Everyone must have heard about meditation and mindfulness. With the improving quality of life, there is one more thing that we have more as compared to older days and that is stress. Without a doubt we as a generation may have more resources and better opportunities but it has come at a price of our mental health.
Nowadays, we are more aware of our mental health. Which is why we have been more inclined to practise meditation or mindfulness. We can call them whatever we want but the essence stays the same. Sometimes during meditation, we are inclined to think about all the things that are going wrong in our life and overthink. When we meditate we need to bring our mind under our control.
Meditative practices in buddhism
There are many ways through which you can get better at the art of meditation. In Hinduism and Buddhism, since ancient times they have been doing meditation. Here, we will discuss the different types of Buddhist techniques for meditation. That will help you to recognise your goal and clear the doubts regarding it.
- Shamatha meditation – Shamatha is the base of all kinds of buddhist meditation. When we practise this meditation we tend to focus on calm and peace. This method of meditation can become the foundation of all meditative practice. When we follow this method in the right guidance then we can experience inner peace and calm.
- Metta meditation – Metta meditation or loving kindness meditation, as the name suggests, revolves around the concept of love and kindness. In this type of meditation, we have different types of techniques, one of them is to feel the positive and love emotion towards all the people.
- Contemplative meditation – In this method of meditative, people believe in concentrating and understanding the concepts and teaching that we want us to follow and develop. Like we want to follow the teachings of lord buddha then we will dedicate a few hours to it to make sure that we are on the right path.
Why should you have a brass buddha statue while meditating?
In the above paragraph we have talked about the different types of buddhist meditation techniques. In all these mediation techniques, we have to control our mind from wandering here or there. The taming of our wandering mind will only be solved with practice but besides it there are many ways through which you can get some help in concentration.
We are talking about adding a brass buddha statue into your place where you meditate. This technique of mediation with an object of choice is said to be a visual anchor. Visual anchor is defined as something that reminds you of your goal and prevents you from the distraction. And even if you are distracted you can go back to your meditative session.
Here, we have a few more reasons on why we should add a brass buddha statue into our mediating place. :
- Positive energy – The brass buddha statue is believed to be the unlimited resource of positive energy. When we incorporate a brass buddha statue into a place it is said its positivity will drive all the negativity away.
- Better concentration – When we are in a positive environment we are more inclined to have a better focus which contributes to a better concentration during your meditation session. When you feel like your mind is wandering you can look at the meditative statue and that will remind you to focus.
- Boosts productivity – When we will be able to concentrate better and without distraction it is natural for our productivity to increase. The Buddha statue that you pick will make sure that you have a positive environment to work and meditate.
- Attain higher spirituality – when we talk about meditation we can’t deny the role that spirituality played in the development of meditation techniques and methods. This works both ways, as well, when we meditate with the aim to get spiritual upliftment. A brass Buddha statue is a great way to get in touch with your inner spirituality for upliftment.
What kind of buddha statue to choose from ?
This is quite an important task as there are a lot of brass Buddha statues available in the market. We will tell you about the different kinds of Buddha mudra so that you know the meaning behind their gesture which will make it easier for you to pick the Buddha statue best for you.
- Dhyan mudra – when we talk about meditation, we talk about concentration
and focus. This is what this mudra is all about. The word dhyan is a Hindi word which translates into concentration. This mudra can be identified by the stance of the hands. In this mudra both hands are resting one upon another on the lap comfortably. When this is made with a single hand, the left hand is used while the right hand may be engaged somewhere else.
This mudra is popularly seen practising by the Hindu sages and Buddhist monks.
- Varada mudra – when a brass Buddha statue is in varada mudra, it is said the Lord Buddha grants boons and wishes as this mudra, is the symbol of blessings, compassion and charity.
This mudra is very easy to identify. Mostly made with the left hand where the hand facing front with all the fingers pointing in the direction of Earth. This mudra is almost always accompanied by abhaya mudra.
- Bhumisparsha mudra – This mudra is one of the most significant mudras in Buddhism. This mudra was done by Buddha just before he got enlightenment and was about to open his eyes. There are many stories that say that just before he got the knowledge of truth, a demon named Maya was sent to kill lord Buddha before he got enlightenment. The moment Demon Maya attacked him, Lord Gautam Buddha touched the Earth, and requested Mother Earth come save him from the demon and witness his awakening by touching the ground. This gesture is known as Bhumisparsha.
Mother Earth complies with his request and drowns the demon by summoning a river. Then she witnessed the awakening of Lord Buddha.
- Dharmachakra mudra – Another one significant mudras made by Lord Gautam Buddha, this mudra was made when he gave his first teaching to his first disciples. The teaching of lord Buddha is said as an essential action that was done to put the cosmic wheel of righteousness or wheel of Dharma into motion.
This gesture is the symbol of true knowledge that will destroy the illusion of darkness. As well as it shows that the teaching of Lord Buddha is straight from his heart.
To summarise this article
We have reached the end of this article which is about the role of the Buddha statue in meditation. In this article we have talked about different types of Buddhist meditation methods as well as how a brass Buddha statue can act as a visual anchor to facilitate the meditation. Along with that we have talked about other benefits that you will get from having a Buddha statue, as well as different types of Buddha statues that you can pick according to your preference.
