What do hindu & buddhist monks meditate for,is it for evil power & hell?

Answer 1

Meditation can bring you peace. It can help you to collect yourself and organize your thoughts, as well as make you think differently than you have in the past.

You should try meditating yourself. You've been suppressed by contemporary Western beliefs and indoctrination.

Answer 2

Did someone beat you with a stupid stick?

They meditate for inner peace. Their form of prayer. Way to stay informed about other cultures and belief systems. Ignorance truly is bliss isn't it?

Answer 3

People who wish for evil power and once get involved, will suffer the worst of it. Monks know that. They know better than to ask for it.

Answer 4

Why do you keep posting such ignorant and rude questions which bash other people's religions and beliefs? What is the point of doing this? What are you gaining besides making yourself look like an idiot?

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

I can hardly believe that people actually gave serious answers to this question.

Answer 7

just for peace themselves

just relieving themselves

thats it, you should try it

Answer 8

what in the world are you talking about????

Answer 9

Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind, often formalized into a specific routine. Meditation is usually recognized as a component of Eastern religions, originating in Vedic Hinduism. It encompasses any of a wide variety of spiritual practices which emphasize mental activity or quiescence. Meditation can also be used for personal development, such as the exercises of Hatha yoga. Many practice meditation in order to achieve eternal peace, while others do it in order to become healthier and friendlier.
Contents
The English word meditation comes from the Latin meditatio, which originally indicated every type of physical or intellectual exercise, then later evolved into the more specific meaning "contemplation." This usage is found in Christian spirituality, for example, "meditations on the sufferings of Christ"; as well as Western philosophy, as in Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, a set of six mental exercises which systematically analyze the nature of reality.

However, "meditation" in its modern sense also refers to a separate practice unrelated to Christian meditations. In the late nineteenth century, Theosophists adopted the word "meditation" to refer to various spiritual practices drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions. Thus the English word "meditation" does not exclusively translate any single term or concept, and can be used to translate words such as the Sanskrit dhyana, samadhi, or pranayama.

Meditation is usually defined as one of the following:

* a state that is experienced when the mind dissolves and is free of all thoughts
* focusing the mind on a single object (such as a religious statue, or one's breath, or a mantra)
* a mental "opening up" to the divine, invoking the guidance of a higher power
* reasoned analysis of religious teachings (such as impermanence, for Buddhists).

Its ritual and contemplative qualities are similar to prayer in Western religions, but prayer emphasizes communication with a higher being, whereas meditation focuses on developing oneself.

Meditation may be for a religious purpose, but even before being brought to the West it was used in secular contexts, such as the martial arts. Beginning with the Theosophists, though, meditation has been employed by a number of religious and spiritual movements, such as Hatha yoga and the New Age movement, as well as limited use in Christianity. It has been suggested that the recent popularity of "meditation" as a religious practice in the West signals some discomfort with more traditional Christian and Jewish practices such as prayer. Others see meditation and prayer as harmonious: Edgar Cayce taught that "Through prayer we speak to God. In meditation, God speaks to us."

From the point of view of psychology, meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness. However, many religious people would challenge the assumption that such mental states (or any other visible result) are the "goal" of meditation. The goals of meditation are varied, and range from spiritual enlightenment, to the transformation of attitudes, to better cardiovascular health.
[edit]

Types of meditation
"Gathering the Light", Taoist meditation from The Secret of the Golden Flower, by C. G. Jung and Richard Wilhelm
Enlarge
"Gathering the Light", Taoist meditation from The Secret of the Golden Flower, by C. G. Jung and Richard Wilhelm

According to Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes (2000), the different techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. Some focus on the field or background perception and experience, also called mindfulness; others focus on a preselected specific object, and are called "'concentrative' meditation." There are also techniques that shift between the field and the object.

Categorizing the varieties of meditation is difficult. One common way is according to religion or lineage. But some meditative traditions, such as yoga or tantra, are common to several religions or occur outside religious contexts. Therefore, to avoid controversy, this article will not attempt to classify all meditations into a religious class or lineage.
[edit]

Buddhism
Buddha in meditation
Enlarge
Buddha in meditation

Main article: Buddhist meditation

Meditation has always enjoyed a central place within Buddhism. The Buddha himself was said to have achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Most forms of Buddhism distinguish between samatha and vipassana meditation, both of which are necessary for enlightenment. The former consists of learning to focus the attention single-pointedly; the latter involves seeing the true nature of reality.

