- Meditation is an essential practice to most Buddhists. Buddhists look within themselves for the truth and understanding of Buddha's teachings. They seek enlightenment, or nirvana, this way. Nirvana is freedom from needless suffering and being fully alive and present in one's life.
- Meditation means focusing the mind to achieve an inner stillness that leads to a state of enlightenment. Meditation takes many forms:
- It can be sitting quietly beside a beautiful arrangement of rocks, contemplating beauty.
- It can be practicing a martial art such as karate or aikido since they require mental and physical control and strong concentration.
- It can mean focusing on a riddle such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
- It can be contemplating a haiku or short poem that captures a moment in time.
- It can be in a meditation room of a monastery.
- It can involve chanting.
- It can involve the use of a mandala to focus attention to the invisible point at the center of interlocking triangles
- It can involve quietly noticing one's breath as it goes in and out It can happen anywhere at any time.
