Buddhist Meditation: Buddhist Meditation Is The Practice of Meditation in

Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in

Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical
languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā ("mental
development") [note 1] and jhāna/dhyāna (mental training
resulting in a calm and luminous mind).[note 2]
Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward

liberation, awakening and Nirvana,[note 3] and includes a
variety of meditation techniques, most notably asubha bhavana
("reflections on repulsiveness");[1] reflection on
pratityasamutpada (dependent origination); sati (mindfulness)
and anussati (recollections), including anapanasati (breath
meditation); dhyana (developing an alert and luminous
mind);[2][3][4][5][6] and the Brahma-viharas (loving-kindness
and compassion). These techniques aim to develop equanimity
and sati (mindfulness); samadhi (concentration) c.q. samatha
(tranquility) and vipassanā (insight); and are also said to lead to
abhijñā (supramundane powers). These meditation techniques
are preceded by and combined with practices which aid this
development, such as moral restraint and right effort to develop
wholesome states of mind. Buddha Shakyamuni meditating in the lotus
position, India, Bihar, probably Kurkihar,
While these techniques are used across Buddhist schools, there Pala dynasty, c. 1000 AD, black stone -
is also significant diversity. In the Theravada tradition, Östasiatiska museet, Stockholm, Sweden
reflecting developments in early Buddhism, meditation
techniques are classified as either samatha (calming the mind)
and vipassana (gaining insight).[note 4] Chinese and Japanese Buddhism preserved a wide range of meditation
techniques, which go back to early Buddhism, most notably Sarvastivada. In Tibetan Buddhism, deity yoga
includes visualisations, which precede the realization of sunyata ("emptiness").[note 5]
Contents
Etymology
Pre-Buddhist India
Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Preparatory practices
Asubha bhavana (reflection on unattractiveness)
Anussati (recollections)
Sati/smrti (mindfulness) and satipatthana (establishment of mindfulness)
Anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing)
Dhyāna/jhāna
Four rupa-jhanas
Qualities
Interpretation
Arupas
Jhana and insight
Brahmavihāra
Early Buddhism
Samatha (serenity) and vipassana (insight)
Theravāda
Sutta Pitaka and early commentaries
Buddhaghosa
Contemporary Theravāda
Vipassana and/or samatta
Vipassana movement
Thai Forest tradition
Other forms
Sarvāstivāda
Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism
East Asian Mahāyāna
East Asian Yogācāra methods
Tiantai śamatha-vipaśyanā
Esoteric practices in Japanese Tendai
Huayan meditation theory
Pure land Buddhism
Chán
Tantric Buddhism
Therapeutic uses of meditation
Key terms
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Printed sources
Web-sources
Further reading
External links
Etymology
The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā (mental
development)[note 1] and jhāna/dhyāna.[note 2]
Pre-Buddhist India
Modern Buddhist studies have attempted to reconstruct the meditation practices of pre-sectarian Early
Buddhism, mainly through philological and text critical methods using the early canonical texts.[7]
According to Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst, "the teaching of the Buddha as presented in the early canon
contains a number of contradictions,"[8] presenting "a variety of methods that do not always agree with each
other,"[9] containing "views and practices that are sometimes accepted and sometimes rejected."[8] These
contradictions are due to the influence of non-Buddhist traditions on early Buddhism. One example of these
non-Buddhist meditative methods found in the early sources is outlined by Bronkhorst:
The Vitakkasanthāna Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya and its parallels in Chinese translation
recommend the practicing monk to ‘restrain his thought with his mind, to coerce and torment it’.
Exactly the same words are used elsewhere in the Pāli canon (in the Mahāsaccaka Sutta,
Bodhirājakumāra Sutta and Saṅgārava Sutta) in order to describe the futile attempts of the
Buddha before his enlightenment to reach liberation after the manner of the Jainas.[7]
According to Bronkhorst, such practices which are based on a "suppression of activity" are not authentically
Buddhist, but were later adopted from the Jains by the Buddhist community.
The two major traditions of meditative practice in pre-Buddhist India were the Jain ascetic practices and the
various Vedic Brahmanical practices. There is still much debate in Buddhist studies regarding how much
influence these two traditions had on the development of early Buddhist meditation. The early Buddhist texts
mention that Gautama trained under two teachers known as Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, both of
them taught formless jhanas or mental absorptions, a key practice of proper Buddhist meditation.[10]
Alexander Wynne considers these figures historical persons associated with the doctrines of the early
Upanishads.[11] Other practices which the Buddha undertook have been associated with the Jain ascetic
tradition by the Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst including extreme fasting and a forceful "meditation without
breathing".[12] According to the early texts, the Buddha rejected the more extreme Jain ascetic practices in
favor of the middle way.
Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Early Buddhism, as it existed before the development of various
schools, is called pre-sectarian Buddhism. Its meditation-techniques
are described in the Pali Canon and the Chinese Agamas.
Preparatory practices
Meditation and contemplation are preceded by preparatory

practices.[2] As described in the Noble Eightfold Path, right view The early Buddhist tradition also
leads to leaving the household life and becoming a wandering monk. taught other meditation postures,
Sila, morality, comprises the rules for right conduct. Sense restraint such as the standing posture and the
and right effort, c.q. the four right efforts, are important preparatory lion posture performed lying down on
practices. Sense restraint means controlling the response to sensual one side.
perceptions, not giving in to lust and aversion but simply noticing the
objects of perception as they appear.[13] Right effort aims to prevent
the arising of unwholesome states, and to generate wholesome states. By following these preparatory steps and
practices, the mind becomes set, almost naturally, for the practice of dhyana.[14][15][note 6]
Asubha bhavana (reflection on unattractiveness)
Asubha bhavana is reflection on "the foul"/unattractiveness (Pāli: asubha). It includes two practices, namely
cemetery contemplations, and Paṭikkūlamanasikāra, "reflections on repulsiveness". Patikulamanasikara is a
Buddhist meditation whereby thirty-one parts of the body are contemplated in a variety of ways. In addition to
developing sati (mindfulness) and samādhi (concentration, dhyana), this form of meditation is considered to be
conducive to overcoming desire and lust.[16]
Anussati (recollections)
Anussati (Pāli; Sanskrit: Anusmriti) means "recollection,"

