CONTENTMENT MEDITATION Archives

March 28, 2015 By Admin

Meditations Beyond Mindfulness:

Concentration, Contentment, and Loving Kindness

I have written various entries on concentration meditations in prior posts. Yes, concentration meditation is beyond pure mindfulness meditation. Here I will present briefly two other forms of meditation that are quite intentional and also beyond mindfulness: contentment and loving kindness meditations. Let’s begin with intentional meditation of contentment.

Contentment implies you will NOT live a life of greed and passionate materialism; instead, you will be satisfied by meeting the basic requirements for living a reasonable life. Although the actual meaning of a “reasonable life” may vary among different individuals, it generally means meeting the basic necessities of life. Even that goal may vary considerably among various people and groups. However, it also means that you will NOT live a life of craving materialism and competitive wealth-hording. You may work hard to get ahead within your own definition of a reasonable life, but you will not cling to rampant materialism or harm others in the process. Remember that liberation from craving and avoiding will end much of your personal suffering. Discontentment often leads to thoughts, words and deeds that harm others for the personal goal of self-interest. Desiring and craving for something to be different sets up your mind to be discontented. Now into the meditation on contentment.

Contentment Meditation:

In a sitting or lying down position take a few calm, deep, slow breaths with intention to relax your body and mind. Find your physical comfort on the pillow or mat. Be that comfort, and allow your mind to slow and calm. Concentrate deeply on the following steps. One way to concentrate is to contemplate in a single-pointed manner and go deeper and deeper in concentration as time moves on.

1) Look deeply into your personal meaning for contentment. What does it include, and what feelings are generated by this process?

2) Work on withdrawing your consciousness away from things, possessions, money, etc. Just rest, breathe, and allow the mind to withdraw.

3) Sit with the proposition that personal contentment is simply being satisfied with whatever the present moments brings to you – even in this meditation.

4) Focus deeply – really concentrate – on the possibility that you need NOTHING more than your experience in the present moment, here NOW.

5) Consider the wholesomeness of being content. As you contemplate this, what thoughts, words and actions come to mind? Focus on these.

6) Consider what The Buddha said – “Contentment is the highest wealth.” Cut your craving energies, and let go – let go into total satisfaction right here, right now. Notice!

7) Now reflect mindfully on this experience for the next 5 to 10 minutes. Just be. Just contemplate. Gently return if/when your mind wonders.

Loving Kindness Meditation:

Another way to meditate beyond mindfulness is to concentrate deeply on your spiritual attributes and loving kindness. Sometimes people include spiritual attributes as part of “right concentration.” So concentrate deeply (contemplate in a deeper and deeper manner) on your spiritualiity: what does this mean to you? Certain spiritual attributes guide the way toward wholesomeness in life, and wholesomeness allows more loving kindness.

1) Settle yourself for another meditation period. Prepare yourself for meditating on the spiritual aspects of mindfulness, wisdom, energy, faith, and concentration.

2) Meditate in deeper concentration on the personal experience of mindfulness. What is this experience like for you? Be in it now.

3) Meditate in deep concentration on what wisdom means to you. What is wisdom like as an experience?

4) Now move your meditation to the experience of energy. Get yourself into the inner experience of energy; do deeply inside yourself to connect with that spiritual energy. Concentrate deeply on this.

5) At this point move your meditation object to your personal meaning of faith. Concentrate deeply on what your experience of faith is.

6) Now we will end with a deep contemplation on what your experience of concentration is. Yes, concentrate deeply in your meditation on the experience of concentration.

7) Lastly, we will end our meditation with loving kindness – this time just for yourself. Since this meditation practice has already been taught many times in prior posts, here I will simply offer you some choices regarding what words you may use. Of course, you can make up your own words based on your needs.

The most common themes is – may I be safe, healthy, free from suffering, happy and live with ease.

Or you could say – may I be free from fear, doubt, anger, resentment, restlessness, boredom and other afflictions.

Or you could say – may I be at peace, with compassion, feeling secure, with understanding, and determined.

Or you could say – may I be happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. Hope this improves your sense of wholesomeness and inner peace.

For more information refer to Gunaratana, B. H. (2009). Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory Guide to Deeper States of Meditation. Boston, MA.: Wisdom Publications, pp. 23-57.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

CLICK HERE to Order!

Holiday “Blues” and a Few Antidotes It is common for many people to experience a full range of emotions during the holiday season. It is also quite common for many people to experience holiday “blues.” In a more clinical understanding, this condition often includes both sadness/depression and anxiety/apprehension. Ideally, we should be able to experience […]

Expanded Information about Your Compassion Practices and Benefits Compassion Practice Tips and Exercises The Buddha noted that one should not dwell on the past, become too attached to future outcomes, but instead concentrate our mind only on the present moment of our experiences. The Dalai Lama noted that compassion is a necessary condition for inner […]

Mindfulness Expands the Art of Journal Writing T. Merton, J. Kerouc, I. Progoff, J. Upton, and others have helped to expand the art or journal writing practice. This type of practice can become your mindfulness practice. You will need to write on a daily basis (even if briefly), and you will need to be highly […]

