Meditation

Chitachakra Wish-Granting White Tara with a rainbow aura of colors representing the five activities and protective tents.

Chintachakra White Wish-Granting Wheel Tara: The All-in-One Mother of Buddhas in Vajrayana Buddhism – Her Significance, Mantra and Why Her Practice is Essential

Rinpoche taught that the best posture and meditation position for Mahamudra is the Lotus position if possible, as long as it's comfortable.

What Is the Importance of the Human-Nature Connection in Buddhism?

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Meditation Increase Receptivity, Activity Sensitivity — Why That’s a Good Thing

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How Human Design Can Inform and Guide Meditation Practices

Larger fish drums are often hung outside temples.

Waking up the Mind in Buddhism! The Zen of Drumming for a Wakeful Mind and Mindfulness with the Wooden Fish Drum’s Unique Sound

Totally quieting the mind is a "myth" or a symbolic description rather than an actual aspiration. Stilling the mind is so that we can observe without attachment, mindfully. It's not about sealing your mind in a sound-proof bottle, or jumping in an isolation tank.

On Debunking the “100% Quiet Mind” Meditation Myth — Aware is Not the Same as Empty

How do you create a cellular utopia. The power of will and meditation over the body is widely understood.

Can Meditative Mind Create a “Cellular Utopia” for Your Body? Reducing Cell Stress with Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation brings a new perspective on the nature of time.

The Nature of Time: Mindful Meditation on Duration Judgment and its Relationship to the Subjective Experience of Time

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How Do You Know When You’ve Entered a “Proper” Meditative State?

For stress, the best medicine is a little quiet meditation.

Does Meditation Really Impact Heart Health? What Research Shows

The goal of achieving Theta waves during meditation is difficult, but worthwhile. Research shows there are significant health and cognitive benefits. (Simulation in this image only, not actual theta.)

Are Somatic Experiencing and Mindulness meditation the same? No — but they are complimentary…

Because Hayagriva's mandala was not re-absorbed (as is traditional) his mandala remains as active places in our inner body and as outer places in the world.

Riding the breath: exploring chakras, meridians, and the subtle body; the quality of “I” and releasing the shackles of mind

Meditating quietly on the beach in the warm sun is our metaphor for Zen or Chan Buddhism.

The mindfulness paradox: why meditation can help relieve pain

Visualizing Tara, from a video by Buddha Weekly.

The Hero’s Journey — is imagination the path to Enlightenment? Can truth be discerned with creativity? Why visionary Buddhism is about “practice” rather than “study”

Many statues of Buddha feature the Abhaya Mudra, the hand held up in a protective mudra gesture.

Transform your life with the four protective meditations taught in Buddhism

Venerable Zasep Rinpoche teaching on  Heart Sutra in a sacred cave near Vulture Peak mountain, India, where the original Heart Sutra was taught.

Mahamudra, vast like space and beyond mind; polluted by nothing with nothing to obscure openness

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Shabkar’s Song of Practice: the entire path, from refuge to generation to completion in one song by one of the great sages of Tibet

Just sitting in mindful practice can be thought of as both Buddhist practice and martial arts skill.

Six ways to focus the mind: Metta, mindfulness, breath, progressive, transcendental, or Zazen

Meditation has proven health benefits.

Settling the Mind or Activating the Mind — which meditation works, why and how? One’s good for health, the other for mind, and…

His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaching.

Targeted Calm-Abiding Meditation: Dalai Lama and Lama Tsongkhapa teach how to target the main affliction for a more precise meditation result

Meditation doesn't have to be limited to sitting. If you find sitting too difficult due to health, fatigue, pregnancy or other issues, just be comfortable. Stand. Walk. Alternate.

5 ideas for people who find seated meditation difficult — and ways to re-motivate your practice

Seated Zen demonstration from a video by Deputy head priest Taizo-in within Myoshin-ji Daiko Matsuyama.