"contemplation," "remembrance," "meditation" and
"mindfulness." [18] It refers to specific meditative or devotional
practices, such as recollecting the sublime qualities of the Buddha or
anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing), which lead to mental
tranquillity and abiding joy. In various contexts, the Pali literature and
Sanskrit Mahayana sutras emphasize and identify different
enumerations of recollections.
Sati/smrti (mindfulness) and satipatthana (establishment Illustration of mindfulness of death

of mindfulness) using corpses in a charnel ground, a
subset of mindfulness of the body,
An important quality to be cultivated by a Buddhist meditator is the first satipatthana. From an early-
mindfulness (sati). Mindfulness is a polyvalent term which refers to 20th-century manuscript found in
remembering, recollecting and "bearing in mind". It also relates to Chaiya District, Surat Thani
remembering the teachings of the Buddha and knowing how these Province, Thailand.[17]
teachings relate to one's experiences. The Buddhist texts mention
different kinds of mindfulness practice. According to Bronkhorst,
there were originally two kinds of mindfulness, "observations of the positions of the body" and the four
satipaṭṭhānas, the "establishment of mindfulness," which constituted formal meditation.[19] Bhikkhu Sujato
and Bronkhorst both argue that the mindfulness of the positions of the body wasn't originally part of the four
satipatthana formula, but was later added to it in some texts.[19]
In the Pali Satipatthana Sutta and its parallels as well as numerous other early Buddhist texts, the Buddha
identifies four foundations for mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas): the body (including the four elements, the parts of
the body, and death); feelings (vedana); mind (citta); and phenomena or principles (dhammas), such as the
five hindrances and the seven factors of enlightenment. Different early texts give different enumerations of
these four mindfulness practices. Meditation on these subjects is said to develop insight.[20]
According to Grzegorz Polak, the four upassanā have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist
tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four upassanā do
not refer to four different foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the
jhanas, describing how the samskharas are tranquilized:[21]
the six sense-bases which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);

contemplation on vedanās, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects
(vedanānupassanā);
the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
the development from the five hindrances to the seven factors of enlightenment
(dhammānupassanā).
Anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing)
Anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing, is a core meditation practice in Theravada, Tiantai and Chan traditions
of Buddhism as well as a part of many mindfulness programs. In both ancient and modern times, anapanasati
by itself is likely the most widely used Buddhist method for contemplating bodily phenomena.[22]
The Ānāpānasati Sutta specifically concerns mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation, as a part of paying
attention to one's body in quietude, and recommends the practice of anapanasati meditation as a means of
cultivating the Seven Factors of Enlightenment: sati (mindfulness), dhamma vicaya (analysis), viriya
(persistence), which leads to pīti (rapture), then to passaddhi (serenity), which in turn leads to samadhi
(concentration) and then to upekkhā (equanimity). Finally, the Buddha taught that, with these factors
developed in this progression, the practice of anapanasati would lead to release (Pali: vimutti; Sanskrit mokṣa)
from dukkha (suffering), in which one realizes nibbana.
Dhyāna/jhāna
Many scholars of early Buddhism, such as Vetter, Bronkhorst and Anālayo, see the practice of jhāna (Sanskrit:
dhyāna) as central to the meditation of Early Buddhism.[2][3][5] According to Bronkhorst, the oldest Buddhist
meditation practice are the four dhyanas, which lead to the destruction of the asavas as well as the practice of
mindfulness (sati).[7] According to Vetter, the practice of dhyana may have constituted the core liberating
practice of early Buddhism, since in this state all "pleasure and pain" had waned.[2] According to Vetter,
[P]robably the word "immortality" (a-mata) was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of
this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the four noble truths [...] the
Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the four noble truths and/or
other data. But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation
"achieving immortality".[23]
Alexander Wynne agrees that the Buddha taught a kind of meditation exemplified by the four dhyanas, but
argues that the Buddha adopted these from the Brahmin teachers Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta,
though he did not interpret them in the same Vedic cosmological way and rejected their Vedic goal (union with
Brahman). The Buddha, according to Wynne, radically transformed the practice of dhyana which he learned
from these Brahmins which "consisted of the adaptation of the old yogic techniques to the practice of
mindfulness and attainment of insight".[24] For Wynne, this idea that liberation required not just meditation but
an act of insight, was radically different than the Brahminic meditation, "where it was thought that the yogin
must be without any mental activity at all, ‘like a log of wood’."[25]
Four rupa-jhanas
Qualities
The Suttapitaka and the Agamas describe four rupa-jhanas. Rupa refers to the material realm, in a neutral
stance, as different form the kama realm (lust, desire) and the arupa-realm (non-material realm).[26] The
qualities associated with the first four jhanas are as follows:[2][27][note 7]
First dhyana: the first dhyana can be entered when one is secluded from sensuality and
unskillful qualities. There is pīti ("rapture") and non-sensual sukha ("pleasure") as the result of
seclusion, while vitarka-vicara ("discursive thought") continues;[note 8]
Second dhyana: there is pīti ("rapture") and non-sensual sukha ("pleasure") as the result of
concentration (samadhi-ji, "born of samadhi"[30]); ekaggata (unification of awareness) free from
vitarka ("directed thought") and vicara ("evaluation"); and inner tranquility;[note 9]
Third dhyana: Upekkha (equanimous), mindful, and alert; senses pleasure with the body;
Fourth dhyana: upekkhāsatipārisuddhi[note 10] (purity of equanimity and mindfulness); neither-
pleasure-nor-pain.
Interpretation
According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rupa-jhanas describes two different cognitive
states.[32][note 11][33] Alexander Wynne further explains that the dhyana-scheme is poorly understood.[34]
According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā,
are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states,[34] whereas they refer to a particular
way of perceiving the sense objects.[34][note 12][note 13] Polak notes that the qualities of the jhanas resemble
the bojjhaṅgā, the seven factors of awakening]], arguing that both sets describe the same essential practice.[15]
Polak further notes, elaborating on Vetter, that the onset of the first dhyana is described as a quite natural
process, due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the nurturing of wholesome states.[15][14]
Upekkhā, equanimity, which is perfected in the fourth dhyana, is one of the four Brahma-vihara. While the
commentarial tradition downplayed the Brahma-viharas, Gombrich notes that the Buddhist usage of the
brahma-vihāra, originally referred to an awakened state of mind, and a concrete attitude toward other beings
which was equal to "living with Brahman" here and now. The later tradition took those descriptions too
literally, linking them to cosmology and understanding them as "living with Brahman" by rebirth in the
Brahma-world.[36] According to Gombrich, "the Buddha taught that kindness - what Christians tend to call
love - was a way to salvation.[37]
Arupas
In addition to the four rūpajhānas, there are also meditative attainments which were later called by the tradition
the arūpajhānas, though the early texts do not use the term dhyana for them, calling them āyatana (dimension,
sphere, base). They are:
The Dimension of infinite space (Pali ākāsānañcāyatana, Skt. ākāśānantyāyatana),

