January 2020 TDM
The History of Meditation issue
Welcome to the ninth issue of The Daily Meditator ✌🏾This is your monthly resource for fun, quirky, interesting, and noteworthy happenings in and around the worldwide meditation community—created by Bliss More author and daily meditator Light Watkins. Guest edited by Kristen Vandivier.
Our intention is simple: to broaden the horizon of what a daily meditator looks like while providing you with more inspiration for committing to your daily practice.
In this issue: we’re going to pause on reporting more meditation studies and articles that say meditation is good for you and instead, we’re going to run it back to the early days of the practice—partially to inform, and partially to test your knowledge of the history of meditation. We’ll look at some of the early players in the meditation game, some significant events, and the systems of thought that inspired humans in nearly every part of the globe to start sitting quietly with their eyes closed... Ready to go back to the beginning?
[ DATING MEDITATION ]
Just how old is meditation?
Hint: it's older than you think. The practice of meditation is reported to be older than writing, religion, the pyramids, and all of the ancient human civilizations. How do we know? Because somebody discovered wall art depicting people sitting with their eyes half-closed was in the Indian subcontinent, dating from approximately 5,000 to 3,500 BCE. That's 5,000 (BCE) + 2020 (CE) years, which means the person who created it did so over 7,000 years ago.
The oldest texts that make reference to meditation aren't quite that old, but they refer to it as an “ancient practice.” This is because, in all of the ancient wisdom traditions of the world, knowledge was transmitted orally long before it was ever written down. Therefore, no one can say definitively when meditation officially began or who started it. But most of the evidence points to the Indus Valley Region (located in what is Pakistan and northwest India today) as meditation's place of origin.
Bottom line: Think of anyone or anything you've ever heard about in modern human history. Got it? Okay, meditation is older than that. Crazy, right?
[ MEDITATION & PHILOSOPHY ]
Matching the doctrine with the system of thought
Which is the doctrine of Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism? Can you match them?
A.The four noble truths: 1) the truth of suffering, 2) the truth of the cause of suffering, 3) the truth of the end of suffering, and 4) the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
B.The four goals in human life: 1) the pursuit of pleasure, 2) the pursuit of material success, 3) leading a just and good life, 4) and enlightenment.
C.The four basic concepts: 1) benevolence, 2) moderation in all things 3) propriety, duty and the rules that define good social relationships, 4) recognizing the nature of things by giving them their right names.
D.The three jewels: 1) compassion, 2) moderation, and 3) humility.
[ MEDITATION & RESEARCH ]
The first meditation studies
Answer: The first piece of scientific research on meditation actually took place in 1936, but the first study using the EEG (brain wave measuring apparatus) happened in 1955. And the first collection of scientific studies on meditation was made in 1977 by James Funderburk, a student of Swami Rama of the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science.
What Funderburk found was that Swami Rama (pictured above) was able to voluntarily control his bodily processes (such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and body temperature) which science had up until then considered being involuntary. Among other things, he was able to:
alter his heartbeat while sitting motionless, to 300 beats per minute for 16 seconds, and within a few minutes he completely stopped his heart from pumping blood for some seconds.
create different skin temperatures on adjacent sides of his hand by consciously dilating and contracting his blood vessels with his mind.
produce alpha, delta, theta and gamma brain waves on demand.
remain fully conscious of his environment while his brain was in deep sleep.
These and other demonstrations triggered much interest in the scientific community to further study the effects of meditation in the body.
[ MEDITATION EVENTS ]
Place the following historical events in order of occurence
Try to guess which event came first, second, third, and so on.
Paper is invented in China.
Cuneiform, the oldest human writings appear in ancient Mesopotamia.
The Tibet Book of the Dead was written.
Construction begins on Stonehenge in what is now the United Kingdom.
Meditation was first mentioned in historical records.
Siddhartha Gautama (later known as The Buddha) is born in India.
Construction began on The GreatPyramid of Giza.
Answer: In order of occurence
B = Cuneiform is used in 3200 BCE
D = Ground breaks on Stonehenge in 3000 BCE
G = Pyramids construction started in 2600 BCE
E = Meditation was first mentioned in 1500 BCE
F = The Buddha was born in 600 BCE
A = Paper was invented in 100 CE
C = The Tibetan Book of the Dead was published in 1927
[ MEDITATION & THE GURU ]
Guess the Guru
Another guessing game: The Guru, or teacher, has been the most important figure in preserving the original knowledge of meditation, in memorizing the various methods and passing them down to their students and protégés. The following individuals were pivotal in popularizing the practice. Can you guess which Guru is known for which action?
A. Paramahansa Yogananda
B. Swami Vivekananda
C. Mahatma Gandhi
D. Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha)
He was the first Indian Guru to travel to America to introduce meditation to the West in 1893.
He was originally born a wealthy prince, but gave it up for spiritual pursuits.
This Guru wrote the first modern spiritual classic.
This Guru famously said: “I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.”
Answer:
B. Swami Vivekananda was the first Easterner to introduce meditation to the West in 1893.
D. The Buddha was originally born a wealthy prince, but he left it all behind to pursue the path of truth when he saw the poverty and sickness beyond his palace walls. This also led him to drop his birth name, Siddartha Gautama.
A. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote the first modern spiritual classic called Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946. It introduces the reader to his encounters with spiritual figures of both the Eastern and the Western world.
C. Gandhi famously said: “I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.” In fact, Gandhi learned how to meditate from Paramahansa Yogananda when Yogananda was spending time on Gandhi’s ashram. After receiving the technique, Gandhi practiced regularly and faithfully morning and night and it helped him to remain calm as things intensified in India.
[ MEDITATION & PRIVILEGE ]
The racist event that helped spread meditation to the West
The real reason Americans began traveling to India. In the early 20th century, the United States immigration service, fueled by racism and xenophobia, imposed a strict quota on immigration from non-white countries. The 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration Act prevented immigration from Asia. The idea was for America to preserve its white European ethnic homogeneity.
Prior to that, Swami Vivekananda toured America in 1893 to spread the word about the Vedanta philosophy. As one can imagine, Vivekananda experienced overt racism while in America, and particularly in the South, where he was often confused for black.
Some blacks also believed Vivekananda was a “distinguished Negro,” and in one case, a black porter congratulated him for representing black people so well. When one of his followers asked why Vivekananda never corrected people who mistook him for an African American, he replied angrily: “Rise at the expense of another? I did not come for that.”
Although Swami Vivekananda's ground-breaking tour showed that there was an appetite for spiritual knowledge in the West, Indians found it increasingly difficult to travel there with the immigration ban in place. So if a Westerner wanted to know more from Indian gurus or the Vedanta, they were forced to travel to India—hence the reason why meditation remained an almost exclusively-Indian practice until the 1950s.
After Congress revised the xenophobic act, contemporary gurus like Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada (who started the Hare Krishna movement), and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the founder of TM) came to America to spread the ancient Indian practices.
Bottom line: If you could call the spread of meditation the silver lining of America's history of immigration bans, we'll take it.
[ READ. WATCH. LISTEN. ]
Read: American Veda
"American Veda" is a singularly ambitious and panoramic report and, in some cases, review of the many ways in which Indian spirituality has impacted and informed American culture and cultural precepts over the past two-hundred-plus years. This is a fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture, this eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious landscape. Read now
Watch: On Meditation
On Meditation is a compilation of portraits that explore the deeply personal practice of meditation in all its myriad forms. Practiced for thousands of years, meditation is at once profound and simple: the focused attempt to move beyond conditioned thinking into a deeper state of awareness. Yet, what does that path, one of the inner journey, which is above all a private, interior one really look like? On Meditation conveys first-hand experiences of those who have developed meaningful practices and are willing to share their experiences. From teachers to everyday people to celebrities, the subjects of On Meditation offer a rare glimpse into the private insights and rituals of its subjects. See the trailer
Listen: Philosophize This!
Philosophize This! is one of our favorite podcasts dedicated to sharing the historical ideas that shaped our world! Beginner-friendly and made for anyone interested in an educational podcast about philosophy where you don’t need to be a graduate-level philosopher to understand it. In chronological order, the thinkers and ideas throughout history that forged the world we live in are broken down and explained. Listen now
[ REPORT FROM THE FIELD ]
What have you gotten from meditating?
When I first started meditating I got the gift of peace and calm. As I embarked on new goals (running a 1/2 marathon!) or dealt with life challenges (contract negotiations) I was able to ground and focus. Over time I think my connection to meditation has strengthened my intuition and creativity. Since I began meditating the world’s connection to digital and screen time has also grown. Meditation is both a life preserver and anchor in a world full of noise.
What was your strangest meditation moment?
I’ve taken my meditation practice with me all over the world and meditated while on safaris in Kenya or on volcanos in Bali but I wouldn’t say any of those were strange. Sometimes I feel strange like when I started a new relationship, or traveled with someone, and need to explain my meditation practice. “Welcome to my house, help yourself to coffee, I’m going to be over there meditating." Sometimes people look at me sideways but I wouldn’t ever sacrifice a session for cool points!
What has been your most unexpected benefit of meditation?
Being a meditator, I’m hyper-aware of what feeling “clear” is. Again, I started meditating almost 8 years ago and our work pace or connections to phones and social media were much different back then. I feel like I’m hyper-aware of the spinning feeling that I can get from being plugged in too long and am more conscious of my screen time. The meditation is a counterbalance to that and I think keeps me feeling more human. Also, in 2019 I decided to go back and finally finish my senior year of college - and I did it!! Meditation can make gigantic tasks seem a bit more bite-sized. Graduating is something I had to do for my career but it was always something on my bucket list and I did it!
[ WHO TO FOLLOW ]
Two of our favorite daily meditator Instagram accounts with a purpose
Sharon Salzberg @sharonsalzberg
Sharon Salzberg is a New York Times Bestselling author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practices in the West. She co-founded the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Her emphasis is on vipassanā (insight) and mettā (loving-kindness) methods and has been leading meditation retreats around the world for over three decades. Plus she's just an awesome human being! Follow her here
Jack Kornfield @jack_kornfield
Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. Over the years, Jack has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings, and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a father, husband and activist. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies. Follow him here
"Everything else can wait, but your search for God cannot wait."
Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
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