History of Meditation

Meditation is an ancient method of transforming the mind that has been practiced in many parts of the world. In primitive cultures, shamans likely entered into a meditative state to seek instructions or guidance from the spiritual world. Written records that discuss traditions of meditation appear in the Hindu Vedas from around 1500 BC onward, and meditation was likely incorporated into early Hindu teachings. From the sixth to fifth centuries BC, Taoist China and, Buddhist India began developing their forms of meditation.

In the Mediterranean region, around 20 BC, Philo of Alexandria wrote of "spiritual exercises" involving deep concentration, and Greek philosopher Plotinus experimented with meditative techniques in the third century. Saint Augustine investigated the Greek's methods but "did not achieve ecstasy." Later, the advent of the mercantile Silk Road to Asia spread aspects of Buddhism to other countries, including the concept of Zen meditation to China. Judaism may have bequeathed its meditative practices from earlier Israeli traditions, or they might have existed from the start. In Genesis, Isaac was said to go into "Lasuach"- a meditative trance.

In eighth-century Japan, Buddhism began to increase in earnest, and meditative practices brought from China by the monk Dosho, in 653 were further developed. As more practices arrived from China, they continued to be modified and refined. In 1227, when the monk Dogen returned from China with the written steps for Zazen, or sitting meditation, a community of meditative Zen monks was conceived.

In Western Europe during the Byzantine period, between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, a tradition of contemplation called "hesychasm" developed. It required the repetition of the Jesus Prayer and may have been influenced by Indian or Sufi mystics. The Christian meditation of Western Europe tended not to use repetition or require specific postures. In the 1500s, the practice was further modified by saints such as Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila.

During the eighteenth century, European intellectuals had a penchant for "Orientalism" in general and the study of Buddhism in particular. German philosopher Schopenhauer discussed it in salons and the French writer Voltaire begged tolerance for Buddhists. The first English translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead appeared in1927. Swami Vivekananda had already aroused Western interest in yoga and meditation, and subsequent visiting gurus kept interest in Indian mysticism keen. Secular schools of yoga and meditation meant for non-Hindus began to evolve, focusing more on stress reduction, relaxation, and self-improvement than on spiritual awakening. Among these were forms of hatha yoga and of transcendental meditation (TM), which became popular in the 1960s when pop icons The Beatles visited its creator, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.