The Dimension of infinite consciousness (Pali viññāṇañcāyatana, Skt. vijñānānantyāyatana),
The Dimension of infinite nothingness (Pali ākiñcaññāyatana, Skt. ākiṃcanyāyatana),
The Dimension of neither perception nor non-perception (Pali nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, Skt.
naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana).
Nirodha-samāpatti, also called saññā-vedayita-nirodha, 'extinction of feeling and perception'.
These formless jhanas may have been incorporated from non-Buddhist traditions.[3][38]
Jhana and insight
Various early sources mention the attainment of insight after having achieved jhana. In the Mahasaccaka Sutta,
dhyana is followed by insight into the four noble truths. The mention of the four noble truths as constituting
"liberating insight" is probably a later addition.[39][23][3][38] Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate
path to liberation was a later development,[40][41] under pressure of developments in Indian religious thinking,
which saw "liberating insight" as essential to liberation.[42] This may also have been due to an over-literal
interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha,[43] and to the problems involved
with the practice of dhyana, and the need to develop an easier method.[44]
Brahmavihāra
Another important meditation in the early sources are the four Brahmavihāra (divine abodes) which are said to
lead to cetovimutti, a “liberation of the mind”.[45] The four Brahmavihāra are:
1. Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā, Sanskrit: maitrī) is active good will towards all;[46][47]
2. Compassion (Pāli and Sanskrit: karuṇā) results from metta, it is identifying the suffering of
others as one's own;[46][47]
3. Empathetic joy (Pāli and Sanskrit: muditā): is the feeling of joy because others are happy, even
if one did not contribute to it, it is a form of sympathetic joy;[46]
4. Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā, Sanskrit: upekṣā): is even-mindedness and serenity, treating
everyone impartially.[46][47]
According to Anālayo:
The effect of cultivating the brahmavihāras as a liberation of the mind finds illustration in a simile
which describes a conch blower who is able to make himself heard in all directions. This
illustrates how the brahmavihāras are to be developed as a boundless radiation in all directions, as
a result of which they cannot be overruled by other more limited karma.[48]
The practice of the four divine abodes can be seen as a way to overcome ill-will and sensual desire and to train
in the quality of deep concentration (samadhi).[49]
Early Buddhism
Traditionally, Eighteen schools of Buddhism are said to have developed after the time of the Buddha. The
Sarvastivada school was the most influential, but the Theravada is the only school that still exists.
Samatha (serenity) and vipassana (insight)
The Buddha is said to have identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative
practice:
"serenity" or "tranquillity" (Pali: samatha; Sanskrit: samadhi) which steadies, composes, unifies
and concentrates the mind;
"insight" (Pali: vipassanā) which enables one to see, explore and discern "formations"
(conditioned phenomena based on the five aggregates).[note 14]
It is said that tranquility meditation can lead to the attainment of supernatural powers such as psychic powers
and mind reading while insight meditation can lead to the realisation of nibbāna.[50] In the Pali canon, the
Buddha never mentions independent samatha and vipassana meditation practices; instead, samatha and
vipassana are two qualities of mind, to be developed through meditation.[note 15] Nonetheless, some meditation
practices (such as contemplation of a kasina object) favor the development of samatha, others are conducive to
the development of vipassana (such as contemplation of the aggregates), while others (such as mindfulness of
breathing) are classically used for developing both mental qualities.[51]
In the "Four Ways to Arahantship Sutta" (AN 4.170), Ven. Ananda reports that people attain arahantship using
serenity and insight in one of three ways:
1. they develop serenity and then insight (Pali: samatha-pubbangamam vipassanam)

2. they develop insight and then serenity (Pali: vipassana-pubbangamam samatham)
3. they develop serenity and insight in tandem (Pali: samatha-vipassanam yuganaddham) as in,
for instance, obtaining the first jhana, and then seeing in the associated aggregates the three
marks of existence, before proceeding to the second jhana.[52]
While the Nikayas state that the pursuit of vipassana can precede the pursuit of samatha, according to the
Burmese Vipassana movement vipassana be based upon the achievement of stabilizing "access concentration"
(Pali: upacara samadhi).
Through the meditative development of serenity, one is able to suppress obscuring hindrances; and, with the
suppression of the hindrances, it is through the meditative development of insight that one gains liberating
wisdom.[53] Moreover, the Buddha is said to have extolled serenity and insight as conduits for attaining
Nibbana (Pali; Skt.: Nirvana), the unconditioned state as in the "Kimsuka Tree Sutta" (SN 35.245), where the
Buddha provides an elaborate metaphor in which serenity and insight are "the swift pair of messengers" who
deliver the message of Nibbana via the Noble Eightfold Path.[note 16] In the Threefold training, samatha is part
of samadhi, the eight limb of the threefold path, together withsati, mindfulness.
Theravāda
Sutta Pitaka and early commentaries
The oldest material of the Theravāda tradition on meditation can be

found in the Pali Nikayas, and in texts such as the
Patisambhidamagga which provide commentary to meditation suttas
like the Anapanasati sutta.
Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa with three copies of

