Monks+and+Meditation

Introduction Since the sixth century in India, meditation has been of highest importance to many peoples. As it came to Japan, many people do it and achieve peace of mind and other goals reached through meditation. Meditators also use many different methods of meditation. There are many aspects of meditation, including history, monks, gardens, reasons to meditate, and how to meditate. All these points made meditation what it is today.

History The history of Zen Buddhism started very long ago. It was founded in India by a man named Siddhartha Gautama. In about the sixth century B.C. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family. When he was a young adult his experiences with the outside world drove him to seek out a greater understanding of life and spiritual fulfillment. Through seeking guidance and meditation, Siddhartha achieved Enlightenment. From that point, he was known as the Buddha, which means 'Enlightened One'. For the rest of his life, the Buddha travelled great distances teaching people about one path to salvation. After the Buddha's death, his pupils continued to spread his teachings. Buddhism developed at a time when Hinduism, the most widespread religion in India, had become tightly controlled by priests and the upper classes. Buddhism offered hope and access to spiritual understanding and satisfaction to ordinary people.

Monks Monks have their own Social class. They leave the social class of the peasants, samurai, artisans, merchants, the Emperor, the Shogun, roguns, and the daimyos to become monks. Monks can be any age. Novices are usually younger. Novices are usually a little older than 11. They wear a robe, but really it is three robes combined. The robe is made of an inner robe, from the waist to the knee, an upper robe, around the torso and shoulders and an outer robe used as an over garment.

The Five Precepts In order to overcome greed, hatred, and delusion, a person needs to change not only his or her personal conduct or lifestyle, but also the system that creates them. Buddhist ethics, such as the Five Precepts (sila), address this structural change more vigorously.

The first precept is to refrain from killing other living things:

The prohibition against taking the life of living beings applies not only to humanity but also to creatures of every kind, both big and small. Each day a vast number of animals are slaughtered as food, for most people eat meat while vegetarians are not common. In the field of science, animals are used in many researches and experiments. In the administrative field, arms are used in crime suppression. The first precept is against all of this.

The second of the Five Precepts is to refrain from stealing: Taking possession of anything that has not been given by its owner or stealing, is also bad, even legally speaking. This is wrong in the world outside and inside the Buddhist Temples.

The third precept is to refrain from sexual misconduct: This kind of wrongdoing is unacceptable. One who commits it does not command respect nor inspire confidence. Sexual misconduct involving persons with whom conjugal relations should be avoided according to custom, or those who are prohibited by law, or Prohibited by the Dhamma (Patimokkha), is also wrong. So is coercing by physical or even financial means a married or even unmarried person into consenting to such conduct. The purpose of this third precept is to preserve the respectability of the family of each person concerned and to safeguard its sanctity and inviolability. By the same token, respect of person, place and property should be customary behavior, as laid down in the book “Ethics of Good People”, which says, for example: “Do not intrude into people’s homes without invitation. Do not peep into their rooms from outside”.

The fourth of the Five Precepts is to refrain from false speech: Lying is generally regarded as wrong. Nevertheless, people very seldom speak quite truthfully to one another and so their word can hardly be relied upon. Sometimes they are unable to speak the truth; for instance, they may have to lie to save themselves from harm, and doctors lie bolster their patients’ morale. Lying under these circumstances may be contrary to the precept, but it is not entirely contrary to its purpose. This precept aims at bringing about mutual benefits by adhering to truth and avoiding verbal offences. Similarly, utterances harmful to another’s well-being such as, for example, malicious, abusive or slanderous speech intended either to deride others or to vaunt oneself, may be truthful, yet they must be regarded as wrong, because they are contrary to the precept. It is said that the Lord Buddha Himself, besides saying only what was truthful, useful and fitting and laying down the precept against lying, also discouraged malicious, indecent and vain speech.

The fifth is to refrain from intoxication: Intoxication is things like drugs and alcohol. Monks were not allowed to use drugs or drink alcohol.

Gardens The Japanese rock garden or "dry landscape" garden, often called a zen garden, creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully-composed arrangements of rocks, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and uses raked gravel or sand to represent water. It is usually relatively small, surrounded by a wall, and is usually meant to be seen while seated from a single viewpoint outside the garden, such as the porch of the hojo, the residence of the chief monk of the temple or monastery. Classical zen gardens were created at temples of zen Buddhism in Kyoto, Japan during the Muromachi Period. They were intended to imitate the intimate essence of nature, not its actual appearance, and to serve an aid to meditation about the true meaning of life.

Reason to Meditate Meditation has many goals to achieve. The most important motivation in meditation is to connect with the world and nature. Enlightenment is a major goal to meditators. To have enlightenment is to have peace of mind. Enlightenment is important because it helps one connect to nature and the world. Another goal is to have a “mind’s eye”. Some gardens are set so one cannot see all fourteen rocks at once from any angle. After meditating for a long period of time on the garden, one can “see” all fourteen rocks by using their mind. Some statues show a decoration on the forehead, showing the “mind’s eye.” Many people practice meditation, including monks, samurai and even your average Japanese person. Samurai meditate as part of their Bushido or code. Meditation is important to Japanese culture.

How to Meditate Meditation can take a lot of time to master, though the general ideas are simple. Keeping the mind from straying is the simplest way to explain meditation. Focus on one idea or motion trains the mind. Concentrating on a single thing takes lots of focus. Reaching enlightenment can take hours and can be sudden or gradual. Meditators usually go into a trance-like state of mind after a while. Meditators also sit in certain positions. When siting with each foot on top of the other thigh is called the full lotus position. Having only one foot like this is called the half lotus. These are commonly used positions in meditation. Using these methods leads to proper mediation.

Conclusion Meditation has been an important aspect to Japanese culture. It brings one’s self closer to nature. Through hours of meditation, people have achieved enlightenment. We hope you learned a lot about meditation.

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Citations Conder, Josiah. Landscape Gardening in Japan. Reprint. New York: Dover, 1981. "Zen Buddhism." BBC. BBC, 2002-10-02. Web. 3/1/2012. Brinker, Helmut, and Hiroshi Kanazawa. Zen: Masters of Meditation in Images and Writings. Zurich: Artibus Asiae, 1996. Trainor, Kevin. Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.

Citations

Conder, Josiah. Landscape Gardening in Japan. Reprint. New York: Dover, 1981. Web. 3/1/2012.

"Zen Buddhism." BBC. BBC, 2002-10-02. Web. 3/1/2012.

Brinker, Helmut, and Hiroshi Kanazawa. Zen: Masters of Meditation in Images and Writings. Zurich: Artibus Asiae, 1996. Web. 3/1/2012

Trainor, Kevin. Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.