Lauren Lievens

Doctor Peter Barr

LAS 341 Contemplation and Action

12/11/2018

Final Exam Essay

In this course, we have studied some of the various ways entire cultures, and individual

people, meditate and contemplate. We have also studied the ways many specific people meditate

and contemplate to help bring about creative action. In this essay I will discuss why one should

meditate or contemplate, some of the different religions and cultures that participate in

meditation or contemplation, some examples of specific people whose meditation and

contemplation brought about creative action, my favorite ways to meditate or contemplate that I

learned in this course, and an example of my own creative action that was meaningful to me.

One should participate in meditation and contemplation because they have been shown to

have great physical and psychological benefits on the human body. There is much research and

data from many different backgrounds that correlate this benefit. In the beginning of this course

we reviewed the findings of a priest, an oncologist, two psychologists, and a group of nurse

practitioners and their ideas on the benefits of meditation, contemplation, and prayer. In each of

these sources, we were told why we should meditate, were given instructions, or methods, on

how to go about meditating, and were given the results of each specific method. Some methods

were backed up by scientific research and others used the Bible as their knowledge base. Even

though we reviewed such a wide array of research coming from such different backgrounds, they
tended to come to the same conclusions. They all told us that meditation and contemplation can

have a quantifiably positive physical and psychological impact on the human mind and body.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity are all examples of religions and cultures

that practice some form of meditation or contemplation. In the Hindu culture, they perform a

kind of meditation called Dhyana. Dhyana is taken up in yoga exercises, and is a means to

samadhi (state of meditative consciousness) and self-knowledge. It is, in Hinduism, a part of a

self-directed awareness and unifying yoga process by which the participant realizes self, one's

relationship with other living beings, and Ultimate Reality. Buddhists participate in meditation as

part of the path toward liberation, awakening, and Nirvana, and includes a variety of meditation

techniques. These techniques aim to develop mental calmness, composure, and evenness of

temper, mindfulness, concentration, tranquility, and insight. These meditation techniques are

preceded by and combined with practices which aid this development, such as moral restraint

and right effort to develop wholesome states of mind. The main characteristic of Taoist

meditation is the creation, transformation, and circulation of inner energy. The purpose is to

quiet the body and mind, unify body and spirit, find inner peace, and harmonize with the Tao. In

Christianity, the main form of meditation is through prayer. There are many different ways to

achieve this and, for the most part, each individual has his or her own personal way of prayer.

Two specific examples include putting yourself in the story and simple, quiet prayer. When

putting yourself in the story, one reads a story from the Bible and then tries to imagine

themselves in the story by imagining what you would see, hear, smell, feel, etc. In simple, quiet

prayer, one reads the Bible and then sits quietly and contemplates what they have read. In,

“Centering Prayer: An Ancient Christian Way of Meditation,” Father Basil says, “We can share

the method of centering prayer with persons of all different traditions or of no particular tradition
and we can it together in meditation. And some kind of very real communication is

experienced.” (pg. 257) I chose this quote because it shows that meditation and contemplation

can be used to bring people of all religions and cultures together.

Two examples of individuals that we have studied in this course are Martin Luther King,

Jr. and Dorothy Day. They both brought about creative and effective action through their own

participation in meditation and contemplation. In their contemplation, they both found

inspiration in the Bible. Day is quoted as saying, “Love of brother means voluntary poverty,

stripping one’s self, putting off the old man, denying one’s self.” (December, pg. 229) This

shows a direct connection to the book of Matthew. King makes this connection is a similar way.

In one of his writings he cites a direct quote from the book of Matthew and then continues on to

say, “May we solemnly realize that we shall never be true sons of our heavenly Father until we

love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.” (Strength to Love, pg. 57) This shows his

direct connection to and contemplation of Matthew 5:43-45. Through their own Biblical

contemplations, these individuals were able to bring about great change in their communities and

the world. Dorothy Day was an activist and outspoken leader for social justice and equality.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was also an activist and leader for social justice and equality, focusing on

bringing together and creating peace between the black and white populations in the United

States.

In this course we practiced different ways of meditation and contemplation. My favorites

were gentle yoga and focused attention meditation. Now days, yoga has become a means of

vigorous exercise and body transformation instead of its intended purpose of calming and

restoring one’s body and, most importantly, mind. Even if not always for the purpose of calming

and restoring, yoga is widely practiced throughout the world by people of differing cultures,
ethnicities, religions, and beliefs. I enjoyed practicing yoga so much because it truly made me

feel better as a whole person. My mind felt calm, peaceful, and collected, and my body and

muscles felt more relaxed and stronger at the same time. Since we have completed yoga in this

course, I have been continuing yoga on my own outside of class. I go into my basement, dim the

lights, burn a candle, and follow along with a gentle yoga video. It’s one of my favorite times of

the week. I also really enjoyed focused attention meditation. This is done by sitting well, closing

your eyes, relaxing your muscles, and focusing your attention on a chosen object such as the

sensations of breathing or the count of your breathing. One’s mind may wander but if it does

simply focus back on your object of concentration. While I did enjoy this practice, I also found it

difficult most of the time. My mind tends to wander easily and I felt like I was constantly

redirecting myself back to my object of concentration. Even with this being the case, I definitely

felt the benefits of focused attention meditation. It always made me feel calm and centered. On

occasion, however, it actually made me feel really sleepy. Unlike yoga, I have not continued

doing focused attention meditation outside of class. I tried it once but had trouble maintaining

focus and when I stopped thinking I had been meditating for five minutes, it had really only been

one.

An example of my own creative action that was meaningful to me was my installation

project proposal. Jessica and I came up with the idea to bring attention to student test anxiety. As

a future educator, this, and other issues facing education, are near and dear to my heart. We

designed a piece of installation art that we thought captured the feeling of having test anxiety.

We made a model of a classroom full of individual desks and in the middle of the classroom, one

desk was suspended from the ceiling, trapped in a net. This symbolizes the way a student who

suffers from test anxiety may feel when they are trying to take a test. I felt that this was an
important topic to cover because it affects so many students. In an environment where we put so

much emphasis and importance on standardized tests (even though I don’t agree with that

notion), we need to do out best to make sure our students are receiving the most equitable testing

experience possible.

Looking back, I have discussed why one should meditate or contemplate, some of the

different religions and cultures that participate in meditation or contemplation, some examples of

specific people whose meditation and contemplation brought about creative action, my favorite

ways to meditate or contemplate that I learned in this course, and an example of my own creative

action that was meaningful to me. I truly believe that meditation and contemplation play a key

role in bringing about creative action and wish more people would take the time to practice self-

care.
Works Cited

“Buddhist Meditation.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Nov. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_meditation.

“Dhyana in Hinduism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Nov. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhyana_in_Hinduism.

Foreman, Chad. “The Full Power of Taoist Meditation and How to Do It.” The Way of

Meditation, 29 May 2017, www.thewayofmeditation.com.au/blog/taoist-meditation/.