Zazen is “good for nothing” — the journey to Enlightenment starts with “just sitting” — and it’s good for your health, stress or anxiety (studies)

Remaining mindful while walking is a well-known daily practice in Buddhism. Here monks lead lay practitioners on a silent walking meditation in Thailand.

Mindfulness in action and every-moment awareness: learning to live life to the fullest; meditation through living

A man meditates in nature. Meditaiton has 10 recognized health benefits based on research.

Ten confirmed health and wellness benefits of meditation: the science of mindfulness, with 17 cited research studies

For stress, the best medicine is a little quiet meditation.

Mind-space, it’s all we need. Meditation quiets the mind, even if you can’t find a quiet space. Buddha’s advice “I am silent.”

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Theta brainwaves in meditation for health and cognition benefits, and how to achieve through mindfulness, repetition, sound, visualization, mantra

Visualizing light coming from the heart of Amitbaha Budha as a practice, then entering our body.

How does Vajrayana visualization generate Tummo body heat, heal, and help us advance in Buddhist realizations?

Parnashavari appears in the forest. This is a visualize scene in Buddha Weekly's Parnashavari Mantra visualization video. Reader Adrian had two visualized experiences after watching this video and meditating on the mantra.

Parnashavari Meditation Experiences — and meeting Hayagriva (What I experienced meditating with Buddha Weekly videos)

MInd, thought by many theorists to be separate from the brain, is often described as a field, similar to a gravity field.

Visualization Activates the Mind; Mindfulness Stills the Mind — Which is Right for Your Buddhist Practice?

The very face of compassion, Metta personified in glorious Avalokiteshvara, the compassionate Buddha.

Avalokitesvara compassion practices can “enhance treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma” say some scientists and clinicians. For the rest of us, his compassion brings us closer to bliss and wisdom.

Mandala offerings are very active forms of veneration and meditation.

Mandala Offering: offering “everything to the Buddha” — purify karma and accumulate merit daily

A monk holds the hand of a deceased person found on a train platform in China.

“Learning how to die” and “Why Meditating on Death May Bring Joy to Life”: What the Buddhist Teachers Say About End of Life, Dying, and Palliative Care

Guanyin Bodhisattva — Kuan Yin or Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig — is synonomous with Metta (loving kindness) and Karuna (compassion.)

Metta meditation in times of crisis: “we all have a responsibility to exercise compassion” (Dalai Lama)

Zazen, silent sitting meditation — clasically, facing a blank wall — is, to some people synonymous with Zen.

‘Outside Tradition and Scripture’ – Zen Buddhism: “If you meet the Buddha, kill him.”

A young monk plays a drum at Tawang Togya festival at a temple in Arunachel Pradesh India.

Drumming for Mindfulness — a simple way to calm the mind, remove stress and heal. Studies show drum meditation supports treatments of cancer, Parkinsons and depression.

The complex visualizations required in Vajrayana meditative methods, which can include holding detailed images for long periods of time, dramatically and immediately improve cognitive ability according to research from NUS.

Science: Research Indicates Vajrayana Meditation Techniques Involving Deity Visualization Improve Cognitive Performance and May Be Promising For Degenerative Brain Disorders

Zasep Tulku Rinpoche answering questions after  Mahamudra teachings  in Owen Sound.

Mindfulness of Feelings Meditation: Overcoming Negative Feelings and Using Discriminating Alertness of Feelings in Your Practice: Mahamudra Teachings

Black Mahakala is the most iconic of the wrathful Enlightened Deities. He is a ferocious emanation of the Buddha of Compassion Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig.

Wrathful Deities: The First Responders in Meditation; the Psychology of Fearsome Enlightened Buddhas

A student meditating on a break.

Research: Meditation Benefits Students With Enhanced Intelligence, Reduce Stress, Improved Academic Performance

What do the Dalai Lama and Patch Adams M.D. have in common? They both believe in the power of laughter to heal.

