What is meditation?
Meditation is an ancient practice that involves training the mind to empty itself of everyday thoughts and concentrate on something very simple such as breathing or simply nothing at all. In its way it is a kind of mindfulness. It is often used to bring those who practice it to a state of inner peace, mindfulness, spiritual awareness, concentration, mental or emotional clarity, calmness and general spiritual balance. Meditation has its roots in spiritual and religious traditions, such as Buddhism and Christianity.
Since the 1950s meditation is practiced for non-religious reasons by non-believers to help them cope with the stresses of busy and materialistic twentieth century life, where many people feel that they are reduced to commodities. Their employers may consider them to be 'Human Resources' as that corporate department is named. Says it all really.
Popular culture has also featured meditation as a habit of the good and wise. I remember it featured in the popular TV series 'Kung Fu' where David Carradine's teacher was a good advertisement for the effects of meditation. The Woodstock generation also loved meditation. The Beatles went to India to learn about it. It also featured in the book 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. Sitars, pipes and colourful clothing aside, let's look into the history of meditation.
A brief history of meditation
As we have said, meditation has religious and cultural beginnings dating back thousands of years. The earliest documented records of it appear in ancient Indian scriptures called the Vedas, particularly in the Upanishads (roughly 1500-500 BCE).
In ancient India, meditation featured in Hindu traditions. It was seen as a way to connect with the awe of the universe, the divine and to try to understand the nature of consciousness, existence and reality. Around the 6th century BCE, meditation became a part of Buddhist practice when Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) taught it as a path to the higher planes of enlightenment which Buddhists seek.
Buddhism was important in spreading meditation throughout Asia and then the world. Via the Silk Road, it reached China around the 1st century CE, where it merged with Taoism and evolved into Chan Buddhism. Chan later spread to Korea (as Seon) and Japan (as Zen). Each of these variations on the Buddhist theme had their own approaches to mediation.
Different forms of meditation also developed in other religious traditions:
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Christian contemplative prayer and meditation practices appeared in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE and later in monasteries.
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Islamic meditation began with dhikr (remembrance of God) and muraqaba (Sufi meditation) after the 8th century CE.
- Jewish mysticism developed meditation in the Kabbalah and Hasidic branches.
Meditation from Eastern traditions reached the Western civilisations in the late 19th century when Eastern philosophical texts became more widely available in translation. This interest grew in the 1960s and 1970s when many Eastern spiritual teachers began teaching in the West, popular figures such as the Beatles showed an interest, and researchers and popular health commentators promoted meditation and its beneficial effects on health and wellbeing. The Beatles were especially important in popularising meditation through their visits to with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and their dabbling in Transcendental Meditation. Indeed Transcendental Meditation became a very popular form of meditation in the West, and a favourite subject of popular humourists.
In the late 20th century Jon Kabat-Zinn's development of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1979 was important in introducing meditation to mainstream healthcare and wellness programmes. Buddhist mindfulness meditation became a part of Western culture through corporate programmes, therapies, education, sports training and the personal development of individuals.
Meditation has now gone global. Science has researched and approved it as beneficial to mental health, stress reduction, cognition and all round spiritual development.
In the digital age mobile phone apps can now monitor your meditation and mindfulness, marking you on a percentage.
I am sure that meditation is here to stay and will continue to evolve as a practice and as a science. As most people now do their daily work under the supervision of computers and their organisational productivity and contribution is monitored by computer systems, mediation provides a nice counterpoint to a world where people are monitored and exploitable resources.
Benefits of meditation
It seems to me that many of the benefits of meditation are similar to the benefits of making art.
The benefits are, according to research:
- lower blood pressure
- reduced stress and anxiety
- stronger immune system.
- better concentration
- greater self-awareness
- enhanced emotional intelligence
- improved memory
- greater creativity as the mind is emptied of clutter to allow creativity to flourish
- increased emotional stability
It occurred to me that many of these qualities might be more likely to be found in the people who would meditate in the first place, so I am not sure if the benefits are a result of meditation or a result of the kind of people who meditate. Nevertheless the combination of meditation and a basically healthy mindset is likely to be advantageous.
