Meditation in Buddhism
Meditation is the basis of Buddhism. People have sometimes said to me, "I am not really interested in meditation - just teach me the daily life practice". Well, it is not as simple as that; you have to do the sitting meditation as well. You have to have a kind of test bed, a sense of created space to allow the complexities of your mind to exhibit themselves. Just practising in everyday life is too difficult and too pressured; you don't have enough space to really relate to what is going on.
The historical Buddha Shakyamuni told one of his disciples that his Dharma (teaching) was "come and see", meaning that it is an open invitation to everybody without any sense of, "You must believe in this". In the Buddhist context, the Buddha is the principal example of someone who has woken up and become free from the oppressive conditions which arise from false ways of seeing ourselves and the world. The word Buddha is not actually the name of a person, it comes from the Sanskrit word bodhi meaning awakening, so Buddha literally means 'The Awakened One'. The Buddha is the founder of an unbroken continuity or lineage of teachers who have brought the teaching of awakening through the practice of meditation all the way down to the present time.
The prime focus in Buddhist meditation is on awareness. There is an intrinsic quality of wakefulness, the Buddha Nature, which exists within everyone right from the start. It cannot be destroyed and it cannot be enhanced. However, there are things which cover it over and prevent us from seeing it. As you practise you are revealing this quality of awakening in yourself, and also beginning to see it in others. Initially you may be narrowly benefiting yourself, but more importantly in the long term, the benefit from what you are doing will extend beyond yourself to everyone.
This particular meditation comes from the Nyingma (Old School) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is not practised only within this school, but it is particularly important in this tradition. It is a kind of practice of the type known as samatha, which means abiding in peace. However, it is really a practice associated with the developmental process which moves from the basis of abiding in peace, into a state of expansive awareness or vipasyana (insight).
Copyright - Rigdzin Shikpo 2007