There are basically two kinds of meditation, which are usually called concentration and insight.
The former focuses the mind onto a single object. This object can be the breath, an internal sound or thought, an inner picture or image, a kinesthetic sensation such as rocking, and a number of other things.
Then this one thing is recycled through awareness again and again and again until the mind sinks into it, so to speak, and relaxes because it has no more distractions.
Thus the result of concentration meditation is tranquility. Indeed, it is sometimes called "tranquility meditation." It is the great calmer, capable of producing states of great peace and power. Indeed, those masters that seem outwardly the most impressive are often of this type.
However, concentration meditation does not wake us up, does not lead to liberation from our conditioning. When we stop doing our concentration meditation, we gradually come down from our spiritual "high"—and discover that all of our conditioning, which was temporarily repressed from consciousness, is now waiting for us once again.
The other type of meditation, insight meditation, aims to open up awareness to all that is happening inside, with no attempt to control or even guide what is happening.
This meditation type is sometimes called bare attention, because it consists of just watching the parade of our own mind without getting sucked in by it. Or to put it another way, the idea is to watch our thoughts, feelings and so on without getting identified with or attached to them.
This type of meditation goes by other names too, such
as vipassana or shikantaza or the prayer of quiet. By whatever name, however, this bare observation of our interior process has the potential to really transform us,
to truly wake us up from our "waking sleep."
It's good to distinguish between the two main types of meditation because they go in different directions. Only the latter has the power to gradually integrate our mental and emotional unconsciousness. And in the spaciousness that results, something absolutely pure and brilliant can become apparent.
—jim sloman, fall 2000 for Oct 25
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