The relationship between art and meditation
Art and meditation have always helped in exploring consciousness, finding inner calm, reflecting on philosophical ideas and also reflecting on human experience. To combine art and meditation might be a way to deepen the experience of both.
Noteworthy paintings about meditation
A study of mediation, death and resurrection.Full of symbolism in the background and small details such as Christ's companions, which include the Old Testament prophet Jobs.
This painting by Rembrandt may or not be about meditation but it has traditionally been interpreted as such. It does capture the essence of meditation - the philosopher is deep in thought, his eyes are closed, his hands are clasped and his head is resting on them. The light is soft and the colours are muted. The philosopher is in a state of deep contemplation.
Zubaran worked in Seville, Spain in an atmosphere of religious fervour. There was danger from the Spanish Inquisition as the competing religions of Protestantism, Catholicism and Islam forced artists to be careful what they painted. This painting features the Catholic saint meditating, and was threfore acceptable to the ruling Catholic clergy.
The beautiful painting features a young girl in meditation.
This painting is in contrast to the other paintings featured here. It is paited in Matisse's Fauvist style, with bold colours and forms, and strong brush strokes.
The calming nature of art and meditation
The act of creating art naturally induces a state similar to meditation. Whether painting, sculpting, or drawing, artists often report losing track of time as they become completely absorbed in a creative activity. This state bears striking similarities to meditation, where practitioners experience a dissolution of the boundary between self and action.
The pleasure of creating can be similar to the pleasure of meditation. However it can also be quite the opposite if the artist is struggling with their work. The act of creating can be a source of stress and anxiety, which is the opposite of the calmness that meditation can bring. It all depends on how much the artist is mentally stretched in creating art.
Art as meditation practice - meditation painting or mindfulness painting
Many contemporary artists intentionally approach their creative process as a form of meditation. Some begin their studio sessions with formal mindfulness practices, while others incorporate meditative elements throughout their creative work. This might involve:
- Working in relative quiet to heighten awareness of visual and tactile sensations
- Enjoy the physical sensations of creating art - swirling the brush on the canvas, the feel of the paint, the smell of the paint
- Creating mandalas or other contemplative forms that require sustained, focused attention and invite the artist to contemplate the universe
- Enjoy making the painting instead of thinking about the outcome. In practice this is not a luxury that many professional artists can afford. They have to think about the outcome as they are often working to a brief or a commission.
One problem with this is that it can be difficult to maintain a meditative state while creating art. The act of creating can require constant decision making, which can be counterproductive to the meditative state. I recommend the creation of abstract works in meditative art as in these type of works expression is more important than the outcome.
Many artists offer sessions in meditation painting as a recreational pastime. The rules are something like this:
- start without a plan
- choose a colour or brush
- start bold with expressive brushwork
- do not overthink the painting
- do not worry about the outcome - just go where the moment takes you
If you paint and have never tried this, I recommend it. The outcome can be pleasing works - in my case abstract - that you never knew you could create.
Meditation for artists
Following meditative practices is a habit which can help artists to develop a closer relationship with their creative selves and may well reap rewards in the completed works. Spiritually enlightened thinking tends to produce spiritually enlightened art which people yearn for in a world of materialism and consumerism.
So go!!
Contemporary applications of meditation in art
In our digital age, the marriage of art and meditation offers a vital counterpoint to constant distraction, over-stimulation and sensory overload. Many contemporary artists are exploring this intersection through:
- Installation art that creates a space for meditation
- Digital art which encourages contemplation
- Community art which encourages individual and group meditation
- Art colleges incorporating mindful practices into their curricula
- Art in religious and spiritual buildings which encourages meditation
Create and meditate
So we have seen how meditation and its cousin mindfulness can be embedded into the act of creation and that in the secret language of art this may make your work more attractive.