Visuddhimagga, Kelaniya Raja Maha
An early Theravāda meditation manual is the Vimuttimagga ('Path of Vihara
Freedom', 1st or 2nd century).[54] The most influential presentation
though, is that of the 5th-century Visuddhimagga ('Path of
Purification') of Buddhaghoṣa, which seems to have been influenced by the earlier Vimuttimagga in his
presentation.[55]
The Visuddhimagga's doctrine reflects Theravāda Abhidhamma scholasticism, which includes several
innovations and interpretations not found in the earliest discourses (suttas) of the Buddha.[56][57]
Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga includes non-canonical instructions on Theravada meditation, such as "ways
of guarding the mental image (nimitta)," which point to later developments in Theravada meditation.[58]
The text is centered around kasina-meditation, a form of concentration-meditation in which the mind is
focused on a (mental) object.[59] According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "[t]he text then tries to fit all other
meditation methods into the mold of kasina practice, so that they too give rise to countersigns, but even by its
own admission, breath meditation does not fit well into the mold."[59] In its emphasis on kasina-meditation, the
Visuddhimagga departs from the Pali Canon, in which dhyana is the central meditative practice, indicating that
what "jhana means in the commentaries is something quite different from what it means in the Canon."[59]
The Visuddhimagga describes forty meditation subjects, most being described in the early texts.[60]
Buddhaghoṣa advises that, for the purpose of developing concentration and consciousness, a person should
"apprehend from among the forty meditation subjects one that suits his own temperament" with the advice of a
"good friend" (kalyāṇa-mittatā) who is knowledgeable in the different meditation subjects (Ch. III, § 28).[61]
Buddhaghoṣa subsequently elaborates on the forty meditation subjects as follows (Ch. III, §104; Chs. IV–
XI):[62]
ten kasinas: earth, water, fire, air, blue, yellow, red, white, light, and "limited-space".
ten kinds of foulness: "the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut-up, the gnawed, the scattered,
the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the worm-infested, and a skeleton".
ten recollections: Buddhānussati, the Dhamma, the Sangha, virtue, generosity, the virtues of
deities, death (see the Upajjhatthana Sutta), the body, the breath (see anapanasati), and peace
(see Nibbana).
four divine abodes: mettā, karuṇā, mudita, and upekkha.
four immaterial states: boundless space, boundless perception, nothingness, and neither
perception nor non-perception.
one perception (of "repulsiveness in nutriment")
one "defining" (that is, the four elements)
When one overlays Buddhaghosa's 40 meditative subjects for the development of concentration with the
Buddha's foundations of mindfulness, three practices are found to be in common: breath meditation, foulness
meditation (which is similar to the Sattipatthana Sutta's cemetery contemplations, and to contemplation of
bodily repulsiveness), and contemplation of the four elements. According to Pali commentaries, breath
meditation can lead one to the equanimous fourth jhanic absorption. Contemplation of foulness can lead to the
attainment of the first jhana, and contemplation of the four elements culminates in pre-jhana access
concentration.[63]
Contemporary Theravāda
Vipassana and/or samatta
The role of samatha in Buddhist practice, and the exact meaning of

samatta, are points of contention and investigation in contemporary
Theravada and western vipassanan. Burmese vipassana teachers have
tended to disregard samatta as unnecessary, while Thai teachers see
samatha and vipassana as intertwined.
The modern Thai Forest Tradition
The exact meaning of samatta is also not clear, and westerners have advocates practicing in the
started to question the receive wisdom on this.[64][15][6] While wilderness.
samatha is usually equated with the jhanas in the commentarial
tradition, scholars and practitioners have pointed out that jhana is
more than a narrowing of the focus of the mind. While the second jhana may be characterized by samadhi-ji,
"born of concentration," the first jhana sets in quite naturally as a result of sense-restraint,[14][15] while the
third and fourth jhana are characterized by mindfulness and equanimity.[3][38][15] Sati, sense-restraint and
mindfulness are necessary preceding practices, while insight may mark the point where one enters the "stream"
of development which results in vimukti, release.[65]
According to Anālayo, the jhanas are crucial meditative states which
lead to the abandonment of hindrances such as lust and aversion;
however, they are not sufficient for the attainment of liberating insight.
Some early texts also warn meditators against becoming attached to
them, and therefore forgetting the need for the further practice of
insight.[66] According to Anālayo, "either one undertakes such insight
contemplation while still being in the attainment, or else one does so
retrospectively, after having emerged from the absorption itself but
while still being in a mental condition close to it in concentrative
depth."[67] The practice of meditation by
Buddhist laypersons is a key feature
The position that insight can be practiced from within jhana, of the modern vipassana movement.
according to the early texts, is endorsed by Gunaratna, Crangle and
Shankaman.[68][69][70] Anālayo meanwhile argues, that the evidence
from the early texts suggest that "contemplation of the impermanent nature of the mental constituents of an
absorption takes place before or on emerging from the attainment".[71]
Arbel has argued that insight precedes the practice of jhana.[6]
Vipassana movement
Particularly influential from the twentieth century onward has been the Burmese Vipassana movement,
especially the "New Burmese Method" or "Vipassanā School" approach to samatha and vipassanā developed
by Mingun Sayadaw and U Nārada and popularized by Mahasi Sayadaw. Here samatha is considered an
optional but not necessary component of the practice—vipassanā is possible without it. Another Burmese
method, derived from Ledi Sayadaw via Ba Khin and S. N. Goenka, takes a similar approach. Other Burmese
traditions popularized in the west, notably that of Pa-Auk sayadaw Bhaddanta Āciṇṇa, uphold the emphasis
on samatha explicit in the commentarial tradition of the Visuddhimagga. These Burmese traditions have been
influential on Western Theravada-oriented teachers, notably Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Jack
Kornfield.
There are also other less well known Burmese meditation methods, such as the system developed by U
Vimala, which focuses on knowledge of dependent origination and cittanupassana (mindfulness of the
mind).[72] Likewise, Sayadaw U Tejaniya's method also focuses on mindfulness of the mind.
Thai Forest tradition
Also influential is the Thai Forest Tradition deriving from Mun Bhuridatta and popularized by Ajahn Chah,
which, in contrast, stresses the inseparability of the two practices, and the essential necessity of both practices.
Other noted practitioners in this tradition include Ajahn Thate and Ajahn Maha Bua, among others.[73] There
are other forms of Thai Buddhist meditation associated with particular teachers, including Buddhadasa
Bhikkhu's presentation of anapanasati, Ajahn Lee's breath meditation method (which influenced his American
student Thanissaro) and the "dynamic meditation" of Luangpor Teean Cittasubho.[74]
Other forms
There are other less mainstream forms of Theravada meditation practiced in Thailand which include the vijja
dhammakaya meditation developed by Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro and the meditation of former supreme
patriarch Suk Kai Thuean (1733–1822).[74] Newell notes that these two forms of modern Thai meditation
share certain features in common with tantric practices such as the use of visualizations and centrality of maps
of the body.[74]
A less common type of meditation is practiced in Cambodia and Laos by followers of Borān kammaṭṭhāna
('ancient practices') tradition. This form of meditation includes the use of mantras and visualizations.
Sarvāstivāda
The now defunct Sarvāstivāda tradition, and its related sub-schools like the Sautrāntika and the Vaibhāṣika,
were the most influential Buddhists in North India and Central Asia. Their highly complex Abhidharma
treatises, such as the Mahavibhasa, the Sravakabhumi and the Abhidharmakosha, contain new developments
in meditative theory which had a major influence on meditation as practiced in East Asian Mahayana and
Tibetan Buddhism. Individuals known as yogācāras (yoga practitioners) were influential in the development
of Sarvāstivāda meditation praxis, and some modern scholars such as Yin Shun believe they were also
influential in the development of Mahayana meditation.[75] The Dhyāna sutras (Chinese: ) or "meditation
summaries" (Chinese: ) are a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which are mostly based on the
Yogacara[note 17] meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir circa 1st-4th centuries CE,
which focus on the concrete details of the meditative practice of the Yogacarins of northern Gandhara and
Kashmir.[1] Most of the texts only survive in Chinese and were key works in the development of the Buddhist
meditation practices of Chinese Buddhism.
According to K.L. Dhammajoti, the Sarvāstivāda meditation practitioner begins with samatha meditations,
divided into the fivefold mental stillings, each being recommended as useful for particular personality types:
1. contemplation on the impure (asubhabhavana), for the greedy type person.

