Year 10 - Religious education
Samatha meditation
Buddhism: Practices
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit pupils will examine practices in Buddhism such as puja and meditation. They will understand the considerable diversity of these practices among Buddhist adherents. Following that they wil look at the role of precepts and how these look different in Therevada and Mahayna Buddhism.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain the nature, purpose and significance of meditation, including samatha meditation, for Buddhists today.
Key Notes
- Purposes of meditation include developing a still, calm, focused mind; gaining greater wisdom of the Buddha's Dhamma.
- Many non-Buddhists use meditation as a way to calm the mind, reduce stress and increase focus.
- Samatha is mainly used in Theravada Buddhism and encourages calmness with a focus on mindfulness of breathing.
- Some Buddhists use objects called kasinas to focus during meditation.
Vocabulary To Learn
- meditation: a spiritual experience that opens a person up to the highest state of consciousness
- mindfulness of breathing: a form of meditation found in Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism, which focuses on the practice of breathing
- samatha: a method of meditation; a state of calmness
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- The goal of samatha meditation is to achieve enlightenment or insight.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Purposes of meditation include developing a still, calm, focused mind; gaining greater wisdom of the Buddha's Dhamma. Many non-Buddhists use meditation as a way to calm the mind, reduce stress and increase focus.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'meditation'
a spiritual experience that opens a person up to the highest state of consciousness.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: The goal of samatha meditation is to achieve enlightenment or insight. Correction: Samatha is primarily a concentration practice aimed at stilling the mind through focused attention, often using a single object like the breath or a visual object (kasina).
More Lessons In This Unit
- Buddha rupa, artefacts and offerings Study Guide
- Celebrations: origins and significance of Wesak and Parinirvana Day Study Guide
- Ceremonies and rituals associated with death and mourning Study Guide
- Compassion and loving-kindness Study Guide
- Kamma and rebirth Study Guide
- The five moral precepts: do not take life or what is not given Study Guide
- The five moral precepts: senses, falsehoods or intoxicants Study Guide
- The nature and importance of diverse places of worship for Buddhists Study Guide
- The role and significance of Puja for Buddhists Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: generosity and morality Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: meditation and wisom Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: patience and energy Study Guide
- Vipassana meditation Study Guide
- Visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Study Guide
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