Types of Meditation
Types of Meditation
This essay distinguishes between directive meditation, which seeks to bring about inner transformation by means of outside-in processes, and non-directive meditation, which builds on inside-out processes. The two types differ in terms of their meditation object (thematic vs. technical), mental attitude (concentrative vs. non-concentrative), and the context surrounding the practice (suggestive vs. non-suggestive). Most meditation practices include both directive and non-directive elements, but differ widely in their emphases, as illustrated by references to modern studies as well as traditional works on meditation. The suggested distinction differs from the widespread Buddhist-inspired contrast between “concentrative” meditation (or “focused attention”) and “insight” meditation (or “open monitoring”), which is shown to be problematic, especially when applied to non-Buddhist forms of meditation. The social constructivism that has long dominated cultural history tends to give preference to explanations based on directive working mechanisms and to disregard the equally important processes associated with non-directive meditation.
Keywords: outside-in, inside-out, meditation object, mental attitude, context, samatha, vipassanā, attention, Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623), The Cloud of Unknowing
Hawaii Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