2. meditation on loving kindness (maitri), for the hateful type
3. contemplation on conditioned co-arising, for the deluded type
4. contemplation on the division of the dhatus, for the conceited type
5. mindfulness of breathing (anapanasmrti), for the distracted type.[76]
Contemplation of the impure, and mindfulness of breathing, was particularly important in this system; they
were known as the 'gateways to immortality' (amrta-dvāra).[77] The Sarvāstivāda system practiced breath
meditation using the same sixteen aspect model used in the anapanasati sutta, but also introduced a unique six
aspect system which consists of:
1. counting the breaths up to ten,

2. following the breath as it enters through the nose throughout the body,
3. fixing the mind on the breath,
4. observing the breath at various locations,
5. modifying is related to the practice of the four applications of mindfulness and
6. purifying stage of the arising of insight.[78]
This sixfold breathing meditation method was influential in East Asia, and expanded upon by the Chinese
Tiantai meditation master Zhiyi.[76]
After the practitioner has achieved tranquility, Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma then recommends one proceeds to
practice the four applications of mindfulness (smrti-upasthāna) in two ways. First they contemplate each
specific characteristic of the four applications of mindfulness, and then they contemplate all four
collectively.[79]
In spite of this systematic division of samatha and vipasyana, the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharmikas held that the
two practices are not mutually exclusive. The Mahavibhasa for example remarks that, regarding the six aspects
of mindfulness of breathing, "there is no fixed rule here — all may come under samatha or all may come
under vipasyana."[80] The Sarvāstivāda Abhidharmikas also held that attaining the dhyānas was necessary for
the development of insight and wisdom.[80]
Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism

Mahāyāna practice is centered on the path of the bodhisattva, a being which
is aiming for full Buddhahood. Meditation (dhyāna) is one of the
transcendent virtues (paramitas) which a bodhisattva must perfect in order
to reach Buddhahood, and thus, it is central to Mahāyāna Buddhist praxis.
Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism was initially a network of loosely connected

groups and associations, each drawing upon various Buddhist texts,
doctrines and meditation methods.[81] Because of this, there is no single set
of Indian Mahāyāna practices which can be said to apply to all Indian
Mahāyānists, nor is there is a single set of texts which were used by all of
them.
Textual evidence shows that many Mahāyāna Buddhists in northern India as

