There are two general types of meditation. Samatha and Vipassana meditation
Understanding their difference and how we are practicing can help us to assess the direction and effectiveness of our practice.
Misunderstanding how to practice and what we want to cultivate is the most common cause for not feeling the benefits of meditation.
Different practice,
different result
The Buddha gave us two main types of meditation. These are characterised by their objective, technique and benefit. The two types are Samatha and Vipassana meditation.
Samatha meditation
Samatha in Pali means "calm abiding" or "tranquility".
Objective: Settling the MindBody. Calming and unifying the MindBody.
How? Focus on one subject/object.
Uses Concentration (Samadhi).
Some techniques: Visualisation, Mantra, Breath focus (Anapanasati), Focus on pleasant
Vipassana meditation
Vipassana in Pali means "special-seeing" or "in-sight".
Objective: Seeing into the nature of Mind-Body. Wisdom and Insight through observing Mind-Body.
How? Aware of Mind-Body at the present moment.
Uses Concentration (Samadhi) and Mindfulness (Sati)
Techniques: Continued awareness of any or all of the four foundations of mindfulness. Body, Feeling Tone (Vedana), Mind, Nature (Dhammas). e.g. Goenka body-scanning, Mahasi Noting
Mind & Body
Vipassana meditation is to be aware of Mind and Body (aka Mind & Matter) at the present moment. This is quite difficult to do and the cultivation of basic meditative skills is essential.
To practice Vipassana meditation, we cultivate Concentration and Mindfulness in equal measure.
Concentration [Samadhi]
The ability to collect and gather consciousness onto one subject. We start with a simple meditation object like the breath or body sensations. As we get skill in concentration, it becomes easier to focus and calm the mind onto the meditation object or subject.
Mindfulness [Sati]
The ability to perceive phenomena of Mind & Body appearing in conscious experience clearly without reacting to them. It requires perceiving with clarity and equanimity. As we get skill in Mindfulness, we become better at quickly recognising Mind & Body as a sensory experience in the present moment rather than be wrapped up and entangled in content.
With the development of these meditative skills, we make our moment-to-moment conscious experience our object of meditation. This means that we are clearly aware of the phenomena of Mind & Body as they appear by nature moment-to-moment. We start to see the true nature of Mind & Body and their characteristic of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta, sometimes called Emptiness.
Art of Living
Vipassanā meditation leaves no stone unturned. As we practice, Vipassana does not remain separate from our lives. In meditation we are simply creating the space and time to see what our Mind and Body is already doing for the rest of the day.
We face ourselves. We see who we really are. The things we like, and don't like about ourselves. We accept all parts of ourselves. The more we see, the clearer it becomes where the source of all our happiness and all our suffering begins. We learn this not by thinking or philosophising about it, we learn this by our direct experience.
As we start to deeply understand how Mind & Body works it opens us to see how we relate to everything in our life. Our friends, family, lovers. Our co-workers, strangers. Those we look up to, those we look down upon. Those we love and those we hate. The way we relate to our bodies and our thoughts.
This can be difficult. If we continue with honesty and humility, the slowly discover an art of living. One where wholesome thought, speech and action slowly replaces their harmful counterparts.
