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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 41

studying with him and eventually became his cook, which Many people have tried different types of Buddhist
marked my entrance into more serious Dharma study. meditation. How do we know if we are progressing
in meditation?
There are different types of meditation available
today. What is the aim of Buddhist meditation This is a great question, and it’s not straightforward
compared to other forms of meditation? to answer because we often mistake progress in

meditation for simply feeling better or more calm. Many
There isn’t a single answer to this question, as of us, either consciously or unconsciously, are looking
Buddhism, in my understanding and study, is not a to relieve our pain and stress. While feeling calmer and
singular tradition. It’s more of a plural tradition with less stressed is positive, in Buddhist meditation, that
many different forms around the world, including in the doesn’t necessarily indicate progress.
West. However, there are some basic principles common
to all these different forms of Buddhism, tracing back to In some sense, you could say we are progressing when
the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, who first turned we find more groundedness and our mind can rest more
the wheel of the Dharma around 2,600 years ago. easily. However, as I mentioned earlier, this isn’t unique
to Buddhist meditation, nor is it necessarily the goal.
The aim of Buddhist meditation across all Buddhist The goal isn’t simply to calm the mind – it’s to know
traditions usually relates to the Four Noble Truths: the the mind, to understand what is correct perception and
truth of dukkha (dissatisfaction or suffering), the truth what is misperception. This understanding then begins
of its cause, the truth that dukkha can be eliminated, and to affect our conduct and our way of compassionate
the truth of the path to eliminate it. These Four Noble interaction with ourselves and others.
Truths serve as guidelines not just for understanding
Buddhism’s principles, but also for understanding how For most of us, progressing in meditation takes time,
Buddhist meditation functions and why we practice it. especially when we’re talking about the Buddhist goals
of reducing and eliminating dukkha and misperception
In Buddhism, we meditate to fundamentally understand around self and other. However, there are some signs
what dukkha is, why it arises, and most importantly, how of progress, particularly in how meditation reflects
to reduce and eliminate it through meditation. There are in our conduct and relationships with others. Are we
two primary forms of meditation in Buddhism: shamatha becoming more open, spacious, and compassionate
(sometimes translated as calm abiding or meditative in how we view others? Or are we becoming more
awareness) and vipassana (insight meditation). While judgmental and rigid?
shamatha isn’t unique to Buddhism and can be found in
various Vedic, Hindu, and Taoist traditions, what’s unique Becoming more compassionate, open, spacious, and
to Buddhism is its approach to vipassana. understanding of ourselves and others is a positive
sign because it means we’re starting to understand the
In Buddhist vipassana, we’re trying to understand the human predicament and our own mind. We begin to see
raw nature of reality. This practice helps us uncover that others are not so different from us – while we may
insight into the nature of self and the perception of other, experience different types of suffering, fundamentally, we
or basically the perception of everything other than all want happiness and freedom from pain and stress.
self. We uncover both the selflessness of phenomena
and the selflessness of our sense of self. This is what Another key measure is feeling more free in relation to
makes Buddhist meditation unique – it aims to free our thoughts and emotions. Many people might think
us from the roots of dukkha, which is based on a false the goal of meditation is to eliminate thoughts and
or misperception of self and world. We uncover this emotions, but in Buddhism, that’s not the case. The goal
through a combination of shamatha and vipassana, or is to understand their nature and become more flexible
meditative awareness and insight meditation. with them.