well as in Central Asia practiced meditation in a similar way to that of the
Sarvāstivāda school outlined above. This can be seen in what is probably
the most comprehensive and largest Indian Mahāyāna treatise on meditation Asaṅga, a Mahayana scholar
practice, the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (compiled c. 4th century), a who wrote numerous works
compendium which explains in detail Yogācāra meditation theory, and and is believed to have
outlines numerous meditation methods as well as related advice.[82] Among contributed to the
the topics discussed are the various early Buddhist meditation topics such as development of the
the four dhyānas, the different kinds of samādhi, the development of insight Yogācārabhūmi.
(vipaśyanā) and tranquility (śamatha), the four foundations of mindfulness
(smṛtyupasthāna), the five hindrances (nivaraṇa), and classic Buddhist
meditations such as the contemplation of unattractiveness (aśubhasaṃjnā),
impermanence (anitya), suffering (duḥkha), and contemplation death
(maraṇasaṃjñā).[83] Other works of the Yogācāra school, such as
Asaṅga's Abhidharmasamuccaya, and Vasubandhu's Madhyāntavibhāga-
bhāsya also discuss meditation topics such as mindfulness, smṛtyupasthāna,
the 37 wings to awakening, and samadhi.[84]
Some Mahāyāna sutras also teach early Buddhist meditation practices. For
example, the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra
both teach the four foundations of mindfulness.[85]
The Prajñāpāramitā Sutras are some of the earliest Mahāyāna sutras. Their
teachings center on the bodhisattva path (viz. the paramitas), the most
important of which is the perfection of transcendent knowledge or
prajñāpāramitā. This knowledge is associated with the early Buddhist
practice of the three samādhis (meditative concentrations): emptiness
(śūnyatā), signlessness (animitta), and wishlessness or desirelessness A dharani written in two
(apraṇihita).[86] These three samadhis are also mentioned in the languages – Sanskrit and
Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa (Ch. Dà zhìdù lùn), chapter X.[87] In the central Asian Sogdian
Prajñāpāramitā Sutras, prajñāpāramitā is described as a kind of samādhi
which is also a deep understanding of reality arising from meditative insight
that is totally non-conceptual and completely unattached to any person, thing or idea. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā
Prajñāpāramitā, possibly the earliest of these texts, also equates prajñāpāramitā with what it terms the
aniyato (unrestricted) samādhi, “the samādhi of not taking up (aparigṛhīta) any dharma”, and “the samādhi of
not grasping at (anupādāna) any dharma” (as a self).[88] According to Shi Huifeng, this meditative
concentration:
entails not only not clinging to the five aggregates as representative of all phenomena, but also not
clinging to the very notion of the five aggregates, their existence or non-existence, their
impermanence or eternality, their being dissatisfactory or satisfactory, their emptiness or self-hood,
their generation or cessation, and so forth with other antithetical pairs. To so mistakenly perceive
the aggregates is to “course in a sign” (nimite carati; xíng xiāng ⾏相 ), i.e. to engage in the signs
and conceptualization of phenomena, and not to course in Prajñāpāramitā. Even to perceive of
oneself as a bodhisattva who courses, or the Prajñāpāramitā in which one courses, are likewise
coursing in signs.[89]
Other Indian Mahāyāna texts show new innovative methods which were unique to Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Texts such as the Pure Land sutras, the Akṣobhya-vyūha Sūtra and the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra teach
meditations on a particular Buddha (such as Amitābha or Akshobhya). Through the repetition of their name or
some other phrase and certain visualization methods, one is said to be able to meet a Buddha face to face or at
least to be reborn in a Buddha field (also known as "Pure land") like Abhirati and Sukhavati after
death.[90][91] The Pratyutpanna sutra for example, states that if one practices recollection of the Buddha
(Buddhānusmṛti) by visualizing a Buddha in their Buddha field and developing this samadhi for some seven
days, one may be able to meet this Buddha in a vision or a dream so as to learn the Dharma from them.[92]
Alternatively, being reborn in one of their Buddha fields allows one to meet a Buddha and study directly with
them, allowing one to reach Buddhahood faster. A set of sutras known as the Visualization Sutras also depict
similar innovative practices using mental imagery. These practices been seen by some scholars as a possible
explanation for the source of certain Mahāyāna sutras which are seen traditionally as direct visionary
revelations from the Buddhas in their pure lands.[93]
Another popular practice was the memorization and recitation of various texts, such as sutras, mantras and
dharanis. According to Akira Hirakawa, the practice of reciting dharanis (chants or incantations) became very
important in Indian Mahāyāna.[94] These chants were believed to have "the power to preserve good and
prevent evil", as well as being useful to attain meditative concentration or samadhi.[86] Important Mahāyāna
sutras such as the Lotus Sutra, Heart Sutra and others prominently include dharanis.[95][96] Ryûichi Abé
states that dharanis are also prominent in the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras wherein the Buddha "praises dharani
incantation, along with the cultivation of samadhi, as virtuous activity of a bodhisattva".[95] They are also
listed in the Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa, chapter X, as an important quality of a bodhisattva.[87]
A later Mahāyāna work which discusses meditation practice is Shantideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra (8th century)
which depicts how a bodhisattva's meditation was understood in the later period of Indian Mahāyāna.
Shantideva begins by stating that isolating the body and the mind from the world (ie from discursive thoughts)
is necessary for the practice of meditation, which must begin with the practice of tranquility (śamatha).[97] He
promotes classic practices like meditating on corpses and living in forests, but these are preliminary to the
Mahāyāna practices which initially focus on generating bodhicitta, a mind intent on awakening for the benefit
of all beings. An important of part of this practice is to cultivate and practice the understanding that oneself and
other beings are actually the same, and thus all suffering must be removed, not just "mine". This meditation is
termed by Shantideva "the exchange of self and other" and it is seen by him as the apex of meditation, since it
simultaneously provides a basis for ethical action and cultivates insight into the nature of reality, i.e.
emptiness.[97]
Another late Indian Mahāyāna meditation text is Kamalaśīla's Bhāvanākrama ( "stages of meditation", 9th
century), which teaches insight (vipaśyanā) and tranquility (śamatha) from a Yogācāra-Madhyamaka
perspective.[98]
East Asian Mahāyāna
The meditation forms practiced during the initial stages of Chinese Buddhism did not differ much from those
of Indian Mahayana Buddhism, though they did contain developments that could have arisen in Central Asia.
The works of the Chinese translator An Shigao ( 安世⾼ , 147-168 CE) are some of the earliest meditation texts
used by Chinese Buddhism and their focus is mindfulness of breathing (annabanna安那般那 ). The Chinese
translator and scholar Kumarajiva (344–413 CE) transmitted various meditation works, including a meditation
treatise titled The Sūtra Concerned with Samādhi in Sitting Meditation ( 坐禅三昧经 , T.614, K.991) which
teaches the Sarvāstivāda system of fivefold mental stillings.[99] These texts are known as the Dhyāna
sutras.[100] They reflect the meditation practices of Kashmiri Buddhists, influenced by Sarvāstivāda and
Sautrantika meditation teachings, but also by Mahayana Buddhism.[101]
East Asian Yogācāra methods
The East Asian Yogācāra school or "Consciousness only school" (Ch. Wéishí-zōng), known in Japan as the
Hossō school was a very influential tradition of Chinese Buddhism. They practiced several forms of
meditation. According to Alan Sponberg, they included a class of visualization exercises, one of which
centered on constructing a mental image of the Bodhisattva (and presumed future Buddha) Maitreya in Tusita
heaven. A biography the Chinese Yogācāra master and translator Xuanzang depicts him practicing this kind of
meditation. The goal of this practice seems to have been rebirth in Tusita heaven, so as to meet Maitreya and
study Buddhism under him.[102]
Another method of meditation practiced in Chinese Yogācāra is called "the five level discernment of vijñapti-
mātra" (impressions only), introduced by Xuanzang's disciple, Kuījī (632–682), which became one of the
most important East Asian Yogācāra teachings.[103] According to Alan Sponberg, this kind of vipasyana
meditation was an attempt "to penetrate the true nature of reality by understanding the three aspects of
existence in five successive steps or stages". These progressive stages or ways of seeing (kuan) the world
are:[104]
1. "dismissing the false - preserving the real" (ch 'ien-hsu ts'un-shih)

