Cameron Davis

S00526795
Meditation and Learning
The topic of this research paper is my experience with meditation, mainly in learning how to
concentrate better and connections I have made with it to epistemology. Epistemology is the
philosophical study of knowledge, how an individual obtains it and what knowledge is. In this paper I
want to focus on meditations ability to awaken the senses and improve concentration which can help us
learn in new ways. I explain four categories of learning or obtaining of knowledge which I have come
to believe all forms of learning that I know of fall into. They are empiricism, rationalism,
authority,and intuition/existentialism. I then show how meditation can be a help to these kinds of
learning through possibly attaining enlightenment and improving sensory faculties.

After my research, and through my own experiences I have become very interested in how
meditation awakens the senses and has helped me be more observant. I have been meditating for a
couple of months and do so at least twice a week. I would not say I have mastered it in anyway. But I
have noticed some distinct differences in my life that have resulted from meditation. Since I began
meditating I have noticed that I have a much greater capacity to focus, I am able to observe things I
have never seen that I have passed before on a daily basis, Sensations are stronger and more palpable,
and I have begun to feel less tired throughout the day. There are many ways to meditate and they are
not always associated with learning to concentrate and enhancing the senses but I will focus on this
type of meditation in this paper. I am doing this because I think that ultimately the four categories of
learning I have made are actually all just parasitic of the first one empiricism.

Empiricism is the idea

that we learn everything through sense experience such as taste,smell,etc. as well as extra unlock able
sixth senses such as religious spiritual enlightenment from a divinity or even the perceptions of
distant, obscure influences such as the light of a star or galaxy. Meditation helps make our basic

sensory abilities even stronger and I think even can help us unlock other abilities of perceptions which
makes it tie well into empiricism and therefore able to help an individual learn more effectively. I will
explain this further and how meditation relates to these categories after I have defined the next three.

The category of rationalism is somewhat the opposite of empiricism and comes from ancient
Greece and the famous natural philosopher named Plato. It is the belief that we can not understand the
world fully by just sense experience alone and must use reason and logic to understand the things
which can not be seen. We learn basic things that we are able to then use to reason and calculate
further, a good example of this is mathematics, it uses some basic concepts such as numbers and then
elaborates further upon them due to their inherent qualities. Nearly all other fields of mathematics are
descendants of basic arithmetic. Plato used a story to explain his way of learning, there were some
prisoners who were kept in a cave all their lives that were tied and bound so that they could only stare
at the back end of the wall and could not look around. Behind them was a low wall and large bonfire
slightly beyond, a path ran along the wall and before the fire. People would walk along it carrying
animals, baskets, children and other items. This would cast elongated shadows on the world allowing
the only perception of the outside world by the prisoners to be shadows. It is similar to his view of the
real world, we can not know immediately how long a side of a triangle is but through a mathematical
equation or logic, we can find out. This example applies further to other things of greater scale, such as
engineering and logistics, etc.

The third category is authority, it is simply asking an authority or higher power for knowledge
or understanding. I think the best example of this is religion but it applies to a scientific or academic
authority as well.

It is learning from an individual or source that is authoritatively more

knowledgeable on the subject than you or is far more capable of knowing things which are unknowable
by us, such as in the case of divinity. A good example of authoritative learning is that at one point in

the past all three Abrahamic religions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism believed that divinity would
directly give information and commandments to their prophets which would be compiled in books,
namely the Qur'an, torah, and bible. This also applied to pagan religions where shamans or priests
would learn instructions albeit indirectly from their deities. A good example of this was the Greek
oracle of Delphi, which was a woman that would enter a trance like state and be possessed by the god
being questioned and then relay information to the priests. It is also pretty accepted that if you want to
learn about a subject that is deep, complex and difficult to learn alone, you ask an expert for a
simplified explanation or insight.

The fourth and last category is intuition/existentialism and has to do primarily with learning
from within the individual. It is divided into the two subcategories of intuition and existentialism
because I think they are unifiable conceptually because they have the individual as the source but are
different in their methods. Intuition or instinct is a simple way of learning, it is the idea that
knowledge or instructions are already imprinted inside an individual such as the fight or flight
response, automatic bodily responses, or genetic coding. It is the basic instinct of a baby to attempt to
walk, or a predator to crouch when it sees its prey neither were told what to do, they simply do it
without any thought. Perhaps another example of this although not alive, is a computer, it comes with
code and programs already installed, which helps it to run and do the purposes it is intended for.
Existentialism is slightly different in that it proposes that meaning, values, and knowledge is obtained
by existence of an individual and that as we live life without reason, sense, or authority, influencing us
we come to an understanding by simply being. It is the belief that true understanding comes from
nowhere but from within.

I think that meditation relates very well to all of these categories of learning. I actually think
that it is better to say methods, because I don't think that any of the four ways of learning are invalid or

the only one true way of obtaining knowledge. They are all compartmental and have different sources
and different ways of teaching. Meditation relates to these in three or four ways. Firstly like I have
said over and over meditation improves the senses and makes us more aware, it is helpful in studying it
helps an individual to notice details that are perhaps obscure but important. It could also be a way of
attaining enlightenment, it is said that Buddha became enlightened when he perceived the light of a
distant star. Which is fascinating because we are in fact being bombarded slightly by photons from
other stars and would be amazing if Buddha truly did perceive that somehow.

It is also proven that

meditation physically affects our brains and the results I have experienced are that it seems to make
one quicker and more sharp, essentially more focused.

It also relates to authority in that It can also

possibly be a way of knowing god, and many religions believe that to know god or truth one must
perceive his spirit which is a force that emanates from him, this is done through pondering and
preparation mentally for it, something not distant from meditation. A big part of Buddhism is
discovering your true nature from within which is quite similar to the intuition/existentialism method of
learning. And also With some forms of meditation, which I have yet to do, the focus is on exploring
yourself as a person and your emotions, memories, and whatever is inside you which is relatable to the
fourth method of learning.
In conclusion meditation is a very good tool that is applicable in many ways to help an
individual to learn, whether it be through sense, reason, authority, or intuition.

SOURCES
http://www.buddhamind.info/leftside/under/buddha/enlight.htm
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_empiricism.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation#Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_authority
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Rationalism+(philosophy)
http://eocinstitute.org/meditation/meditation-will-increase-your-capacity-for-learning/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2944261/

(journal)

Buddha in Blue Jeans: an etremely short simple zen guide to sitting quietly by tai sheridan (book)