salat is definitely meditation
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Peace
Speaking of Hinduism and what Jaxal said, in the Gita such a one is called a hypocrite.
He who curbs the organs of action but allows the mind to dwell on the sense-objects - such a one, wholly deluded is called a hypocrite. 3/6
In other words there should not be a conflict or contradiction between one's thoughts and actions. If you're going to fast do not be hypocritical in doing so.
In Buddhist and Hindu teaching, there is this thing called the atman(which everything is part of).
I did not know that Buddhists believed in the Atman.
Joe
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Peace be upon you,
I am sure meditation is part of this somewhere, I tend to think salaa is it, but not sure. In any case, its not just the simple meditation to get calm, we must also use that to program the spirit(nafs) with correct behavior.
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Peace be upon you Pheonix1,
Well first we havce to understand receptivity and brain states.
Receptivity
Since the Nafs/Soul is based on a cycle, lets see if we can confirm dawn and dusk as the proper times for impregnation. Scientist have discovered that the brain is more receptive at certain times of the day. The least receptive time for the human is the waking state which is called the Beta wave state. The brain wave in this state is 13 to 28 Hz. This wave state is not go for receptivity because it is this wakened state that is favors the Will (Consciusness). The Will is not your vehicle of receptivity, it is the Soul (Subconscius) that is your receptor. The ideal states of receptivity occur just above and just below the Beta wave state. Lets first talk about the state above the Beta Wave state. That is the Gamma wave state at 29 to 35 Hz. The brain enters this state in response to strong a strong emotion (anger, fear, ?love?, etc). This is the state that movie and television producers aim at when trying to program you. But this is not the state we want to plant our seeds by because we want to use intellect, not emotion. So lets talk about the brain state that is just below the waking state of Beta, that is the Alpha state 8 to 12 Hz. The brain enters this level in response to daydreaming or at the brief moment of passing from waking to sleep. This is the perfect time for what is called meditation, which means to reflect on or contemplate in the mind. The word Meditation comes from the root ?Medi? which means middle. We are balanced(wusta) between the wake state and dream state, or in other words, we are balance between the Consciousness(Will) and the subconscious(Soul). At this point let me bring a verse;
(223 (Everyone) Guard your process, the balance process, and maintain to The God devoutly.
To conclude this idea, we need to have access to both the Will and the Soul in order to unite them and for the Will to impregnate the Soul. We have explained how the waking state (Beta) is not conducive to receptivity, and how the emotional state above that (Gamma) leaves out reason/intellect. We have shown how the ideal state is the Alpha State (the word Alpha fits that perfectly) below the Beta state. Lets round this off with the brain state while sleep, the Delta state 4 to 7 Hz. This state is all receptive, but there is no Will involved in this state, so it is not beneficial for our purpose, the Process(salaat).
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Peace,
Buddha recommended the middle path to his followers - originally ascetics who had shunned real life.
He recommended a middle way between complete hedonism/worldly pleasure orientation and complete self denial/sacrifice.
I think Buddha actually had a logical flaw in his concept of the middle path however.
When we consider a man who has given himself to worldly pleasure completely - he is essentially doing it for selfish reasons. They enjoy the pleasure without regard to anything outside.
And as hard as it might be to believe, the denial or self-mortification that ascetics do is also for selfish reasons. Underlying the hardship they put upon themselves to suffer is a sense of smugness and self-styled superiority that makes them feel they have captured the high ground. They are doing what they do for themselves and not others.
Both are doing these things for self - so rather than being at opposite ends of the spectrum as Buddhists believe - they are actually on the same side! They are actually different manifestations of the same thing. Selfishness.
Regards.
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Peace be upon you,
We can practice spirituality in a vacuum, it must be done in community setting. We must be in the world but not of the world.