Main Components:
What are the main components of the various meditation practices? Which components are universal and which ones are supplemental?
The variety of meditation practices is an indication of the diversity of the combination of main components and the way in which a given component may be emphasized in a practice. Given the multitude of practices and the many variations or techniques within these practices, it is impossible to select components that might be considered universal or supplemental across practices. Some practices prescribe specific postures (e.g., Zen Buddhist meditation, Tai Chi, Yoga) while others are less concerned with the exact position of the body (e.g., TM, RR, CSM).
Some practices (e.g., Vipassana, Zen Buddhist meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong) incorporate moving meditation, while others are strictly seated meditations (e.g., TM, RR, and CSM). Some clinically-based practices (e.g., MBSR, MBCT), though guided by the underlying practice of mindfulness, combine several techniques. In this, however, they are not substantially different from older multifaceted meditation practices such as Yoga. More detailed summaries addressing the main components used to describe individual practices are described below and summarized in Table 4. However, it is worth noting here some general conclusions that can be drawn from them. Though some statement about the use of breathing is universal across the practices, this seems more indicative of the ubiquitous ness of breathing in humans rather than a universal feature of meditation practices per se.
The control of attention is putatively universal; however, as noted below, there are at least two aspects of attention that might be employed and a wide variety of techniques for anchoring the attention, no one of which is universal. In terms of the spiritual or belief component of meditation, no meditation practice required the adoption of a specific religious framework. However, if Taoist metaphysical assumptions of Qi Gong are crucial to correctly understanding, visualizing, and guiding qi flow, then at least this practice would seem to require the adoption of a particular belief system.
Nevertheless, this aspect of all meditation practices is poorly described, and it is unclear in what way and to what extent spirituality and belief play a role in the successful practice of meditation at all levels. The amount of variation in the described frequency and duration of practice make it difficult to draw generalizations about the training requirements for meditation techniques. Lastly, the criteria for successful meditation, for both the correct practice of the technique and the achievement of successful out comes, have not been described well in the literature.
Breathing:
How is breathing incorporated in these practices? Are there specific breathing patterns that are integral elements of meditation? Is breathing passive or directed? The use of the breath is ubiquitous in all practices; however, the importance and attention given to it vary from practice to practice. Each meditation practice and technique has a breathing pattern or element that can be considered integral to that technique, whether the breath is actively controlled in terms of its timing and depth (e.g., Zen Buddhist meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi), or passive and “natural” (e.g., TM®, RR, CSM, Vipassana, MBCT).
The practice of Yoga, which covers thousands of techniques, uses both active and passive breathing. Though the direction for active breathing may be relatively uniform across the techniques in a given practice (e.g., Zen Buddhist meditation), other practices use a wide array of breathing techniques that change according to the outcome desired (e.g., Kundalini yoga). For those practices that utilize passive breathing, there is no consistent pattern or rhythm as “breathing naturally” will vary from practitioner to practitioner.
Attention and Its Object:
For each type of meditation practice, where is the attention directed during meditation (e.g., mantra, breath, image, nothing)? The purposeful focusing of attention is considered crucial in all meditation practices. However, like breathing, the techniques for anchoring attention vary and there is no single method shared by all practices. For those practices that use a mantra (e.g., TM, RR, CSM), in some the mantra may be repeated silently, and in some aloud.
The factors surrounding the choice of the mantra vary and the nature of the mantra chosen will influence the number of associations brought forth by the word and the vibrations caused by the vocalization of the mantra. Some mantras will have no meaning to Western practitioners unfamiliar with Sanskrit (e.g., TM, CSM, Yoga), while others will (e.g., RR).Other forms of meditation practice focus attention on bodily sensations (e.g., Vipassana,MBSR, MBCT) or a body part (e.g., Tai Chi) to the exclusion of other thoughts.
The so-called mindfulness techniques focus on the breath and cultivate an objective openness to whatever comes into awareness.72 Though this may be interpreted as not focusing attention, or, as it is sometimes paradoxically phrased, as focusing on nothing, the attention is controlled and directed with the aim of achieving a distance from one’s emotional and cognitive responses to the objects in the field of attention. The difference between mindfulness meditation and other practices lies in the acceptance of these other thoughts into the field of awareness.
Though the distinction between concentrate and mindfulness meditation has prima facie validity, the reality is somewhat more complicated because some practices, such as Zen and Vipassana, have phases where concentration is used, and for which certain techniques such as counting or concentrating on a mantra are employed, while at other stages broad spaced mindful attention is encouraged.
Spirituality and Belief:
To what extent is spirituality a part of meditation? To what extent is belief a part of meditation?
The one common feature of all meditation practices examined in this review is the apparent ability to practice meditation without adopting a specific system of spiritual or religious belief. However, the extent to which spirituality and belief are part of any given meditation practice is poorly described. Furthermore, if the Taoist metaphysical assumptions of Qi Gong are crucial to successfully understand, visualize, and guide qi, then at least this practice requires a doping a specific belief system.
The extent to which spirituality or belief play a role in any meditation practice appears to depend in large part on the individual practitioner. Though the traditional practices were developed within specific spiritual or religious contexts (Vipassana, Zen Buddhist meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong), and therefore have spiritual or religious aspects, this does not mean that a practitioner must adopt the belief systems upon which they were based. In addition, some practices developed for purposes other than spiritual enlightenment; for example, Tai Chi and Qi Gong were developed within a system martial exercise and Traditional Chinese Medicine, respectively.
Though Yoga, too, has spiritual and religious components, it is often considered more properly a system of metaphysics and psychology, especially when the ethical instructions are ignored. In summary, it appears that all meditation practices can be performed, to some degree, without adopting a specific system of spirituality or belief.
Training:
What are the training requirements for the various meditation practices (e.g., the range of training periods, frequency of training, individual and group approaches)? Training refers to the specific periods of practice, the frequency and duration of practice, and how long a practitioner is expected to train before becoming proficient in a given technique. The training for meditation varies with periods of practice, ranging from 5 minutes
(RR, Vipassana) to several hours (Yoga). The frequency of practice ranges from daily (MBSR, MBCT, Tai Chi, Vipassana, Yoga) to twice daily (TM, RR, CSM, Qi Gong). Zen meditation does not specify a frequency of practice. Few practices give a required duration of practice; however, some (Yoga, Zen Buddhist meditation) give an indication of the time required to master a given technique.
Criteria of Successful Meditation Practice:
How is the success of the meditation practice determined (i.e., was it practiced properly)? What criteria are used to determine successful meditation practice?
The criteria of successful meditation practice is understood both in terms of the successful practice of a specific technique (i.e., the technique is practiced properly) and in terms of achieving the aim of the meditation practice (e.g., leading to reduced stress, calmness of mind, or spiritual enlightenment).
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