Meditation As Investigative Method

Beginning with Meditation

You’ve probably tried meditation. Maybe through an app promising better sleep, a corporate wellness program teaching stress reduction, a parent’s recommendation to “just breathe,” a friend’s admonishment to enjoy the present moment, or even a Buddhist teacher’s smiling suggestion to let things be as they are. The instructions were simple enough—follow your breath, notice your thoughts, let them go. But what are you actually doing? How is this supposed to help you? What were those techniques designed to do long term? And why did the instructions stop there? What comes next? Is this all there is to meditation?

Here’s the problem: whether you encountered meditation through Mindfulness apps or through Buddhist teachers, you likely received preliminary instructions without the theoretical framework that clarifies the immediate and long term primary and secondary goals, not to mention how meditation will supposedly get you there. You’re given fragments—techniques without context, instructions without theory, practice without support. Many people don’t even know that the initial meditation instructions are not the meditation itself, like someone learning the alphabet and thinking that this is what it means to read Shakespeare.

In the palace of learning, we will explain in some detail what meditation theory is and why it is so important for meditators to learn. But despite Tarpa’s emphasis on meditation theory, first, before we talk about the theory, it will help for all students to get on the same page with some basic instructions. To be clear, people often use the word “meditation” loosely to refer to a many different types of meditation exercises—like following the breath, cultivating loving kindness or other positive emotional states, and so on—or to the temporary results of those exercises, whether it be a peaceful feeling, a sense of being aware or present with different experiences, or whatever. These loose usages of the term may obscure the meaning and make people think meditation is something very vague—which it is not. So, it may help to give a working definition of Buddhist meditation: devoting ourselves consistently to observing and investigating our own mental and emotional landscape in a non-judgmental, non-reactive way to gain direct insights into the problems of life and death, into whether they can be solved, and if so, how. The job of meditation theory then is to explain how, through cumulative direct insights that dawn as wisdom, we can ideally reduce our existential dis-ease that proliferates into toxic mental states, increase our existential ease that blossoms into healthy emotional perspectives, and develop the wise and compassionate mindset necessary for a truly good life and a good death.

According to Buddhism, to know what precisely these words are pointing at and what meditation truly is, we need to follow the meditation instructions, do the exercises, gather experience, gain insight, and learn to “separate the chaff from the grain” through expert guidance in meditation. And to be clear, traditional Buddhist teachers would normally not explain how to meditate or teach the theory of meditation until students had proven their commitment to pursue the Buddhist path as their life’s number one priority. Even then, traditional teachers would likely not teach by giving broad overviews. Instead, they would probably give instructions to be followed on faith one by one, like a doctor who prescribes one medication after another without telling you how it works, what side effects to watch out for, how to recognize signs of improvement or when each medication’s course will be complete.

But there is a different Western-style approach: presenting a basic meditation technique along with an overview of where meditation is headed so that students can begin to understand the process as they move through the practical steps gradually. We adopt this overview-first approach because it is especially helpful for Western students unclear about the context for meditation to study a map briefly before walking the territory and if needed, to keep that map handy as they proceed. Here, to accurately read the map of meditation, students must also get familiar with its precise terminology and symbols—especially those that differ from our Western assumptions or the terminology you have heard elsewhere. But, to clarify the meditation “map” language from the ground up throughout this course, students will need to begin meditating, even without perfect understanding of what we are doing, so that we can start to see how the squiggly lines and words on a map are meant to correlate to the real landscape of what we are subconsciously experiencing moment to moment.

As we proceed through the modules in the palace of learning, we will definitely go deeper into meditation and the theory behind it. But along the way, the curriculum will also need to provide you some context about Buddhism—not because you need to become Buddhist, but because Buddhism developed something invaluable for anyone who meditates: phenomenological categories for understanding experience, and a precise language for discussing the psychological aspects of a mind and its lifeworld. As we go, we will discuss Buddhist ideas and terms like dis-ease (the different types of suffering that Buddhist meditation is addressed toward ), emptiness (the lack of fixed identity in persons and things that fuels the suffering), and the three vehicles (progressive frameworks for practice). Our discussion will not treat these as religious doctrines requiring belief but rather as investigative tools refined over two thousand years of systematic contemplative inquiry. So whether your interest in meditation is purely secular or informed by Buddhist practice, learning about these categories and this language will deepen your understanding of meditation theory considerably.

The Palace of Learning provides this education. You’ll learn about three traditional Buddhist frameworks for meditation practice—Small Vehicle, Great Vehicle, and Diamond Vehicle—exploring what Buddhists meditate on, why they meditate, and how these techniques work together systematically. The curriculum examines theoretical questions and controversies surrounding Buddhist meditation as a “secular inner science” that does not depend upon adopting religious beliefs. For comparative purposes, we also examine contemporary Mindfulness practices that have emerged from Buddhist meditation—though this appears in a separate section contained in outbuildings surrounding the Palace of Learning rather than the palace itself which houses the main curriculum, since our focus is learning about the Buddhist tradition itself.

The Foundation floor “where we begin” provides orientation and context for meditation practice, but does not yet offer the precise theory of how meditation works. That systematic exploration begins in the Small Vehicle floor, where each of the Four Hallmarks becomes a research question investigated through both philosophical study and contemplative practice. Foundation prepares us for that investigation; it doesn’t attempt to complete it.

This first module introduces meditation as an investigative method. Four videos establish the basic techniques and theoretical framework that will inform everything you study in this curriculum. The first video provides Buddhism’s historical context and raises a central controversy about meditation as “secular inner science.” The second explains how meditation techniques actually work. The third provides guided practice in those techniques. The fourth addresses posture for those who choose to practice.

The modules that follow begin the Buddhist context that illuminates meditation. The next module introduces the Three Jewels—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—which will help you understand the role that meditation played in the Buddha’s own life and why he taught it the way he did. From this you will extract certain information that will be meaningful now, and that will shift in meaning once you see where the practice leads. This is how the curriculum works: concepts introduced early transform through experience, revealing depths that weren’t visible at first encounter.

A Note on the Videos

The videos in this curriculum were recorded for courses at Dartmouth College between 2019 and 2023. You may notice occasional references to course materials or classroom elements. Please interpret “this course” as referring to Buddhist meditation study generally. The core teaching remains accurate—these small artifacts of their original context shouldn’t diminish the content’s value.

How to Engage This Module

The Palace of Learning teaches about Buddhism from an academic perspective informed by experiential learning. No guided meditation in this curriculum requires you to adopt any religious beliefs—the practices are entirely secular techniques. Even seasoned meditators may find that experimenting with the techniques introduced here will deepen their understanding of meditation theory; others may wish to engage the materials purely through conceptual study. Both approaches are valid. We recommend experimenting with traditional techniques presented here from a secular perspective. While you can engage the materials through conceptual study alone, meditation experience significantly deepens understanding of the theory.

This module introduces you to meditation as an investigative method. The first video provides historical context and raises a central question about whether Buddhist meditation constitutes a “secular inner science.” The second video explains how the core meditation technique actually works—the relationship between calming the mind and developing insight. The third video guides you through the practice itself. The fourth video, which is optional, addresses physical posture for those who choose to establish a regular sitting practice.

The reflection questions at the end of this module are designed as ongoing meditation instructions rather than one-time exercises. If you choose to practice, these questions provide frameworks for investigating your experience over time. If you’re studying theory without practicing, they help you think critically about the conceptual frameworks and how they relate to the investigation of experience.

We recommend that you try the guided meditation at least once, even if you don’t intend to practice regularly. The experience of attempting to observe your own mind—whatever happens—provides a reference point for everything that follows in the curriculum.