Chronic Pain and Doing Body Scanning Although doing body scans cannot fully relieve your pain, it may help you manage it better. If your pain is serious and chronic you need to work with a qualified pain management professional, who will use both psychological and medical interventions. Note that a recent issue of Consumer Reports reviewed […]

Consciousness of Your Emotions Besides common scientific reflections on human emotions – that is neuro-chemical-electrical cellular impulses in response to sensory inputs – our emotional response system includes you and your innermost emotional reactions to both internal and external stimuli (people, places, things, memories, experiences, phenomena). Your mental state in response to sensory contact with […]

Loving Kindness – An Alternative Version The writings of Thich Nhat Hanh offer a different version of Loving Kindness Meditation or Metta (Pali). This version may be influenced by Buddhaghosa in Visuddhimagga (or The Path to Purification, fifth century system of The Buddha’s teachings). The reality of no-self, or a static, permanent and inherent self is a core […]

The Journey of Human Compassion Practices Where are YOU on the journey of human compassion practices? I modified interpretations of compassion to present a more formal depiction of compassionate practices and skills. Go ahead; take the compassion quiz. Your Goal: To Reduce Human Suffering Human Warmth Unconditional Positive Regard Human Caring Compassionate Actions […]

Counseling/Psychotherapy with Self-Compassion Please begin by ending all conversations, and PLEASE shut-off your phones and/or laptops. Simply be for a moment in the quietude of your inner self. Please close your eyes if you wish to do so. Contemplate the sacred nature of your profession – saving lives, reducing suffering, being a constant object, practicing […]

Wind Ridge Press NEW Publication! Author Anthony Quintiliani, a licensed psychologist with more than 35 years professional clinical experience, casts a wide net into the personal, clinical, and societal causes of prolonged human suffering and unhappiness in his book Mindful Happiness. The book’s guided interventions are aimed at helping to relieve depression, anxiety, traumatic reactivity, and […]

Retreats and Therapy: The Power of Silence E. Kubler-Ross once noted that people need to more often revisit silence within themselves and realize all of life’s purposes include learning from our despairing experiences. Suffering may be a hidden source of being blessed with new inner knowledge. Personal suffering if not too, too great may also […]

Contemplative Practices – Affirmative Self-Inquiry Contemplation and affirmative self-inquiry may be helpful in improving your awareness of your better parts of self – your positive strengths and traits. Our self-critical mind often causes us to spend far too much time on critical, negative thinking about ourselves and about others. The practice below may be helpful […]

Advanced Practice in Tara Brach’s RAIN Protocol So often we humans find ourselves in a state of limbic disarray, with ego defenses stimulating our need to protect ourselves from others – even from ourselves. We feel something is very wrong in this moment, and we allow separateness to pull us into a frenzied effort to […]

Henry David Thoreau & Walking Meditation Henry David Thoreau is, perhaps, the most individualistic of the American Transcendentalists. He asked us to consider what we have learned that is useful as we travel our own “stream of life.” He cautions us not to regret when we die that we “had not lived.” He advised us to […]

Breathing Practices and Emptiness Here I will introduce you to five breathing practices, each one moving progressively closer and closer to emptiness/no-self experiences. Do your best to remain open in these practices. Notice the feel of your posture. Once comfortable notice your breath as it is. Relax and close your eyes if ok. Rest your […]

Equanimity, Suffering, and Resilience It is said that equanimity (Pali – upekkha), the seventh factor of enlightenment and the tenth perfection, is an end-product of life-long personal practice in meditation and/or meditative yoga. It is about “walking the walk.” Some practitioners note that equanimity is the foundation for other helpful states of mind and body. […]

Amitabha Buddha – Pure Land Meditation The following meditation had been modified by me to make it a more specific self-healing meditation and to better fit the time we now live in. Sit quietly and complete 3-4 deep, calming breaths. Pay attention to the quality and density of the light you see outside of your […]

Trauma Informed Care – The Absolute Basics This post aims at providing a very basic introduction to Trauma Informed Care. Advanced versions of this information are available from the author. So what is Trauma Informed Care (hereafter TIC)? Below I have listed rationales of need and core characteristics of TIC in organizations. Why We Need […]

My third posting on self-medication- Comes from the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont. Now we will turn our attention to how people become habituated to self-medication to obtain brief moments of joy and/or to avoid emotional suffering. Recall that self-medication becomes a habit (dopamine released in reward centers of the […]

Drink a Cup of Tea with Thich Nhat Hanh According to the article “A Perfect Cup of Tea” by Noa Jones, The Great Meditation Master offers this sage advice about the best way to enjoy a great cup of tea. I suppose if you would rather drink coffee, the same suggestions may apply. Recognize that […]

Concentration Vs Mindfulness? Many people new to meditation often confuse the differences between mindfulness or accepted bare attention to whatever arises in the moment and concentration or strong penetrating awareness on one thing without distraction. Concentration is a more intensely focused and engaged form of mindful attention. Concentration is sustained, powerfully focused, one-pointed attentional awareness. […]