There are two further ways of interpreting Dhyana: one is to Contemplate while the other is to Meditate. The contemplating version proposed that one must ponder and obtain the answers one was on a quest for, while the Meditative version suggests that one mustn’t ponder, that one should still one’s mind and eventually seek wisdom. Both gave rise to various kinds of meditative practices that fall under the banner of Vipassana (mindful) and Samatha (mind-less) meditations, respectively. 

Dhyana

Mindfulness originates in Buddhism as a spiritual or psychological sense of awareness also known as sati. According to traditional Buddhist texts, it is the faculty of focus. To practice mindfulness in the Buddhist sense means to notice the path of your attention and intentionally direct it towards a particular object. The practitioner develops mindfulness as an ability.  

Mindfulness as a Buddhist Practice

It was during the period of ritualized worship that people began questioning the Artha (philosophies) behind its Karma (actions). Buddha questioned their fundamental beliefs- the Tapa (penance; act of depriving one’s senses from experiencing pleasures such as eating, drinking water, etc.) one puts themselves through and these Yajnas (rituals) one organizes, the concept of believing that doing the work alone would help attain Nirvana (enlightenment), won’t provide any wisdom, and that one must do Dhyana/Chintan (contemplate/ponder) over the Karma (actions) one’s performing to understand the Artha (philosophies) behind it. That was the proposed path for Enlightenment. 

State University of New York at Buffalo

"Buddham Saranam Gachhami,

Dhammam Saranam Gachhami,

Sangham Saranam Gachhami"

"To gain an entrance into Buddhism, we must first seek refuge at our Guru (teacher’s) feet, on the Marg (path) paved for us, within the Sangham (community) he has forged." 

The literal translation of Buddha is that of a ‘Learned One’, while its deeper interpretation suggests him, who is the ‘Awakened One’. To understand the philosophies governing Buddhist practices, one must understand the concept of Karma. 

Karma is the cumulative of the actions that helps identify the nature and quality of one’s future lives. As the foundation to the Sanatana Dharma, of which Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism are a part of, Karma plays an important role in binding an individual to the Samsara (cyclical nature of life and rebirth). There exists a notion of Moksha or Nirvana (liberation or enlightenment) that can be attained if one does Dhyana.


Buddhist Philosophy

Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL

The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism

Birth of Buddhist Meditative Practices

Buddhist concepts of anatta, the view that there is not an intrinsic, fixed self, and impermanence, the view that things are in perpetual flux, could be beneficial to western psychotherapy in helping the clients recognize the inner cause of suffering and appreciate the non-dual nature of reality. Buddhism suggested that cessation of mental suffering requires one to detach from the view that there is a fixed, permanent self that exists independently of other beings and see the constantly changing nature of things. This idea of not-self and impermanence could be combined with modern psychotherapy, which seems to be missing the mark by trying to teach patients how to deal with outside problems, not realizing they can be the result of inner malfunction. With Buddhist perspectives adding in, psychotherapy can be a person-centered process wherein the therapist is not trying to fix what goes wrong,, but explore with the clients what it means to be a self and develop the ability to undo false constructions.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After