This Friday, at a birthday party for a friend, someone asked me what is meditation? A basic, sound question, I first explained to Karl (the person who asked me the question) that meditation taught these days is mainly for the purpose of achieving relaxation. I then went on to say the Buddha's meditation is not about this. The meditation the Buddha taught is the means by which one gains access to ultimate reality and, by so doing, is able to distinguish what is true and everlasting from what is illusory and finite.
Karl didn't seem to have a problem with this answer. I didn't try to dumb down my answer either. I then went on to explain the Buddha's meditation by way of analogy using transverse waves (or transverse vibrations) and longitudinal waves. I pointed out that the phenomenal world we apprehend with our senses, including our entire body, can be thought of as transverse waves—in fact, from a scientific view the whole visible universe is one of transverse waves or the same, electromagnetic waves. Such waves even include our thoughts which are more like transverse vibrations.
I explained to Karl that transverse waves were like ocean waves consisting of up and down motions, whereas longitudinal waves are more like sound waves although this is not quite accurate insofar as most illustrations of sound waves actually show transverse waves. Perhaps a better example is a huge block of steel. If you tap on it with a hammer the wave created is more like a longitudinal wave. It goes with the steel medium—not up and down like a water wave does which is occurring at right angles to the body of water (i.e., up and down).
What the Buddha wants us to do, I told Karl, is enter into the world of longitudinal waves which are harmonious with the absolute medium of reality, this medium being pure Mind. However, there is a problem—a very challenging one. Unlike transverse waves, which are in opposition to the medium from which they arise and then eventually cease (the arising and ceasing showing their inadequacy), connecting with longitudinal waves cannot be approached by thought or any kind of mentation or mental exercise since these are transverse. And least of all will physical practices work.
However, there is a way to do it. Part of us is interfacing with the world of transverse waves putting us in immediate sympathy with the psychophysical body of birth and death while another part is not. This is connected with the medium of pure Mind itself. This is where “one pointedness of mind” comes into play because when our mind reflects into itself thus becoming singular (i.e., itself) instead of manifold (i.e., transverse), it becomes longitudinal resonating with the field of pure Mind, itself. In other words, we come to suddenly harmonize with Mind, itself, the absolute medium.
Again Karl didn’t seem bothered with this answer. In fact, he was excited about meditation after I began to lay out the details. This became for me, somewhat of a learning experience, too, because I realized that meditation could be put into a more accurate analogy and still be understood.
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