Laughter — the Best Medicine: What the Dalai Lama and Patch Adams Have in Common

Matthieu Ricard is still smiling after a grueling, claustrophobic meditation session in an MRI. He is a monk participant in an extensive study on compassion's effect on happiness and health.

Scientific Buddhist: Healing meditation, prayer and mantras? Do they work — according to research? Can we turn to mantras for help?

Visualizing the Medicine Buddha Mantra and rays of healing Lapis Lazuli light emanating from the Buddha, and absorbed into the patient (or self) assists in healing.

The First Doctor: Medicine Buddha Bhaisajyaguru Lapis Lazuli Light — Empowering You to Heal; the Buddha of Healing and Medicine and Doctors

Soto Zen priest Ruyosho Joaquin Salazar centre.

Mindfulness: a Soto Zen priest discusses sensory and mental stability — and a vision absent of contamination

A medically accurate depiction of the Vagus Nerve, the largest nerve in the body that is believed to be the mechanism by which meditation can affect the body.

The Science Of Your Center: The Vagus Nerve, Your Meditation Highway, And The Parasympathetic Nervous System; How Meditation Works Positively on the Body

Meditation teacher Kimberly Brown, author of Steady, Calm and Brave.

Interview with meditation teacher Kimberly Brown, author of Steady, Calm, and Brave: 25 Practices of Resilience and Wisdom in a Crisis

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Dealing with the Monkey King: Meditation Techniques for People With Unsettled Monkey Minds

You visualize your own body as hollow, the nature of divine light, and in the centre of your chest you visualize the HRI seed syllable. The HRI syllable symbolizes your consciousness.

What Are We? The Body is the Channel — Energy and consciousness are enmeshed principles in Tibetan Buddhism

Buddha showed suffering beings a way to escape the Karmic Wheel of Suffering through the Eight-Fold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. When we meditate on Buddha's image with concentration, or practice mindfulness, or pray for the release of suffering for all beings, or practice metta (kindness) and generosity, we generate positive karma.

Mahayana Thought Training – Turning Adverse Circumstances into the Path of Awakening: An Ideal Practice for Our Times

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If you can’t go outside — go inside. How mindfulness can help cope with COVID-19. 12 easy tips.

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Into Lucid Dreaming — going deep with Dream Yoga; helping touch the enlightened state of awareness

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Benefits of meditating before bed; especially now, as we endure lockdowns, meditation can help you relax and sleep

Mindfulness is a healthy practice anytime. Mask optional.

Tips for Teaching Children Mindfulness and Meditation — ideal practice during lock down

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Meditation as key to increasing concentration, cognitive ability, productivity — tips for reducing stress and easing sleep

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Why the Buddha is Regarded as the Supreme Healer; plus, a daily healing meditation anyone can practice.

Writing with pen (or quill) can be very empowering as a method of meditation.

How to Use Writing as a Meditation Practice

Practice Mindfulness Daily — schedule it in your agenda.

Mindfulness and meditation daily: tips for making it a healthy habit

A man in lotus posture meditating on a dock.

10 reasons meditation benefits students (and, the rest of us): citations from experts and studies

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Improving your meditation by cleansing your environment, purging technology, and de-cluttering your space and mind

Family meditation. Children can benefit from meditation.

How Children Benefit from Meditation? 5 Reasons to teach your kids meditation.

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Why it can be a struggle to practice meditation regularly — and tips for overcoming the obstacles

Buddha Tarot by Robert Place features the life and journey to Enlightenment of Siddartha Buddha as the major Aracana, in place of the "fool's journey" to spiritual enlightenment.

“Yoga for the west” How Tarot can map to almost any spiritual path — including Buddhism — as meditative art. Part 2 of a series

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The Science Behind Stilling Your Mind With Mindfulness —– MRI Scans Show the Amygdala Shrinks While the Pre-Frontal Cortex Thickens

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Transcendental Meditation: insight and stress relief. Buddha: “Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.”

