Three Ways to Meditate in the Modern World (Perennial Habits)
The PATH | Ancient Practices for Daily Life
Welcome to The PATH (Monday Meditation): A weekly reflection with three insights into daily life. This week’s reflection explores perennial habits or three types of meditation practices (Vipassana, Metta, and Centering Prayer).
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1. Vipassana Meditation
What is the best meditation practice? I’ve heard it said that the best diet or exercise plan is the one you can follow. The same notion applies to meditation or any perennial habit. The point is to find a meditation practice that works for you. Although this can be no small feat since there are many different types and variations of meditation practices to choose from.
“Meditation is not evasion, it is a serene encounter with reality.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
The longtime meditation teacher and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, Joseph Goldstein suggests,
“Our progress in meditation does not depend on the measure of pleasure or pain in our experience. Rather, the quality of our practice has to do with how open we are to whatever is there.”
What is Vipassana Meditation?
Vipassana, or insight meditation, is the practice of continued close attention to sensation, through which one ultimately sees the true nature of existence. It is believed to be the form of meditation practice taught by the Buddha himself, and although the specific form of the practice may vary, it is the basis of all traditions of Buddhist meditation (Read detailed instructions or Listen to free Guided Meditations by Jack Kornfield).
In his book Insight Meditation: A Psychology of Freedom, Goldstein stresses the connection between meditation and living a moral life. According to Goldstein, “If we try to practice meditation without the foundation of goodwill to ourselves and others, it is like trying to row across a river without first untying the boat; our efforts, no matter how strenuous, will not bear fruit. We need to practice and refine our ability to live honestly and with integrity.”
2. Metta Meditation
In metta meditation, we direct lovingkindness toward ourselves and then, in a sequence of expansion, towards somebody we love already. Somebody, we are neutral towards. Somebody we have difficulty with. And ultimately toward all beings everywhere without distinction, writes Sharon Salzberg (author of Real Love).
The word “metta” is a Pali word, most often translated as loving-kindness, but it has also been translated as universal goodwill or loving-friendliness. The practice originates from the historical Buddha’s early discourse on immeasurable friendliness, the Metta Sutta (Read detailed instructions and listen to a guided meditation by Sharon Salzberg).
“Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”
– Alan Watts
Salzberg observes that during metta meditation, people are amazed to find out that they have a capacity for lovingkindness, both for themselves and for others. “Due to our past conditioning, explains Salzberg, “many of us do not trust our capacity to love.” Metta involves a tremendous opening and purifying of our fields of intention, which can then infuse our vipassana practice as well as our entire life.
3. Centering Prayer
Christian meditation (or centering prayer) has similarities and differences with Eastern meditation practices. In his wonderful book Centering Prayer, Dr. Brian Russell (a previous podcast guest) describes it this way,
Centering prayer is, first and foremost, a method of prayer. As such, its goal is communion with God. It helps to draw us closer to God. It deepens our relationship with God. Unlike more common types of prayer, centering prayer is wordless and practiced in silence and most often in solitude.
Moreover, centering prayer is a distinctively Christian form of meditative prayer. At its core, centering prayer involves sitting in silence with God and surrendering or disengaging from our thoughts and feelings.
You can learn more about centering prayer in this episode of The Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations Podcast with Dr. Brian Russell titled How Centering Prayer Can Change Your Life.
“We meditate that we might learn to see through Christ’s eyes the divine mystery of all that surrounds us.”
— James Finley
Do you ever feel a calling to solitude (or stillness)?
In his short book, Christian Meditation, the psychologist and contemplative teacher James Finley observes that the “desire to practice meditation means you are being blessed in a most extraordinary way. You are being led into the waters of meditative awareness, in which hermits, monks, and nuns living in monasteries, … have found a deep and abiding.”
What stands in the way of adopting a stillness practice?
Final Thoughts
One of the many reasons contemplative practices are challenging (to do consistently) is our busy and hectic lives. As someone who spent five years in the DC area, I am all too familiar with balancing long commutes, family life, and raising young kids. But what if doing and being are not separate?
The Franciscan priest Richard Rohr emphasizes the need for action and contemplation. In this short video, Rohr describes the meaning of contemplative prayer and why it matters. Meditation or stillness practices, in general, are what I call perennial habits. They are lifelong practices. Like virtue, stillness is its own reward.
To quote the American Catholic monk Thomas Keating,
Don’t judge centering prayer on the basis of how many thoughts come or how much peace you enjoy. The only way to judge this prayer is by its long-range fruits: whether in daily life you enjoy greater peace, humility, and charity.
If you feel the call to practice stillness — I encourage you to answer it!
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful in this brief introduction to contemplative practices. If you’d like to join us for our final meetup this Wednesday (at Noon EST) for Wisdom 101: The Timeless Art of Leading a Life, we are discussing the art of journaling and meditation.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. If you found something useful, take a moment to share it!