Western meditation vs Buddhist meditation

If by meditation we mean close or continued thought in the sense of sustained reflection, then Buddhist meditation (jhāna/dhyāna) does not match the western idea of meditation. 

Buddhist meditation is more about the stilling of thoughts before a sudden shift into direct intuition of the absolute, i.e., transcendental knowledge (prajñā) occurs.  In Buddhism, such knowledge can never be the result of analytical reasoning but can only reveal itself, spontaneously, by a special kind of meditation.

The process of stilling is not, as we might think, done by willing.  It is about awareness or mindfulness that gets behind our inner world of thoughts.  But it doesn’t will.  Our thoughts become still as we decondition our normal habit or impulse to engage with various kinds of thoughts and emotionally tinged thoughts.  Even though one believes they are mindful of their thoughts as they arise and change, nevertheless, they are engaged with various thoughts, still under their spell.  The practitioner cannot do Buddhist meditation while they are still under the domination of the five hindrances, namely, sensual desire, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, doubt.

Years ago, when I meditated in an adit that went back into a hill some 43 feet, it was much easier to meditate.  It was so quiet you could almost hear ashes drop from the burning incense.  The atmosphere of the adit helped me to be mindful of my thoughts to a great extent.  But I had also overcome the five hindrances by living in solitude which made this meditation doable for me. 

I should mention that in Buddhism overcoming the five hindrances  is a prerequisite for proper meditation.  This is where modern Zen and its practitioners delude themselves.  They are not doing real meditation because they are still under the influence of the five hindrances.  This, by the way, is one of the reasons one elects to become a monk or a nun and live away from the madding crowd.

 

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[Jung]

The price of spiritual self ignorance is that it is all consuming.

What consumes completely, never let´s go.