Who did the Meditation First, Meditation Invention Logic

[Vipassana_Beginner]

I was a bit curious to know who did meditation first and how did one discover/invent to correct the root cause of misery. Was Siddartha the first person or did he refine the method?

I or a common man didn't know that there are sensations in our body, we are reactive mind etc. Without any basic knowledge, how did the first person know that meditation (any "meditation" technique )is the method. We know, so many millions of people lived and died in misery and no one was able to find out a path to come out. So just curious, what were the clues, logic etc that the first person got, which made him or her meditate, for so many hours  .


Vipassana Beginner.
Thanks

[Flipasso]

I'm not sure I understood your question right. I'll try answering the following:

Who invented meditation?
If you think about it, it's amazing to be the first one to invent something (anything) who invented surfing?
Did a man started looking at the waves, and knowing that wood floated thought:  "Hey maybe I can stand on a piece of wood and ride the wave?". OK, this seems plausible, but then what about trying and trying to actually do it?! It takes a lot of will and faith...
According to my Yoga ex-teacher, the men who invented meditation where holy man that actually lived in meditative states due to their lifestyle. Then, somehow (by spiritual revelation or by just sitting and experimenting) they found out the method to meditate.

How did the Buddha discover buddhism?
There is a story which tells us the life of Siddharta Gautama. Why he did it and how he actually did it... only by asking him would you know such thing.

Was he the first Buddha?
According to this article he was the 28th and there will be at least one in the future...   it may be you!!
=)

happiness@you.all

[Matthew]

There were many meditation techniques and schools that pre-dated the historical Buddha and active communities of seekers at the time of his life. He studied with all the famous masters of his day but found all their methods were missing something.

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years, discovered, lost, rediscovered countless times. No one can be very sure of what the Buddha really discovered unless they follow the path and discover it for themselves. Maybe even his real method of meditation is currently lost awaiting rediscovery.

In the Dhamma,

Matthew

[Laurent]

We find traces in the sayings of the Greeks towards -500, because certain philosophers carried out initiatory voyages towards the east (Pythagore, Empedocle ...)
Among these mages, sorcerers and other mystics, there were gymnosophists who were naked ascetics. I no longer know which philosopher was greatly impressed by seeing several of these Persian gymnosophists commit suicide by fire without seeming to feel any discomfort.
At that time, Athens was seen by the Greeks as the seat of reason while the Persian empire was seen in a somewhat obscure way because of its mysticism.
These are therefore the first historically dated traces of psycho-physical practices that we can call meditation.

[stillpointdancer]

The first true humans probably invented meditation as such. Imagine long evenings sitting doing nothing, or out gathering fruit, or waiting by an animal trail for hours. Sitting doing nothing will effect the brain, whether deliberately or not. We'll never know what insights such people experienced although some early cave paintings may give us a few clues. With the rise of the first religions such as shamanism, such experiences bagan to be interpreted by a chosen few although people still went on, say, walkabout in Australia, or some other rite of passage. The key aspect was that of shared world view, so the interpretation was everything.

Many societies frowned on individuals making their own meditation journeys, so we are left with a long history of meditation being lost and reinvented, right up to the present day. Buddhist meditation drew on prevailing practices, but the Buddha gave us what we currently understand as Buddhist meditation practice. The difference is the context you meditate within.