2. "relinquishing the diffuse - retaining the pure" (she-lan liu-ch 'un)
3. "gathering in the extensions - returning to the source" (she-mo kuei-pen)
4. "suppressing the subordinate - manifesting the superior" (yin-lueh hsien-sheng)
5. "dismissing the phenomenal aspects - realizing the true nature" (ch 'ien-hsiang cheng-hsing)
Tiantai śamatha-vipaśyanā
In China it has been traditionally held that the meditation methods used by the Tiantai school are the most
systematic and comprehensive of all.[105] In addition to its doctrinal basis in Indian Buddhist texts, the Tiantai
school also emphasizes use of its own meditation texts which emphasize the principles of śamatha and
vipaśyanā. Of these texts, Zhiyi's Concise Śamathavipaśyanā ( ⼩⽌観 ), Mohe Zhiguan ( 摩訶⽌観 , Sanskrit
Mahāśamathavipaśyanā), and Six Subtle Dharma Gates ( 六妙法⾨ ) are the most widely read in China.[105]
Rujun Wu identifies the work Mahā-śamatha-vipaśyanā of Zhiyi as the seminal meditation text of the Tiantai
school.[106] Regarding the functions of śamatha and vipaśyanā in meditation, Zhiyi writes in his work Concise
Śamatha-vipaśyanā:
The attainment of Nirvāṇa is realizable by many methods whose essentials do not go beyond the
practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Śamatha is the first step to untie all bonds and vipaśyanā is
essential to root out delusion. Śamatha provides nourishment for the preservation of the knowing
mind, and vipaśyanā is the skillful art of promoting spiritual understanding. Śamatha is the
unsurpassed cause of samādhi, while vipaśyanā begets wisdom.[107]
The Tiantai school also places a great emphasis on ānāpānasmṛti, or mindfulness of breathing, in accordance
喘
with the principles of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Zhiyi classifies breathing into four main categories: panting ( ),
⾵氣息
unhurried breathing ( ), deep and quiet breathing ( ), and stillness or rest ( ). Zhiyi holds that the first three
kinds of breathing are incorrect, while the fourth is correct, and that the breathing should reach stillness and
rest.[108] Zhiyi also outlines four kinds of samadhi in his Mohe Zhiguan, and ten modes of practicing
vipaśyanā.
Esoteric practices in Japanese Tendai
One of the adaptations by the Japanese Tendai school was the introduction of Mikkyō (esoteric practices) into
Tendai Buddhism, which was later named Taimitsu by Ennin. Eventually, according to Tendai Taimitsu
doctrine, the esoteric rituals came to be considered of equal importance with the exoteric teachings of the Lotus
Sutra. Therefore, by chanting mantras, maintaining mudras, or performing certain meditations, one is able to
see that the sense experiences are the teachings of Buddha, have faith that one is inherently an enlightened
being, and one can attain enlightenment within this very body. The origins of Taimitsu are found in China,
similar to the lineage that Kūkai encountered in his visit to Tang China and Saichō's disciples were encouraged
to study under Kūkai.[109]
Huayan meditation theory
The Huayan school was a major school of Chinese Buddhism, which also strongly influenced Chan
Buddhism. An important element of their meditation theory and practice is what was called the "Fourfold
Dharmadhatu" (sifajie, 四法界 ).[110] Dharmadhatu (法界 ) is the goal of the bodhisattva's practice, the ultimate
nature of reality or deepest truth which must be known and realized through meditation. According to Fox, the
Fourfold Dharmadhatu is "four cognitive approaches to the world, four ways of apprehending reality".
Huayan meditation is meant to progressively ascend through these four "increasingly more holographic
perspectives on a single phenomenological manifold."
These four ways of seeing or knowing reality are:[110]
1. All dharmas are seen as particular separate events or phenomena (shi 事). This is the
mundane way of seeing.
理
2. All events are an expression of li ( , the absolute, principle or noumenon), which is associated
with the concepts of shunyata, “One Mind” (yi xin ⼀⼼
) and Buddha nature. This level of
understanding or perspective on reality is associated with the meditation on "true emptiness".
3. Shi and Li interpenetrate (lishi wuai理事無礙), this is illuminated by the meditation on the "non-
obstruction of principle and phenomena."
4. All events interpenetrate (shishi wuai 事事無礙), "all distinct phenomenal dharmas interfuse
and penetrate in all ways" (Zongmi). This is seen through the meditation on “universal
pervasion and complete accommodation.”
According to Paul Williams, the reading and recitation of the Avatamsaka sutra was also a central practice for
the tradition, for monks and laity.[111]
Pure land Buddhism
In Pure Land Buddhism, repeating the name of Amitābha is

traditionally a form of mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt.
buddhānusmṛti). This term was translated into Chinese as nianfo
(Chinese: ), by which it is popularly known in English. The
practice is described as calling the buddha to mind by repeating his
name, to enable the practitioner to bring all his or her attention upon
that Buddha (samādhi).[112] This may be done vocally or mentally,
and with or without the use of Buddhist prayer beads. Those who
practice this method often commit to a fixed set of repetitions per day,
often from 50,000 to over 500,000.[112] Engraving of a Sanskrit dhāraṇī for
Amitābha written in the Siddhaṃ
Repeating the Pure Land Rebirth dhāraṇī is another method in Pure script. Mogao Caves, Dunhuang,
Land Buddhism. Similar to the mindfulness practice of repeating the China
name of Amitābha Buddha, this dhāraṇī is another method of
meditation and recitation in Pure Land Buddhism. The repetition of
this dhāraṇī is said to be very popular among traditional Chinese Buddhists.[113]
Another practice found in Pure Land Buddhism is meditative contemplation and visualization of Amitābha, his
attendant bodhisattvas, and the Pure Land. The basis of this is found in the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra ("Amitābha
Meditation Sūtra").[114]
Chán
During sitting meditation ( 坐禅 , Ch. zuòchán, Jp. zazen, Ko. jwaseon),

practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus,
Burmese, or seiza, often using the dhyāna mudrā. Often, a square or round
cushion placed on a padded mat is used to sit on; in some other cases, a
chair may be used. Various techniques and meditation forms are used in the
different Zen traditions. Mindfulness of breathing is a common practice,
used to develop mental focus and concentration.[115]
Another common form of sitting meditation is called "Silent illumination"

