The following outline of the history of meditation is a synopsis of information presented in the class text Meditation for Dummies by Stephan Bodian (41-56).
As a means for altering one's state of consciousness, meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Historically, meditation has played a major role in spiritual and religious movements, enabling its practitioners to escape the bonds of mortal being and earthly limitations so that they might glimpse the divine or experience spiritual enlightenment. Anthropologists assert, for example, that primitive cave paintings depict shamans in meditative trances as they embark on ritualistic journeys to the spiritual realms from which they bring back sacred wisdom and powers to mankind. In its more formal expression, meditation has its roots in ancient India and the Hindu religion where it developed along three different lines: Yoga, Tantra, and Buddhism. As Buddhism spread throughout Asia, meditation evolved related yet distinct characteristics in the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana as well as the Chinese and Japanese traditions of Zen.
The ancient practice of meditation was not limited to Asian and Oriental cultures. In the Middle East, meditation as contemplative prayer was practiced by prophets and mystics in early Judaism and Christianity. In addition, in the Islamic tradition meditation took on singular expression in Sufism. Finally, as Eastern and Near-Eastern religions spread to the West, meditative and contemplative practices were introduced and survive today in both traditional and modern forms. Old World meditation finds its counterpart in the Native American cultures where it remains a central component of daily spiritual life. We may also perceive the traces of ancient African spiritual rapture in combination with Christian ecstatic practices in the traditional ecstatic gospel music of modern African American Pentecostal churches.
As a vehicle for personal growth and enlightenment, Asian and Oriental meditation gained a foothold in nineteenth-century American society through the interest of philosophical and literary groups such as the Transcendentalists and the Theosophists. The twentieth century saw a surge of interest in the traditions of Yoga , Zen, and Transcendental Meditation as more artists, philosophers, and even psychoanalysts grew to recognize its physical and mental benefits, popularizing meditative practices further. Although it has not entirely shed its spiritual underpinnings, meditation today is practiced within a variety of social contexts and applications– in hospitals, in day-care centers and schools, in the military, and throughout the workplace. Promoted through the media, print, and the Web, meditation has been introduced to nearly every segment of modern society.
You will refer to the Bodian class text–pages 91 through 154--for practical instruction in meditation. I will guide you in our in-class meditations. Read also Bodian's chapter on "Troubleshooting," pages 199-216 and his sample exercises on pages 301-313. Go to Meditation Note.
While the spiritual and physical benefits of meditation are well-documented, recent research in the fields of linguistics and composition suggests that meditation is a valuable learning aid in the areas of critical thinking and writing. In his essay "Writing, Inner Speech, and Meditation," writing expert James Moffet points out that specialists in linguistics and cognition such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and A.R. Luria agree that when people think, they use symbol systems called languages (see Bibliography). While some languages can be visual, musical, or mathematical, most are verbal. Thus thinking (primarily a verbal activity) may be described as "discursive,"or, in other words, internalized speech--mental conversation. For example, discursive thinking or "inner" speech is a general ordering of and focusing of attention on material that is contained in the endless stream of ideas and concepts within the subconscious mind. From this fluid, unedited inner speech finally emerges one's verbalized thought either in "outer" speech or writing, both of which are the distilled, filtered, and edited versions of inner speech. Conversely, when one listens to conversation or reads the thoughts others have written, the ideas become absorbed within the mind, entering subconscious inner speech where they are retained until some time in the future when, perhaps, they will be processed, reordered, and verbalized again in outer speech or in writing.
Writing requires one to distill, filter, and edit inner speech and thought almost instantaneously. For those who find it difficult to get their thoughts down on paper, to get the words to flow, or even to find the right words to express their thoughts, many writing strategies have been developed over the last twenty-five years in the field of writing and composition to help overcome writing blocks. Researchers have assured us that we should concern ourselves less with creating a finished "product" than with recognizing that writing is a "process" of discovery and expression (see also The Bedford Bibliography and CCCC Annual Bibliography in Bibliography. In many ways, process writing can help open gateways to inner speech. Some writing experts have recently noted that meditation–when used in combination with writing-- is a wonderful means to help writers both discover their voices and express their ideas.
