Hi, other religions teaches Concentration, some of their yogis
also reach Samadhi, but Shamatha/Concentration is not the same as
Insight practices, there is no element of Mindful Awareness, this
is peculiar to Buddhism.
This is the difference between Buddhist practise and other
religion's practise in general. There is only the component of
Shamatha in other religions.
See:
http://www.budsas.org/ebud/mfneng/mind1-4.htm
-- Mindfulness in Plain English (A very good book, highly
recommended!) by Bhante Gunaratana, Chapter 3
...Within the Judeo-Christian tradition we find two overlapping
practices called prayer and contemplation. Prayer is a direct
address to some spiritual entity. Contemplation in a prolonged
period of conscious thought about some specific topic, usually a
religious ideal or scriptural passage. From the standpoint of
mental culture, both of these activities are exercises in
concentration. The normal deluge of conscious thought is
restricted, and the mind is brought to one conscious area of
operation. The results are those you find in any concentrative
practice: deep calm, a physiological slowing of the metabolism and
a sense of peace and well-being.
Out of the Hindu tradition comes Yogic meditation, which is also
purely concentrative. The traditional basic exercises consist of
focusing the mind on a single object a stone, a candle flame, a
syllable or whatever, and not allowing it to wander. Having
acquired the basic skill, the Yogi proceeds to expand his practice
by taking on more complex objects of meditation chants, colorful
religious images, energy channels in the body and so forth. Still,
no matter how complex the object of meditation, the meditation
itself remains purely an exercise in concentration.
Within the Buddhist tradition, concentration is also highly
valued. But a new element is added and more highly stressed.
That element is
awareness. All Buddhist meditation aims at the development
of awareness, using concentration as a tool. The Buddhist tradition
is very wide, however, and there are several diverse routes to this
goal...
