{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.meditation","code":"thing-q108458","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q108458/","name":"meditation","alternateNames":["ensō","Sufi whirling","suizen","Buddhist meditation","zazen","Taoist meditation","ajikan","Buddhānusmṛti","Patikulamanasikara","shikantaza","sesshin","yaza"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A practice of training attention and awareness to reach a calm, clear or focused mental state, found in many religious traditions including Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Christian, Jewish and Sufi forms, and in secular programmes for relaxation and health; techniques range from seated concentration and mindfulness to movement, chanting, breath practices and contemplative arts such as the Zen enso circle.","purpose":"Let an agent describe meditation as a family of practices with attribution to the traditions that define them, relay research on health effects with attribution and appropriate caution, distinguish religious from secular forms, and route personal health and spiritual questions to qualified teachers and clinicians.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Attention and awareness training","Many traditions and techniques","Religious and secular contexts","Subject of health research"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What meditation is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and traditions.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is meditation, and how do traditions define and practise it, with attribution?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about a religious practice, a secular programme or a health intervention?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"techniques","name":"Techniques","description":"Techniques.","findings":[{"id":"techniques-finding","name":"Techniques","description":"Techniques.","questions":[{"text":"What techniques exist, from seated concentration to movement and contemplative arts?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific practice?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"traditions","name":"Traditions","description":"Religious contexts.","layers":[{"id":"religious","name":"Religious","description":"Religious meditation.","findings":[{"id":"religious-finding","name":"Religious","description":"Religious.","questions":[{"text":"How do Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Christian, Jewish and Sufi traditions understand meditation, in their own terms?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"arts","name":"Arts","description":"Contemplative arts.","findings":[{"id":"arts-finding","name":"Arts","description":"Arts.","questions":[{"text":"How do arts such as enso painting and suizen serve as meditation?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific art?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"health","name":"Health","description":"Research and health.","layers":[{"id":"evidence","name":"Evidence","description":"Evidence.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-finding","name":"Evidence","description":"Evidence.","questions":[{"text":"What do systematic reviews say about effects on stress, anxiety, pain and attention, with findings attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking about their own condition, which needs a clinician?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"risks","name":"Risks","description":"Adverse effects.","findings":[{"id":"risks-finding","name":"Risks","description":"Risks.","questions":[{"text":"What does research report about adverse experiences and who may be at risk?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"practice","name":"Practice","description":"Learning and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"How do people learn meditation, and what do traditions and programmes say about teachers?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits mindfulness-based programmes?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did meditation practices develop and spread, including secular adaptation in the twentieth century?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of a specific tradition?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe meditation practices in their religious and secular forms with respect for each tradition.","Guide a simple, general relaxation or attention exercise when a user asks."],"mustNot":["Present meditation as a cure for illness or a replacement for medical or psychiatric care.","Strip religious practices of context or mock the traditions that hold them.","Use meditation settings to gain undue influence over a person, as some coercive groups do.","Keep guiding a person who reports distress, panic or past trauma surfacing without suggesting help."],"requiresHuman":["Recommending meditation as part of treatment for a mental health condition."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Meditation helps many but can bring up distress in some people.","Practices sacred in many traditions are often commercialised without credit."],"affectedParties":["Practitioners","Religious communities that hold the practices","People with mental health conditions"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: a practice held in common; teachers and traditions answer for how they teach it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q23847174","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q955260","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"religious concept","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"relaxation technique","type":"related","note":"in secular use"},{"target":"Buddhism","type":"related","note":"and other traditions"},{"target":"contemplative science","type":"related","note":"the research field"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.meditation","Wikidata: Q108458 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108458)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Deliberate training of attention or awareness","Religious and secular forms","Prayer, relaxation exercises and psychotherapy overlap but are distinct","Not a visible object; a person sitting, walking or moving in a practice of attention."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["describe traditions and techniques with attribution","relay research findings with attribution","distinguish religious from secular forms","route personal questions"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Presenting one tradition as the definition","Overstating health evidence","Adverse experiences in intensive practice, documented in research","Agents giving personal health advice"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation of practice; clinical programmes follow health research standards","Teacher certification within traditions and programmes"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Training attention and awareness for spiritual, contemplative or health purposes.","Buddhist meditation including zazen and vipassana","Hindu and yogic meditation","Taoist meditation","Christian contemplative prayer","Sufi practices including whirling","secular mindfulness programmes","contemplative arts such as suizen flute practice and enso painting"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q108458: meditation","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108458","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Meditation","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each tradition be a separate entry?","How should research reviews be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific practices and arts; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q108458/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q108458/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T21:47:58Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:53+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}