Moffet suggests that with the help of meditation, one can relax, draw one's attention inward, and "witness" the flow of inner speech that occurs at the center of the self (236). Inner speech is a swirling matrix of ideas, so to speak, of which we may not be fully conscious, nor might we be aware of connections between certain ideas until we view them in a meditative state. Attention to one's inner speech, he maintains, also heightens self-awareness, which is not only crucial to producing effective writing but is also an important goal of the meditation experience. Moffet identifies two distinct modes of meditation that we shall apply to writing and reading poetry in this course:
1) Unfocused meditation: This is perhaps the most elementary meditation technique. It requires simply that we witness the flow of thoughts in inner speech without controlling it but also without being "carried away" by it (236). We simply allow the internal conversation to take its course. Moffet calls these "serial thoughts."
2) Focused meditation: This is the deliberate attempt to "narrow down and focus" inner speech. One sets a subject or theme and then concentrates on it without distraction until it becomes intensely felt or understood (237). Moffet identifies this technique as a "train of thought."
Non-discursive meditation requires that you quiet inner speech and listen. You can do this, paradoxically, by saying one thing over and over again. The internal discourse stops because you repeat just one word or phrase (238). Focusing on one idea as you recant a related (or unrelated) single point of speech induces a trance-like state in which right-brain intuitive thought rather than left-brain analytical thought provides information and insight that would not have been available otherwise. Moffet refers to this type of discourse as "point of thought." Non-discursive meditation can be achieved with the help of a mantra, which is a verbal or non-verbal sound, or a rhythm, or a beat, or through the use of tantra, which is a focusing on an experience felt through the senses (such as smell, taste, etc.), or gazing upon a yantra, which can be an art or holy object specially designed for contemplation (such as a mandala, sculpture, or painting, etc.). One can also gaze upon a scene or object from nature. Any or all of these meditative aids can be combined with focused, controlled breathing–the type practiced in Zen and Yoga–which helps relax the body and focus the mind.
Throughout the semester, we shall use writing strategies that we hope will mimic or imitate our internal meditative experience in order to help us interpret published poetry and write our own poems. As we attempt to re-create some meditations on paper, we may unlock, identify, or clarify ideas that were stimulated during the experience. Some writing strategies may be used simply to complement meditation, assisting in the exploration of thoughts, feelings, and ideas that arise during meditation exercises. Our ultimate goal, however, is to find the writing strategies that, like meditation, help us tap the intuitive and creative functions of the right brain: to think in complex images rather than in sequential order, to see the whole rather than just the parts, to grasp interconnections, correspondences, resemblances, and nuances rather than the bits and pieces and linear, logical patterns. The following is a brief outline of three writing strategies that we shall use in the course:
The journal is a place to write down observations of interest, formulate questions to pursue, speculate on issues or interpretations, explore connections between ideas, or record personal feelings and reflections. Using journals as a learning aid is based on the assumption that writing about information or ideas helps us to understand them. The journal is also the place, however, where recorded musings and insights help us come to a more comprehensive awareness of our experiences and the workings of our inner selves.
Student journals are written in the first person, with informal punctuation and relaxed mechanics. Diction should be colloquial, simple, and should follow the rhythms of everyday speech. Using abbreviations and shortcuts will help thoughts flow faster.
A double-entry journal–sometimes called a dialectical notebook –is a journal in which the writing page has been divided into two columns. In one column you record an abbreviated citation you have selected from a work you have just read. In the next column, opposite this citation you write your unedited response to the citation, offering your thoughts and impressions and asking questions you might have.
To some extent, journal writing resembles discursive meditation. Entries may be loose and free-flowing--as in unfocused meditation--or, in the case of the double-entry, focused and specific--as in focused meditation. Given the amount of reflection and self-editing that goes into journal writing, we might be more accurate in saying that journal writing complements our meditation experiences rather than imitates them.
Application: You will keep a daily journal in which you should respond to your readings and your meditations as well as record your reflections on the class. View your journal as a source for writing topics or, generally, as a tool for understanding your own thinking process. From time to time you may be asked to do a double-entry based on a specific reading. In these instances you must be prepared to read your response out loud in class if asked. Other journal entries are private. Your journal will be collected before midterm and before final exams. It will be skim-read, not graded, and returned to you. [Click here to see a sample excerpt from a writing journal.] [Click here to see a sample page from a double-entry notebook and a second sample.]
