Anwar-e Ma`rifat

This article provides a comparative study of meditation techniques in Islamic mysticism and Zen Buddhism. The research approach focuses on the "technical" level and avoids any identification of the empirical results or ultimate goals of these two traditions. In Islamic mysticism, meditation is understood as a conscious and continuous presence in the presence of God and constant monitoring of the inner and outer movements of the soul. A presence that, although accompanied by the decline of sensual and perceptual determinations, does not stop at this stage and ultimately leads to the realization of the existence of God, the continuation of the conscious agency of the seeker, and the establishment of responsible servitude. In this perspective, meditation is not a mere suspension of consciousness, but a tool for perseverance, action, and lasting presence in the realm of religious life. In contrast, meditation in Zen Buddhism, especially in the form of zazen and working with choana, is based on the suspension of conceptual thought, the release of perceptual distinctions, and a return to the immediate living of the moment. The goal of this path is an experience like satori that leads to the elimination of mental dualities and a kind of non-conceptual awareness, without being formulated in a transcendent horizon of survival, divine commitment, or the continuation of moral agency. The research findings show that although similarities can be identified between these two traditions at the level of practical techniques and attentional discipline, their fundamental distinction is revealed in the teleological horizon and ultimate meaning of meditation, a distinction that demonstrates the structural superiority of Islamic mysticism in the deliberate connection between extinction and survival by God.