Meditation and mindfulness help us “meet life’s complexities with greater resilience and insight.” — Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022)
There are currently more than 506 million Buddhists around the world, with the largest numbers in East and Southeast Asia. Approximately 250 million Buddhists live in China. However, the Chinese government has no favoritism towards any religion, and more than half of the Chinese population does not belong to any religion.
The various sects of Buddhism are named after Buddha (563-480 BC), whose name means “Awakened One” in Sanskrit. However, Japanese Buddhists refer to Buddha as “Shakyamuni.”
Zen, on the other hand, cannot be expressed or explained in words because it must be experienced. Zen Buddhist monks and practitioners seek to find enlightenment or enlightenment by practicing zazen or seated meditation. Monks and practitioners like Thich Nhat Hanh place great importance on mindfulness and meditation.
Fondly referred to by his followers as “Thai (Master),” Thich has written over 100 books on Zen, published in many languages. Thay’s native language was Vietnamese, but he was fluent in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit and Pali. As an artist, Thay creates calligraphy as an act of mindfulness, and his work has been featured in exhibitions.
Many beginners have a Zen master who can teach them how to calm down and relax. But you don’t need a Zen master to practice mindfulness and meditation. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness can best be described as bringing “focused attention” to the present moment, rather than reliving the past or worrying about the future. (See Dr. Christy Gibson’s book, The Modern Trauma Toolkit.)
Dr. Gibson points out that mindfulness has many benefits: it gives you a new perspective on life, reduces stress, elevates your mood, improves sleep quality, and treats anxiety and depression. Spending time dealing with random thoughts, negative thoughts, anxieties, and fears about what the future holds can be exhausting.
Australian scientists found that mindfulness boosted two types of brain activity: it increased the “efficiency of the brain pathways that process information coming from the senses,” meaning that improved attention actually helped participants perceive information more accurately.
Mindfulness focuses you on the present moment, which can improve your brain’s ability to accurately perceive the world. Previous research prior to the Australian study above had shown that this component of thinking that makes up a person’s IQ is relatively fixed, as it is based on how the brain functions. Based on this new study by an Australian team, mindfulness can actually change a person’s brain and IQ. (See Dr. Budson, “Can Mindfulness Change the Brain?” May 13, 2021).
How does meditation fit in? Simple. Mindfulness is a form of meditation. Meditation brings peace of mind and relieves stress. Anyone can practice meditation. You don’t need any special equipment to meditate.
I am not a Zen Buddhist. As a Roman Catholic, I practiced meditation as a teenager. At first, I dealt with various distractions. I realized that I could make distracting thoughts disappear as quickly as they came into my mind. In the silence, I listened to the voice of God, and in John Wesley’s famous words, my heart was “warmed with wonder.”
Most people today meditate to relax and deal with stress in a world that is constantly changing and full of conflict. You can practice meditation while walking your dog, waiting in line at the bank or doctor’s office, brushing your teeth, etc. Listening to soothing music can also help you relax and meditate.
Some people who meditate like to think about specific passages from the Bible, the Quran, the Lotus Sutra if they are Zen Buddhist, the Bhagavad Gita if they are Hindu, or other spiritual reading such as books by Mother Teresa, poems by Rumi, the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, or Sufi writings if they are Muslim.
There are many ways to meditate, it could be taking a deep breath when you wake up from sleep, or focusing on someone important to you like your parents, siblings, relatives, your dog or cat, etc. Above all, you should not criticize the way someone meditates as this can increase your stress levels.
Finally, my mindfulness tells me to close this article. I urge you to try mindfulness and meditation. Please give it a try.
Richard Penascovic is a professor emeritus at Auburn University. His work has appeared in the Birmingham News, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, the Montgomery Advertiser, and online at Informed Comment and Politurco.
