Home›Meditative Practices›Who Performs It›All adherents of the traditionBrowse ByAll adherents of the traditionThis page groups practices by who actually carries them out. Wikipedia notes that in the Catholic Church, cultus "is the technical term for Roman Catholic devotions or veneration extended to a particular saint," a practice of ordinary believers rather than clergy alone. Browsing this way lets a visitor separate a practice open to any adherent from one reserved for a specialist.FactsLearn MoreAll adherents of the traditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedDisciplines of sustained, trained attention - calm abiding, insight, recitation of a formula, visualisation, fixed gazing, contemplative reading and prayer. The English word covers techniques with incompatible aims: samatha and vipassana are distinguished within Buddhism itself, and lectio divina, Sufi muraqabah and Daoist internal alchemy are not one thing under different names. 2OriginsWhose Classification This IsWell-attestedThe modern comparative category owes much to twentieth-century Buddhist modernism, which recast meditation as a technique separable from monastic life and doctrine and presented it in that form to Western audiences; the Burmese insight movement from Ledi Sayadaw onward is the clearest case. 4StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 5DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1Contested UseContested or Appropriated Modern UseWell-attestedSeveral of these disciplines now circulate detached from the traditions that transmit them - mindfulness as a secular clinical and corporate technique, yoga as exercise, meditation as a movement in its own right - and the detachment is itself contested by practitioners and by scholars. 3Learn MoreThe Meditative Practices This group holds meditative practices, the disciplines of stilling, focusing or training the mind, from breath awareness and mantra recitation to visualisation and contemplative absorption. Such practices are especially developed in the Indian and Buddhist traditions but appear across many religions. The browser will find meditative practices from various traditions. The entries describe each practice's technique, aim and lineage, noting how differently the traditions understand the goal of meditation.All adherents of the traditionFilter Results29 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll-800 (1)-500 (3)-400 (2)-300 (2)700 (3)1042 (1)1227 (1)1400 (1)1499 (1)1522 (1)1650 (1)1773 (1)1800 (1)1913 (1)1992 (1)Unesco StatusAllInscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2)Solitary or CommunalAllPerformed alone (11)Performed alone or together (16)Performed by a gathered group (1)Performed by an officiant for a recipient (1)TraditionAllBreslov Hasidism (1)Chabad-Lubavitch (1)Eastern Orthodoxy (1)Quanzhen (Complete Reality) (1)Shaivism (1)Shangqing (Highest Clarity) (1)Soto (1)Sufism (1)Theravada (2)Tibetan Buddhism (2)Zen (4)Category of PracticeAllMeditative (12)Purificatory (3)Practice StatusAllLiving tradition, practised today (29)Scholarly StandingAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (29)CadenceAllAs the occasion requires (2)Continuous: a standing discipline, not an event (2)Daily (10)ObligationAllObligatory (1)Optional and voluntary (1)Recommended and meritorious, not required (5)Holds ElementAllAir (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 29AnapanasatiAll adherents of the traditionBhastrikaAll adherents of the traditionBreathworkAll adherents of the traditionGrounding and CenteringAll adherents of the traditionHitbodedutAll adherents of the traditionHitbonenutAll adherents of the traditionIgnatian contemplationAll adherents of the traditionKapalabhatiAll adherents of the traditionKinhin (walking meditation)All adherents of the traditionLucid dreamingAll adherents of the traditionMeditationAll adherents of the traditionMetta-bhavana (loving-kindness meditation)All adherents of the traditionNaam SimranAll adherents of the traditionNadi ShodhanaAll adherents of the traditionNoble SilenceAll adherents of the traditionRetreatAll adherents of the traditionSamatha (calm abiding)All adherents of the traditionSamayikaAll adherents of the traditionShikantaza (just sitting)All adherents of the traditionSungazingAll adherents of the traditionSusokukan (Zen Breath Counting)All adherents of the traditionTai chi (Taijiquan)All adherents of the traditionThe Five Falun Gong ExercisesAll adherents of the traditionTonglen (giving and taking)All adherents of the traditionTrataka (fixed gazing)All adherents of the traditionUjjayiAll adherents of the traditionYogaAll adherents of the traditionZazenAll adherents of the traditionZuowangAll adherents of the traditionSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. MeditationView the Source3. Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religiontier 1Lola Williamson, New York University Press, 20104. The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadawtier 1Erik Braun, University of Chicago Press, 2013View the Source5. Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experiencetier 1Robert H. Sharf, Numen, 1995View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.