Wisdom is a complex human trait, characterized by a marriage of the intellect with the emotions, and put into action. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. [attributed to Confucius] The saddest aspect of life right now is that science…
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Value for Tuesday of Week 40 in the season of Fulfillment
Meditating
Through meditation, we step out of the world, within the world.
- When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind. It’s purely meditation, and we lose that. [attributed to Dick van Dyke]
- Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work. [attributed to Thich Nhat Hanh]
- Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt. [Francis de Sales]
- It’s like having a charger for your whole body and mind. That’s what meditation is! [attributed to Jerry Seinfeld]
Meditation is the art and practice of inducing a beneficial state of mind. When we can control our thoughts and emotions, with loving kindness toward ourselves and others, we create the internal conditions for openness and creativity, grounded in an attitude of peacefulness.
“Meditation and mindfulness belong to two of the currently most popular and hyped research topics in psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and neuroscience . . .” “Mindfulness is based on the Tibetan Zen Buddhist practice of meditation. It was adapted for modern psychology and integrated into therapy by Thich Nhat Hanh, Herbert Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn and Richard Davidson. Mindfulness is focusing your attention on experiencing the present without judgment from the past or worries about the future. It is training the brain to focus on sensory perception and motor behaviors as you experience them.” “During the past two decades, mindfulness meditation has gone from being a fringe topic of scientific investigation to being an occasional replacement for psychotherapy, tool of corporate well-being, widely implemented educational practice, and ‘key to building more resilient soldiers’.”
“Mindfulness is commonly defined as the awareness that arises when paying attention to the present moment nonjudgmentally.” (See also here.) Mindfulness conveys demonstrated benefits in mental health treatment. It is used in treating patients suffering from psychiatric disorders generally, (psychotherapy), multiple sclerosis, insomnia, cancer-related fatigue, substance abuse (see also here), hypertension, depression, anxiety, and stress, and by doctors in their practices. It may both improve and prolong life, and slow the rate of cellular aging. It is an adjunct to self-compassion. Review articles are available from the years 2008, 2010, and 2018.
“Mindfulness- based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a meditation program based on an integration of Cognitive behavioural therapy and Mindfulness-based stress reduction.” “Mindfulness-based therapy improves brain functional network reconfiguration efficiency”.
Real
True Narratives
Book narratives:
- B. Alan Wallace, Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism and Christianity (Columbia University Press, 2009).
- B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia University Press, 2007).
- B. Alan Wallace, Genuine Happiness: Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment (Wiley, 2005).
- Mary Carruthers, The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric and the Creation of Images, 400-1200 (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
- Joanna Cook, Meditation in Modern Buddhism: Renunciation and Change in Thai Monastic Life (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
- William Johnston, Silent Music: The Science of Meditation (Harper & Row, 1974).
- Donald A. Sulmasey, A Balm for Gilead: Meditations on Spirituality and the Healing Arts (Georgetown University Press, 2006).
Technical and Analytical Readings
- Miguel Farias, David Brazier & Mansur Lalljee, The Oxford Handbook of Meditation (Oxford University Press, 2021).
- David L. McMahan, Rethinking Meditation: Buddhist Meditative Practice in Ancient and Modern Worlds (Oxford University Press, 2023).
- A.C. Grayling, Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age (Oxford University Press, 2003).
- Tulku Thondup, Healing Meditations: Simple Exercises for Health, Peace, and Well-Being (Shambhala, 1998).
- Tulku Thondup, Boundless Healing: Mediation Exercises to Enlighten the Mind and Heal the Body (Shambhala, 2000).
- Tulju Thondup,
- Chögyam Trungpa, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation (Shambhala, 2005).
- Thomas Cleary, Taoist Meditation: Methods for Cultivating a Healthy Mind and Body (Shambhala, 2000).
- Stephen Snyder, Tina Rasmussen and Pa Auk Sayadaw, Practicing Jhānas: Traditional Concentration Meditation as Presented by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw (Shambhala, 2009).
- Shaila Catherine, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity (Wisdom Publications, 2008 ).
- Richard Shankman, The Experience of Samadhi: An In-Depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation (Shambhala, 2008).
- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation (Shambhala, 1998).
- Eihei Dogen, Beyond Thinking: A Guide to Zen Meditation (Shambhala, 2004).
- Rob Nairn, Diamond Mind: A Psychology of Meditation (Shambhala, 1999).
- Ezra Bayda, Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life (Shambhala, 2002).
- Dalai Lama, Stages of Meditation: Training the Mind for Wisdom (Snow Lion Publications, 2001).
- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion (Parallax Press, 2010).
- Robert Wright, Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment (Simon & Schuster, 2017): “The goal of ‘Why Buddhism Is True’ is ambitious: to demonstrate ‘that Buddhism’s diagnosis of the human predicament is fundamentally correct, and that its prescription is deeply valid and urgently important.’”
