Meditation Practices
Which Practices Are Taught?
Within the Triratna tradition three primary meditations are taught in Buddhist centres. These are
- Mindfulness of Breathing
- Metta Bhavana
- Just Sitting
These practices give the essential grounding of concentration, positivity and mindfulness to anyone who consistently practices them.
Mindfulness of Breathing
As the name suggests, this is a practice focusing on the breath and the sensations of the breath within the body. As the meditator sits their focus is shifted into gradually more and more subtle sensations of the breath.
Meditation on the breath has an velnerable pedigree and is practiced in a wide variety of religious traditions. Breath meditation is detailed in the Satipatthana Sutta within the earliest of the Buddhist scriptures along with number of other practices whose aim is to establish mindfulness within the meditator.
Leeds Buddhist Centre offers a four week course to teach the Minfulness of Breathing practice.
Metta Bhavana
Metta is an ancient Indian word that is often translated as loving kindness or friendly awarenessness. Within this practice we aim to cultivate feelings of metta to ourselves and the people around us. Sometimes this is people that we know well and have strong postive feelings for. Sometimes it is for people that we know less well or maybe people that we have never met but share the world with.
In common with the Mindfulness of Breathing practice, the Metta Bhavna dates back to the earliest Buddhist scriptures. It's practice is detailed in the Karaniya Metta Sutta in the Pali Canon.
Leeds Buddhist Centre offers a four week course to teach the Metta Bhavana practice.
Just Sitting
This is an unstructured practice of awareness and mindfulness. It is practiced as a meditation in it's own right or as a stage within other meditiation practice. The meditator just sits and allows whatever is happening to emerge.
There are no formal classes to teach this meditation within Leeds Triratna however it is taught within the context of the Mindfulness of Breathing or Metta Bhavana practices as a supportive practice.
Other Practices
In addition to the taught meditation there are a number of other practices you may come across with Leeds Buddhist Centre such as ...
- Walking Meditation
- Body Awareness
- Devotional Practices
These practices may seem different to the taught meditations but all aim to connect us to ourselves and others within the context of the Buddhist tradition.