Freewriting is a quick, uninterupted, unedited flow of words set down on paper over a period of ten to twenty minutes. When freewriting, you do not stop to reflect, look back, correct, or change anything. You simply never stop writing. If you cannot think of the next thing to write, rewrite the last word you wrote over and over again until a new word presents itself. You may write anything repeatedly until the next idea rushes in.
The purpose of freewriting is to help you learn to stop editing your words prematurely. It also allows words to follow hard on the heels of thought. Freewriting allows you to pay more attention to ideas and to waste no energy at all on the organizing and correcting that should occur only in the rewriting and proofreading stages of writing. The effectiveness of freewriting is based on the assumption that freewriting gets rid of the garbage that is floating around in your head and at the same time allows the occasional "kernel" of an idea to come through. Thus it can simultaneously help unblock your writing and produce topics or ideas for a formal piece.
Another type of freewriting is focused freewriting. With focused freewriting, you write on a specific topic or with a specific question in mind. The writing is still spontaneous, but the scope is a little more contained. Focused freewriting is especially helpful in the rewriting stage of composition or in interpreting published poetry.
Freewriting and focused freewriting exercises more closely resemble unfocused and focused discursive meditation than does journal writing. Suspending reflection and editing, we come close to recording "inner speech" with freewriting. Just as when we meditate, when we freewrite, a lot of "junk" quickly passes by as well as ideas worth noting for later inspection. Both types of freewriting can be used with non-discursive meditation as well. For example, freewriting while listening to meditative music, rhythms, or beats or while gazing upon contemplative objects, pictures, or scenes can be highly useful in generating ideas or making connections between ideas.
Application: You will occasionally freewrite following both in-class and private meditations to clear your head and generate ideas. I will direct you to do either a focused or unfocused freewriting excercise, depending on the subject of our study. In nearly every instance, you will be asked to identify the "kernel" among the musings or the "surprise statement" that seems to emerge from the flow of inner speech. The "kernel" or "surprise statement" will then provide the starting point for discussion or composition. I will often ask you to read your freewriting to the class as we prepare to discuss a particular work of poetry. [Click here to see a sample of freewriting.]
Clustering is a very rapid, nonlinear type of brainstorming that automatically establishes patterns and connections between ideas. It immediately bypasses mental editing and allows the complexity of images and emotional nuances associated with an idea to materialize on paper. For the writer, clustering helps generate ideas and uncover creative associations between ideas that are often blocked in linear thinking.
To begin clustering, you write a word or phrase in the center of a page. Then you rapidly and effortlessly write down every word or phrase that comes into your head that is connected to the nucleus word. Each of these new words or phrases must be connected to the previous one with a line. When a new train of thought strikes you, go back to the nucleus word and begin another branch of associations. Some of these words might, in fact, become nucleus words for other branches and clusters. When you have exhausted all of your ideas, you should see before you a large "cluster" of words–all of which signify related ideas laid out in natural patterns of thought.
Clustering usually concludes with your sense that you now know what you want to say in your written piece. If you scan the cluster, your eye will select the words or branch that seem to present themselves as the idea for your first sentence. Other words or branches may provide subsequent lines, paragraphs, images, ideas, etc. You are then ready to write a loose draft. If you get stuck, cluster again. Clustering is particularly conducive to poetry writing because of its tendency to stimulate metaphor in the connective relationships between ideas.
The connection between clustering and mediation should be clear: clustering easily taps into the creative, intuitive, right-brain function that lies at the core of mediation. The clustering exercise begins in the center and forces you to return to the center, much as you would when using a mantra, tantra, or yantra in non-discursive meditation. Like meditation, clustering forces you to ignore the distracting demands of linear thinking so that you focus on holistic images and ideas.
Application: As with freewriting, you will occasionally do clustering exercises following both in-class and private meditations to generate or build upon ideas. Here, too, I will direct the clustering excercise depending on the subject of our study. You might be asked to share your clustering ideas with the class or to share the written piece that you produce after the clustering exercise. [Click here to see a sample of clustering.]