Question: “I’m still trying to figure out which type of meditation suits me best. Tried mindfulness, and been practicing Zazen for a while now, but I want to meditate more on the Four Noble Truths and that -meditating on a subject other than breathing- is new to me. Seems a lot harder to me because I can’t really imagine how you actually meditate on a subject. I.e. what do you focus on? I’m used to focusing on my breath and I can’t imagine how you incorporate ‘something’ into it.
Like: meditate on why something is making me suffer etc. For instance, do you contemplate on a sentence or a specific subject? Can’t figure this out…”
All meditation is essentially the same; tame your mind – that is the fundamental “goal” of meditation. But just like there are different schools and traditions of Buddhism to suit different people’s needs, likewise there are different methods of meditation. Meditating on the breath is a universal practice among all that meditate, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, because it’s the easiest and quickest way to focus.
However, when we meditate on “something,” like suffering, etc. You’re basically talking to yourself in your head, but you are doing two things: 1) you’re going over what you know of the topic. In this case, suffering, you review what you know about suffering and how you understand it. 2) you’re debating with yourself. Why does it make sense, why doesn’t it. What is YOUR definition/understanding of suffering, etc.
That’s how we contemplate on things. We go over the subject matter with ourselves and review the lesson. Sure we can do this outside of meditation, but doing it in the quietude of meditation gives us better focus and less distraction from our surroundings.
That’s basically the jist of it 🙂
Smile and be well!