Theravada Buddhism emphasizes vipassana meditation directed towards anapana, mettā bhāvanā, or 38 other traditional topics (see: Kammatthana).

In Japanese Mahayana schools, Tendai (Tien-tai), concentration is cultivated through highly structured ritual. Especially in the Chinese Chan Buddhism school (which branched out into the Japanese Zen, and Korean Seon schools), ts'o ch'an meditation and koan meditation practices are extremely important, allowing a practitioner to directly experience the true nature of reality (each of the names of these schools derives from the sanskrit dhyana, and translates into "meditation" in their respective languages). The esoteric Shingon sect shares many features with Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes tantra for its senior practitioners; hence its alternate name of Vajrayana Buddhism. However, visitors to Tibetan monasteries are often surprised to discover that many monks go through their day without "meditating" in a recognizable form, but are more likely to chant or participate in group liturgy.
[edit]

Christianity

Main article: Christian meditation

Christian traditions have various practices which might be identified as forms of "meditation." Many of these are monastic practices. Some types of Christian prayer, such as the rosary, Adoration (focusing on the eucharist) in Catholicism or the hesychasm in Eastern Orthodoxy, may be compared to the form of Eastern meditation that focuses on an individual object, but these comparisons often overlook the importance of prayer in these rituals.

Christian meditation is considered a form of prayer. It's often called discursive mental prayer, because it's a prayer made using primarily the intellect, through the contemplation of the divine mysteries.
[edit]

Gnostic (Modern)

The modern Gnostic movement counts millions of students in non-English speaking countries and is only now becoming known in English.[citation needed] Gnosis is Greek for "knowledge," but indicates personal, experiential knowledge rather than mere belief or theory. As such, meditation techniques are of primary importance, because it is through meditation that any person can acquire their own personal, experiential knowledge of the mysteries of life and death. There is an enormous range of techniques taught within the Gnostic tradition, ranging from basic concentration practices to very abstract and skillful techniques similar to the highest forms of Zen and Vajrayana Buddhism.[citation needed] Each has its place in the progressive development of the individual.
[edit]

Hinduism
Jain sadhvis meditating
Enlarge
Jain sadhvis meditating

There are several types of meditation in Hinduism.

* Vedanta is a form of Jnana Yoga.
* Raja Yoga, as outlined by Patanjali, describes eight "limbs" of spiritual practices, half of which might be classified as meditation. Underlying them is the assumption that a yogi should still the fluctuations of his or her mind: Yoga cittavrrti nirodha.
* Surat shabd yoga "sound and light meditation"

[edit]

Islam

Main article: Muraqaba

Within Islam, "meditation" refers to the Sufi practice of muraqaba. Similar forms of meditative ritual in Sufism include dhikr (recitation of the divine names), sema, whirling, and devotional music such as Qawwali.
[edit]

Judaism

Main article: Jewish meditation

The concept of Jewish meditation, in Hebrew called hitboneinut or hisboneinus is explained in Kabbalah and Hassidic philosophy. The word hisbonenut, which derives from the Hebrew word binah (lit. understanding), means the process of making oneself understand a concept well through analytical study.
[edit]

Sikhism

Main article: Nām Japō

In Sikhism, the practices of simran and Nām Japō encourage quiet meditation.
[edit]

Taoism

Taoism includes a number of meditative and contemplative traditions. Originally said to have their principles described in the I Ching, Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu and Tao Tsang among other texts; the multitude of schools relating to Qigong, Neigong, Daoyin and Zhan zhuang are a large, diverse array of breath training practises in aid of meditation with much influence from later Chinese Buddhism and with much influence on traditional Chinese medicine and the Chinese as well as some Japanese martial arts. The Chinese martial art T'ai Chi Ch'uan is named after the well-known focus for Taoist and Neo-Confucian meditation, the T'ai Chi T'u, and is often referred to as “meditation in motion”.
[edit]

New Age