Stress comes at us from many directions. Lifestyle changes can help you manage stress.

The effects of stress on your body: how meditation and 8 other lifestyle changes can help you stay healthy

A growing group of scientists in consciousness studies theorize the mind as an energy-like field surrounding and separate from the body.

Buddha the first consciousness scientist? Science only now beginning to explore what Buddha taught 2500 years ago? Full excerpt from Surangama Sutra

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Technology and apps for Buddhist meditation: useful in modern life — especially with between 500 million and 1.6 billion Buddhists worldwide

Home retreat may be an ideal practice during times of social isolation.

How a Home Retreat Helps Busy People Manage Time and Save Money; How to Do It, and Why it is Necessary

Lapis Lazuli Medicine Buddha is an aspect of Shakyamuni Buddha that is famous for healing meditations.

Video Medicine Buddha Retreat, part 1: open self-healing weekend with visualization, mantras and teachings with H.E. Zasep Rinpoche

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Video Teaching: Amitabha Amitayus Powa teaching and guided meditation — transfering consciousness to the Pureland when dying or as a practice for “healing the mind.”

Matthieu Ricard is still smiling after a grueling, claustrophobic meditation session in an MRI. He is a monk participant in an extensive study on compassion's effect on happiness and health.

“Putting Compassion on the Scientific Map”: Compassion Boosts Happiness/Health; and Research Indicates That Practicing Buddhists Are Happier than Average.

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Zen Skateboarding: Riding Into Enlightenment

A Buddhist monk performing formal walking meditation on a forest path.

Cankama Sutta: Walking Meditation Sutra: put some mileage on your Buddhist practice with formal mindful walking

Visualizing the self as the deity is a Vajrayana practice that helps us understand the illusory nature of relative phenomenon.

“Mind is the creator of our own happiness or suffering”—Venerable Zasep Tulku Rinpoche teaches Lojong Seven-Point Mind Training

Zasep Tulku Rinpoche teaching Mahamudra in Ontario. Rinpoche is an internationally respected teacher, spiritual head of several meditation centres in North America and Australia.

“Mahamudra is ultimately about trying to experience absolute truth” — and Helping Your Mind Get to Know Your Mind: Teaching Retreat Notes, Zasep Tulku Rinpoche

Incense is a form of honor and worship in Buddhism and other religions

Scientific Buddhist: Why Incense is More Than Just a Pleasant Backdrop to Meditation; Research Reveals Brain Health Benefits

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What’s Your Karmic Net Worth? Avoid Compound Negative Karmic Interest with Vajrasattva Mantra and Four Opponent Powers.

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Which Type of Meditation Suits You Best: Instructional Infographic explains why a Regular Habit of Meditation is Good For You, and How to Do It.

According to peer-reviewed research, pain reduction and relief from depression are two major benefits of mindfulness meditation.

Research Indicates Meditation May be As Effective as Medicine for Depression (JAMA Psychiatry Journal): Taking a Buddhist Approach to Mental Health

Silent meditation can helps us feel the oneness with all. "Here we are sitting in silence without looking at each other but every single one of us feels more connected to each other."

Buddhist Home Retreat: What the Teachers Say About the Home Retreat Practice for Busy People Who Can’t Attend Extensive Retreats

For some, standing meditation is a necessary Buddhist practice either due to lack of alertness, of physical pain during sitting. Buddha Weekly explores how to use standing meditation for mindfulness.

The Better Way: Standing Meditation? For those with injuries, arthritis or a sleepy mind, standing can help us achieve mindfulness

Zasep Tulku Rinpoche with a student at a Mahamudra event in Owen Sound, hosted by Mindfulness of Grey Bruce.

Much More-Than-Six-Words of Advice — Mindfulness of Body; Anger; and Healing Through Meditation (Mahamudra Teachings Session 2)

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