About Buddhist Meditation

There are many different forms of meditation in Buddhism. Some go back to the Buddha himself (and possibly further back in time than that) while others are more recent developments.

But what is meditation? Meditation is the conscious cultivation of mindfulness, positive emotion, and clear perception of the ways things are.

Meditation is not a form of prayer, in which we call upon an external agency, but a form of inner training, in which we cultivate new ways of being. In meditation we consciously cultivate positive mental habits.

The term meditation encompasses many different techniques that facilitate the the cultivation of, amongst other things, calmness, relaxation, one-pointed concentration, lovingkindness, compassion, a sense of wellbeing, and insight into the impermanent and interconnected nature of reality.

In meditating we use some object on which we direct our attention. We can use the sensations of the breath, our emotional connection with ourselves and others, the physical sensations of the body, sounds, visualized images, etc.

Buddhist meditation is broadly divided into Shamatha and Vipashyana practices. Shamatha (Pali: Samatha) practice calms the mind and helps develops one-pointed concentration and positive emotions. Vipashyana (Pali: Vipassana) practice builds on the calmness, focus, and positive emotion generated in Shamatha , and helps to develop an awareness of the impermanence, interconnectedness, and the contingent nature of our experience.

On Wildmind we follow the traditional approach of cultivating Shamatha before approaching Vipashyana. In traditional Buddhist teaching there is a great emphasis on learning to calm the mind so that we can then go on to insight practices. Generally we at Wildmind don’t teach Insight Meditation except under supervision on our online courses.

We teach the following practices on this site:

We also offer advice on meditation posture (essential to establishing an effective practice), and on our blog we have a constant output of articles on all aspects of practice as well as news on the latest developments in the world of meditation.

Meditating has been shown in clinical studies to have many medical and psychological benefits, including promoting a sense of wellbeing, boosting the immune system, promoting the development of cortical matter in the brain, and slowing aging.

  • Frequently asked questions
  • Meditation and Buddhism glossary

    • View Comments

    • Hi, I checked out the Vipassana group mentioned in one of the comments, but it is more of a retreat than a practise group. It is a 10-day intensive meditation retreat and I am not sure many of us here will be able to take off from work for 10 days. Does anyone know of a practise group that meets on weekends or maybe twice a week for an hour or so? That would be most helpful. If not, can we Dubai people start a practise group of our own?

    • Hi, I too stay in Dubai and I checked out the Vipassana group mentioned in one of the comments, but it is a 10-day intensive meditation retreat and I am not sure many of us here will be able to take off from work for 10 days. Does anyone know of a practise group that meets on weekends or maybe twice a week for an hour or so? That would be most helpful. If not, can we Dubai people start a practise group of our own?

    • Are there any Zen Sangha's in Dubai?
      If not, we would like to start one - is it legal to start a Zen school in Dubai?

    • HI to everybody!I am going to go in Dubai in january 2011, for 2 years.I would really like to meet people who are interested in buddhism.I have a intensive meditation and sangha life in my own country and i want to keep this ritm in dubai too.if anybody are intersted pls write me.(Vadrajana)
      Thank you!

      ps.Ii dont know if is good idea to publish my e mail here .pls help me to decide about it.

      • If you do want to publish your email address, I'd suggest you do it in a disguised form: username (at) domain dot com, for example. This would prevent most spam bots from being able to harvest it. Good luck in Dubai!

      • Hello Shaji.

        I'd be very happy to lead a workshop in Dubai sometime. All I'd need is my travel expenses covered, a place to stay, and somewhere to teach a class. I'd imagine it would be possible to get a large enough group together to cover those basic costs. What do you think?

    • i am going to move in dubai december 2010.i would like to keep contact with someone who are interested in buddhism for talk about it and meditate.pls write me vasandi77 at yahoo dot it. thank you

      ps Bodhipaksa thanks for the advise!

    1 2 3 4
    Leave a Comment