The Art Of Meditation

There are lots of ways to do it. Dervishes whirl ecstatically. Quakers sit in silence. Holy men in India (never sleeping through the night, or wandering very far) might keep a fire alight for months or even years. Religions of all different sorts have found, through meditation, ways of nearing the divine.

"Perspectives: Y.Z. Kami," now on exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, is itself a meditation -- a meditation in three paintings, big ones from New York.

Will Kami's three big oils-on-linen lead you toward the numinous? Maybe, maybe not. Are they Eastern art or Western; old in mood, or new? Yes, all of the above.

You see: a figure of a man. He's wearing a fleece jacket. His identity is not given. His portrait is nearly 10 feet high, and since it shows only his upper half, he's a lot bigger than you. He seems to be, he is, meditating deeply. His eyes are closed but not squeezed shut. He's half-humble, half-exalted.

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Comments

[drakke]

It might be significant to note that there are only 8 or so comments on this topic and literally thousands relating to the latest "scandals" in the worlds of politics, business, etc. This species is owned and operated by terminal psychopaths with very busy minds and no hearts, whatever. And, the vast ,vast majority of "mere" peasants have those very same "challenges". Until the species realizes that a runaway mind leads to disaster, circumstances on the planet will only worsen. Meditation and "energy work" of many types allow for some possibility of reining in that "monkey mind", raising "consciousness" and thereby saving one's soul, and perhaps the planet, itself, in the long run.

[LordMoon]

Meditation is not a thought.

Mind is the only problem, and the answer is getting rid of it.

But when you identify with the mind, then getting rid of it can seem like death.

The mind is just a rubbish bin full of other peoples old idea's and your old feelings - unfullfilled desires.

Meditiation is the end of all desires but one.

[bobdob]

Getting rid of mind should be thrown out with the rubbish. This would only lead you to an empty ice cave, where you would be imprisoned for a billion lifetimes. Just preserve Original Mind. Nothing more is required.

[Shozen]

No rubbish, no mind, no imprisonment for a billion lifetimes, nothing to preserve yet everything is required.

Or to be flippant. In dealing with anything type of situation, that it is just a question of mind over matter... Well I've lost my mind.. so I guest it doesn't matter. ;-)

[mbaty]

Meditation is like pushing the 'pause' button in the game of life.

[KOisGod]

To pray is to ask for God's answer.

To meditate is to hear it.

[bobdob]

To meditate is to ask for nothing.

[Jonahson]

Kami has seen this man in meditation, his heart captures the inner peace amidst a world of turmoil and of inner concflict.
Meditation is the training and development of the mind, visualisation is only one of the many forms of concentration, the preliminary start to meditation is developing concentration. In developing deep concentration a state called Samadhi, one may encounter bright light or a diffussion of light and relative calmness. That's where the similarity of the many schools of meditation ends here, beyond this is the the pursue of the objectives of the various schools.

[bogananda666]

I would propose that correct meditation techniques are the Holy Science. Many tactics claim to be meditation and are not. Visualization being one such example. It is not meditation and visualization has merit as such.