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Meditative music is popular today. Much of it is formulaic but here are some albums from a few artists who have transcended that, a bit.
- The bamboo flute, used in traditional Japanese music, is a natural instrument for meditative music. Stan Richardson captures this on his “Shakuhachi Meditation Music” (1998) (142’).
- Steven Halpern, “Om Zone” (2017) (67’) and “In the Om Zone 2.0” (2008) (75’) albums
- Steven Halpern, “Tonal Alchemy” (2005) (71’) album
- Steven Halpern, “Deep Theta: High Coherence Soundscapes for Meditation and Healing” (2011) (80’) and “Deep Theta 2.0: Brainwave Entertainment Music for Meditation and Healing” (2012) (74’)
- Steven Halpern, “Music for Savasana” (2001) (60’)
- Tony Scott was a jazz clarinetist until he left for the Far East in 1959. He has recorded “Music for Zen Meditation and Other Joys” (1964) (44’), “Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys” (1967) (38’), and “Meditation” (1977) (46’).
- Imee Ooi, Om Mani Padme Hum (Beautiful Chanting) (11’)
- Nawang Khechog, “Tibetan Meditation Music” (2007) (64’)
- Tibetan monks, “Om Chanting” (2018) (83’)
- Klaus Wiese, “Meditation, Volume 2” (70’)
- Arooj Aftab, “Siren Islands” (2018) (49’): “While working on the project, Aftab spent many winter nights in a very deep musical meditation, experimenting with analog synthesizers, loop pedals, electric guitar, and her own deeply enchanting voice. It is an immersive work filled with 'spiraling soundscapes for lo-fi dreaming.'”
- Schola Cantorum Reykjavicensis (Áskelsson), “Meditatio” (2016) (56’), and “Meditatio II” (2023) (61’) are two albums of ethereal choral singing, featuring works by many composers.
- Mari Boine & Bugge Wesseltoft, “Amame” (2023) (56’): “Together, they create a meditative, open soundscape you can breathe and rest in. It is both insistent and hypnotizing.”
- Third Coast Percussion, “Between Breaths” (2023) (59’): “The works on Between Breaths explore aspects of meditation in sound, incorporate unconventional timbres and tones, and invite listeners to lose themselves within a captivating sonic landscape.” “The present album’s title, Between Breaths, refers to music as a means of escape from the chaos of the modern world . . .”
- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra, "Promises" (2021) (47′) is organised the way a mantra is: one simple seven-note phrase, repeated with only slow, subtle shifts in the harmony around it, laid down like a heartbeat and left to run almost the length of the piece. Over that cell Sanders enters and sings and cries and finally falls to wordless voice, the orchestra swelling and receding, until near the end the mantra dissolves and the ensemble lifts free — a slow, hypnotic pilgrimage most listeners take in one unbroken sitting, exactly as it asks. A phrase is repeated past the point of thought until the repetition stops being repetition and becomes a doorway, carrying us somewhere transcendent by the oldest contemplative means there is.
Giorgi Arnaoudov, piano works:
- Incarnation Dans La Lumière, Ritual II (Incarnation in the Light) (1992) (approx. 9’)
- Angela Tosheva, “Of Light” album (2009) (58’)
Other compositions:
- Joel Puckett, “I Enter the Earth” (2015) (approx. 16’), “sets words, spoken by shaman Kxao =Oah of northwestern Botswana in 1971, in a meditative work connecting body and soul with vocal swells, wide-pitched lead lines and static reflective held notes.”
- Sebastian Fagerlund, String Quartet No. 1, “Verso l'interno” (2007) (18’): as per the title, this evokes turning inward.
- Eugène Ysaÿe, Meditation-Poème for Cello and Piano, or Cello and Orchestra, Op. 16 (1910) (approx. 12-13’) (list of recorded performances)
- Huang Ruo, “A Dust in Time” (2021) (approx. 62’) “traces a meditative journey inspired by Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas.”
- Often “referred to as the king of morning ragas”, Raga Bhairav “creates a meditative atmosphere that is majestic and masculine in character. If Bhairav were a divine person, he would be very serious and somber.” Performances are by Niloy Ahsan, Venkatesh Kumar, and Bhimsen Joshi.
“Classical” albums:
- Tenebrae, Christian Forshaw & Nigel Short, “When Sleep Comes: Evening Meditations for Voices and Saxophone” (2022) (63’): “Exploring the distinctive sound world of voices and saxophone, When Sleep Comes juxtaposes ancient and modern, bringing new context and colours to sacred music by Orlando Gibbons, Hildegard von Bingen and Thomas Tallis. Also featuring a number of original works, the album as a whole invites you to a place of quiet reflection and contemplation.”
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Nawang Khechog, “Meditation”
- Nawang Khechog, “Zen Blues”
- Nawang Khechog, “Walking into the Himilaya to Meditate”
Visual Arts
- H.C. Berann, Meditation
- René Magritte, Meditation (1936)
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