Meditation in Buddhism

Critical Analysis: Mindfulness in Plain English

Introduction

Body, identity and soul are three variables that are always intertwined with religion. Religion is the foundation of personal spiritual development and moral practices. It is true that humans cannot evident the existence of God. But. we can provide justifications on the statements, ideas, claims and values of the world religions. Buddhism follows a tradition that is based on the exploration for a deep insight into the meaning of life. Bhante H. Gunaratana's Mindfulness in Plain English is a easy to read guidelines for implementing meditation and mindfulness through the teachings of Buddhism. The subject of this research is to critically analyse the statements, myths, values, assertation and teachings of the Buddhism. The purpose of book is to provide teachings into daily practice. Vipassana meditation practice is the foundation of this book to understand theoretical and philosophical aspects.

Discussion

In Buddhism, there is no centrality of belief in personal God. The purpose of Buddhism is to attain the deep insight into the natural context of life. It addresses to the spiritual upliftment without the worship of deities or supreme celestial forces (Webster, 2011). The teaching of Buddhism and postulations of Vipassana meditation infers many commonalties on the study of mind and consciousness. It states that religion is more subjective towards psychological domain of studying human nature. Theravada Buddhism (oldest branch of religion) beliefs that rituals and traditions can be incorporate with the effective development of understanding layers of mind. This is deeply rooted and practised in the landmark of Southeast Asia. Vipassana and Samatha styles of meditation are critical domains of understanding state of mind.

Meditation Styles and need of Meditation

Meditation is an experiential conscious human activity. Samatha meditator focuses on related stimuli such as prayer, chant, and imagery during meditation. Vipassana is one of the ancient meditation techniques in the Buddhism. It takes years to transform the state of mind into the reality of life and enters into the liberation.

Gumption is the synonym of Meditation in the American dialect. It requires determination, energy, time and concentration to sit back and ponder over realities. Social pressures and source of contentment around us resist us from self reflection of life. Suffering is a strong word in Buddhist tradition. Human desires are endless. Meditation is a thought process to purify the irritants of ignorance, haste, greed and false promises. Meditation is the subject of personal transformation. It is like a crucible fire that ignites the concentration and thinking power. The research suggests that Buddhism does not preach to advocate one's faith only because it is prescribe in the manuscripts or authentic literature.

Misconceptions and their Justifications

There are diverse number of misconceptions that block the understanding of mind and development. These are preconceived assumptions that need to be discussed with possible outcomes.

First Myth: It is just a relaxation technique

Relaxation is part of meditation but it is not synonym to the divine concept of attaining mindfulness and spiritual contentment. The concept of Jhana applies to the system of ...