The East has used the means of meditation to connect to a deeper level of spiritual enlightenment for thousands of years.
A koan is a riddle that defies logic.
The most famous koan is 'what is the sound of one hand clapping?'
The Zen master chooses a koan for the pupil and they go away and meditate on that purely.
This may take the pupil days, weeks, EVEN years.
When the conscious mind realises it cannot solve the riddle, the answer will arise from the higher level of spirituality.
This is an important lesson in understanding.
Used often in Tibetan Buddhism, is the mandala.
It is a symobilic picture with geometrical shapes.
Usually, a mandala is divded into four outer sections representing the outer world and a round inner section symbolising the self.
Through contemplating its eleborate imagery, one can move from the outer to inner being, where wholeness is found.
One major tenet of eastern meditation is the Buddhist eight fold-path.
This provokes right thought, right action, right speech and right understanding.
Is it a belief of compassion, respecting all beings and harming nothing.
Meditation is seen as a means of discovering our Buddha nature, which non Buddhists call the true light within.