was going to keep my words and make them real. I started with easy promises like going to the shop or cleaning my room, and gradually complicated them. I told my friend that we would meet at three o’clock, was forced to leave the house earlier to not being late, came earlier, and was forced to wait near the place of our meeting. Every time I thought if the words I was going to say would bring positive results both to people around and to myself. Also, I appraised if words I was going to say were right. My meditation was either related to the concept of Yi because I thought about acting in tune with my moral principles and inner truth. I kept my words about helping other people and, thus, revealed the best traits both in them and in myself following the concepts of Deference, De, and Ren. I practiced the concept of Li as preferred to speak, not keep silence. Thus, I said more words and followed all of them instead of easing my life and speaking much less. During my meditation, I learned as looked at other people and their behavior, noticed who kept words and who did not, and noticed who were a good exemplifies and who were not. I reflected as when I saw people who follow their words I thought I could behave the same way even if it had to be difficult, and did my best to do it. Finally, I realized making my value of being able to keep my words real.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion, dharma based on teachings of Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The purpose of Buddhists is to follow the paths of Buddha and to achieve liberation, enlightenment, and nirvana. As Buddha taught, liberation could be accomplished through the deep understanding of the Four Noble Truths and perception of Pratītyasamutpāda, “dependent origination.” Together with the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths are the major point of Buddhism. Buddha used the term “The Middle Way” to describe the Noble Eightfold Path, last of the Four Noble Truths. The Middle Way is a path that leads to liberation, the path of wisdom, between the edges of self-mortification and sensual indulgence. The Four Noble Truths include the Truth of Dukkha, the Truth of the Origin of Dukkha, the Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha, and The Truth of the Path Of Liberation from Dukkha. In Buddhism, Dukkha is “suffering,” “stress,” “anxiety” and relates to our everyday experiences. The First Noble Truth gives an overview of dukkha. The Second Noble Truth, Samudaya, explains where dukkha comes from and names the three roots of evil, greed, ignorance, and hatred. The Third Noble Truth is Nirodha, liberation from suffering and attaining nirvana, “extinguishing.” The Fourth Noble Truth, Magga, means the Eightfold Path, the Buddha’s principles for ending sufferings.
The central concepts of Buddhism are samsara and karma. Samsara is a continual cycle of birth and death for each being. It is connected with dukkha and comes out from avidya, “ignorance.” Karma means “action,” “work,” and it is the force behind samsara. Karma is measured by man’s deeds and their consequences that influence samsara and can make a person closer to nirvana. Buddhism does not have a term of immortal soul; it says that only deeds survive after human’s death.
During the Buddhism studies, I practiced Shamatha Meditation. Shamatha is one of the focused attention meditations. The major purpose of Shamatha is the achievement of the mental peace and clear mind. It shapes the objective view of life and makes a human closer to wisdom. I practiced Shamatha ten minutes per day when I was alone. I closed the windows and the door to level down the noise. Then I sat on the chair standing my feet flat on the floor and keeping my back neither too slouching nor too rigid. I put my hands on my thighs keeping fingers on my knees. I focused my gaze on the object right in front and put attention to breathing. It was rather difficult to clear my mind from the flow of thoughts, ideas, and emotions, but looking at a specific object helped a lot. I saw the object and at the same time looked through it. When I felt as I was going to think about something, I moved my attention to the object to let the flow of thoughts pass by.
Shamatha has always considered being a prerequisite for vipassana and mindfulness. Vipassana means a deep insight beyond the ordinary mind that can be achieved only after attaining stable mind. During my practices, I learned to clear my mind from chaotic thoughts and let it rest getting closer to the concept of stable mind. Of course, attaining truly stable mind require much more time than I had, but I can say that my meditative experience improved the clarity of my mind and my ability to concentrate. When I put attention on my breathing, I attained Anapanasati, “mindfulness of breathing.” Anapanasati is an essential part of Theravada Buddhism and Zen, an intermediary between mind and body. Generally, Shamatha meditation helped me not only to clear my mind from excessive information and conceptual thinking but also to escape from disturbing emotions and attain inner peace.
One more meditation I tried was Zen. Zen is one of the most famous schools of Mahayana Buddhism. Zen means “meditative state,” “absorption.” Practicing Zen allows to break free of the conceptual mind and to expand the boundaries of conscience. Zen practices require concentrating on breath and being aware of the flow of thoughts and allowing them to appear and disappear without any interference. I sat on the floor with my legs crossed and kept my back completely straight. I tried two ways of practicing Zen meditation. The first time, I focused on my breath counting from one to ten and back and in such a way to keep my concentration. The second time, I practiced shikantaza, “just sitting.” I did not allow myself focusing on a specific object concentrating on everything and nothing at the same time.
I also tried Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is one of the open monitoring meditations. Its major idea is to keep the attention open and monitor everything that happens in the present moment without any judgment. I sat on the floor keeping my back straight and concentrated on my breath, its movement, and sensations it caused. During the meditation, my mind was always distracted by ambient noises and my thoughts. Practicing mindfulness requires recognition of every distraction together with concentration on breathing. I found mindfulness meditation rather unusual. While the most part of meditations focus on clearing the mind from thoughts, mindfulness opens the mind for the external world and its sounds. Mindfulness meditation helped me to become aware of the truth of the present moment, while other meditations made me different from it. Mindfulness allowed me to become more present with myself and to get closer to my inherent wisdom, as achievement of wisdom is one of the major purposes of Buddhism. It was a completely new experience that impressed me a lot.
Conclusion
Generally, the goals of all meditations are calming and clearing of the mind, having deeper insights into the mind, and attaining enlightenment. If enlightenment could be achieved only after years of meditations, the first two goals of meditation are more realistic and could be achieved easier. On my personal experience, I can say that the practice of meditations is really useful. During my Asian Meditation studies, I tried meditations related to major Eastern religions, Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. When I studied Daoism, I practiced the concept of moderation and identifying my limits and classical Daoist meditations. As the result, I started to listen to my inwardness and got a chance to take a deeper insight into myself and to increase the connection between my mind and body. When I studied Confucianism, I practiced the concept of standing by my word and learned to think before saying something, to schedule my time, to listen to my moral principles and to make promises being in harmony with them. Studying Buddhism, I tried Shamatha meditations, Zen, and Mindfulness, and learned to clear my mind and calm it, became more concentrated and made a progress in managing the flow of my thoughts and also became closer to my inner wisdom being able to feel my own presence. After all of these practices, I can draw a conclusion and state that meditations are particularly topical in the setting of urban life. The fast pace of leaving, the necessity to perform a lot of things in one, and the need to go to work most of us do not like, deprive us of the opportunity to follow major ideas of Eastern philosophies, but meditations give us a chance to appease our conscience and to achieve harmony with ourselves.
