Buddhism

Question

Read Chapter 7 Christian Diversity from the book World Religions Today 5th Edition By: John L. Esposito Darrell J. Fasching and Todd T. Lewis 
then read my post on the attached word document and reply to the post on the bottom highlighted in yellow

Answer

Meditation is a process of continuous contemplation coming from deep within one‘s being. It requires one to achieve calmness of the mind to be able to focus (Krishnamurti&Blau, 2002). This student’s post does bring out a few correct facts about meditation based on the book World Religions Today. However, some further explanation may be required in order to place a clear distinction between mindfulness and trance meditation. 

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Mindfulness meditation is aimed at enabling one to become aware of the events happening at the present time in order to achieve a calm mind. A person focuses on breathing, thoughts and sensations while avoiding conscious awareness of anything else, in what constitutes passive concentration. It may be incorrect to suggest that one lets go of all outside interference of thought, which is impossible(Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis, 2012). Instead, it would be appropriate to say that one should focuson what he/she is doing presently, eventually gaining complete attention to the point of becoming unaware of anything else around.

In the post, it may be important to explain how an individual can become mindful of existential reality. Meditation requires discipline as it is not an easy task to achieve and understanding that it is an action of everyday life (Krishnamurti&Blau, 2002). By simply saying that one focuses on breath while at the same time becomes oblivious, it still does not really explain the concept in great detail.According to the post, meditation “typically involves passive attention to one’s breathing, sensations, and thoughts during meditation, sometimes referred to as open monitoring”. This statement is correct, and only requires further elaboration and some examples particularly those related to existential reality.

The post also explains trance meditation in an insightful manner, just like in the book.Whereas mindfulness meditation trains one to be in the moment by being able to focus on what one is doing, trance meditation helps one to be optimistic and is able to keep from negative feelings(Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis, 2012).In the latter case, one is completely aware of the surroundings. The insights provided in the posts can go a long way in helping individuals to draw distinctions between the two concepts.

References

Esposito, J., Fasching, D., and Lewis, T. (2012). World religions today, 5^th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press

Krishnamurti, J. &Blau, E. (2002). Meditations: Shambhala Classics, Revised Edition. Krishnamurti Foundation Trust Ltd.