MEDITATION
...Gita). There is no encouraging individual thought or contemplation of anything new. In the Bhagavad-Gita one is expected to follow the path laid out in front of them by the scriptures and follow that path to enlightenment, “When, through the practice of yoga, the mind ceases its restless movements, and becomes still, he realizes the Atman” (p.66, Bhagavad-Gita) Thich Naht Hanh makes a point of stating that there are no set guidelines or rules to Zen Buddhism and that it is truly a life you must live to really understand. The two most prevalent practices are that of meditation and mindfulness. There is no set prayer which one is to follow while they meditate, rather they are given “Kung-ans” such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping” to think about. There is no true answer to the questions posed in the Kung-ans but it something to focus the mind on and to see beyond. Hanh speaks of the finger and the moon, focusing on the idea that if one spends too much time focusing on the finger that points to the moon the person will soon begin to believe that the finger is the moon. In Zen Buddhism, meditation is used to release the mind from the perception of reality that most people face. When I look at a table, for instance, I see a table but when an enlightened person looks at the same table they see the tree that gave the wood it, the carpenter who made it, the parents who made the carpenter, etc…an enlightened person sees the true reality of the table, “We have the impression that the table itself and our concept of it are identical. In reality, what we believe to be a table is only our concept. The table itself is quite different. So...