(Ch. mòzhào, Jp. mokushō). This practice was traditionally promoted by the
Caodong school of Chinese Chan and is associated with Hongzhi Zhengjue
(1091—1157).[116] In Hongzhi's practice of "nondual objectless meditation"
the mediator strives to be aware of the totality of phenomena instead of
Kōdō Sawaki practicing Zazen
focusing on a single object, without any interference, conceptualizing,
grasping, goal seeking, or subject-object duality.[117] This practice is also
popular in the major schools of Japanese Zen, but especially Sōtō, where it
is more widely known as Shikantaza (Ch. zhǐguǎn dǎzuò, "Just sitting").
During the Sòng dynasty, a new meditation method was popularized by figures such as Dahui, which was
called kanhua chan ("observing the phrase" meditation) which referred to contemplation on a single word or
phrase (called the huatou, "critical phrase") of a gōng'àn (Koan).[118] In Chinese Chan and Korean Seon, this
practice of "observing the huatou" (hwadu in Korean) is a widely practiced method.[119]
In the Japanese Rinzai school, kōan introspection developed its own formalized style, with a standardized
curriculum of kōans which must be studies and "passed" in sequence. This process includes standardized
questions and answers during a private interview with one's Zen teacher.[120] Kōan-inquiry may be practiced
during zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and throughout all the activities of daily life.
The goal of the practice is often termed kensho (seeing one's true nature). Kōan practice is particularly
emphasized in Rinzai, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching
line.[121]
Tantric Buddhism
Tantric Buddhism (Esoteric Buddhism or Mantrayana) refers to
various traditions which developed in India from the fifth century
onwards and then spread to the Himalayan regions and East Asia. In
the Tibetan tradition, it is also known as Vajrayāna, while in China it
is known as Zhenyan (Ch: 真⾔ , "true word", "mantra"), as well as
Mìjiao (Esoteric Teaching), Mìzōng ("Esoteric Tradition") or Tángmì
("Tang Esoterica"). Tantric Buddhism generally includes all of the
traditional forms of Mahayana meditation, but its focus is on several
unique and special forms of "tantric" or "esoteric" meditation
practices, which are seen as faster and more efficacious. These Tantric
Buddhist forms are derived from texts called the Buddhist Tantras. To
practice these advanced techniques, one is generally required to be
initiated into the practice by an esoteric master (Sanskrit: acarya) or
guru (Tib. lama) in a ritual consecration called abhiseka (Tib. wang).
In Tibetan Buddhism, the central defining form of Vajrayana Meditation through the use of
meditation is Deity Yoga (devatayoga).[122] This involves the complex guided imagery based on
recitation of mantras, prayers and visualization of the yidam or deity Buddhist deities like Tara is a key
practice in Vajrayana. Visual aids
(usually the form of a Buddha or a bodhisattva) along with the
such as this thangka are often used.
associated mandala of the deity's Pure Land.[123] Advanced Deity
Yoga involves imagining yourself as the deity and developing "divine
pride", the understanding that oneself and the deity are not separate.
Other forms of meditation in Tibetan Buddhism include the

Mahamudra and Dzogchen teachings, each taught by the Kagyu and
Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism respectively. The goal of
these is to familiarize oneself with the ultimate nature of mind which
underlies all existence, the Dharmakāya. There are also other
practices such as Dream Yoga, Tummo, the yoga of the intermediate
state (at death) or bardo, sexual yoga and chöd. The shared
preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism are called ngöndro, which
involves visualization, mantra recitation, and many prostrations.
Chinese esoteric Buddhism focused on a separate set of tantras than

Tibetan Buddhism (such as the Mahavairocana Tantra and
Vajrasekhara Sutra), and thus their practices are drawn from these Diamond Realm (Kongokai) Mandala
different sources, though they revolve around similar techniques such of the Shingon school
as visualization of mandalas, mantra recitation and use of mudras.
This also applies for the Japanese Shingon school and the Tendai
school (which, though derived from the Tiantai school, also adopted esoteric practices). In the East Asian
tradition of esoteric praxis, the use of mudra, mantra and mandala are regarded as the "three modes of action"
associated with the "Three Mysteries" (sanmi 三密 ) are seen as the hallmarks of esoteric Buddhism.[124]
Therapeutic uses of meditation

Meditation based on Buddhist meditation principles has been practiced by people for a long time for the
purposes of effecting mundane and worldly benefit.[125] Mindfulness and other Buddhist meditation
techniques have been advocated in the West by psychologists and expert Buddhist meditation teachers such as
Dipa Ma, Anagarika Munindra, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Pema Chödrön, Clive Sherlock, Mya Thwin, S. N.
Goenka, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Tara Brach, Alan Clements, and Sharon Salzberg,
who have been widely attributed with playing a significant role in integrating the healing aspects of Buddhist
meditation practices with the concept of psychological awareness, healing, and well-being. Although
mindfulness meditation[126] has received the most research attention, loving kindness[127] (metta) and
equanimity (upekkha) meditation are beginning to be used in a wide array of research in the fields of
psychology and neuroscience.
The accounts of meditative states in the Buddhist texts are in some regards free of dogma, so much so that the
Buddhist scheme has been adopted by Western psychologists attempting to describe the phenomenon of
meditation in general.[note 18] However, it is exceedingly common to encounter the Buddha describing
meditative states involving the attainment of such magical powers (Sanskrit ṛddhi, Pali iddhi) as the ability to
multiply one's body into many and into one again, appear and vanish at will, pass through solid objects as if
space, rise and sink in the ground as if in water, walking on water as if land, fly through the skies, touching
anything at any distance (even the moon or sun), and travel to other worlds (like the world of Brahma) with or
without the body, among other things,[128][129][130] and for this reason the whole of the Buddhist tradition
may not be adaptable to a secular context, unless these magical powers are seen as metaphorical
representations of powerful internal states that conceptual descriptions could not do justice to.
Key terms
English Pali Sanskrit Chinese Tibetan
mindfulness/awareness sati smṛti 念 (niàn) ན་པ། (wylie: dran pa)
clear comprehension sampajañña samprajaña

正知⼒ ེ ས་བཞ
ཤ ི ན། shezhin (shes bzhin)
(zhèng zhī lì)
vigilance/heedfulness appamada apramāda

不放逸座 (bù བག་ཡ
ོ ད། bakyö (bag yod)
fàng yì zuò)
ardency atappa ātapaḥ 勇猛 (yǒng nyima (nyi ma)

měng)
attention/engagement manasikara manaskāraḥ

如理作意 (rú ཡ
ི ད་ལ་ེ ད་པ། yila jepa (yid la byed pa)
lǐ zuò yì)
foundation of
satipaṭṭhāna smṛtyupasthāna 念住 ན་པ་ཉ
ེ ་བར་བཞག་པ། trenpa neybar
mindfulness (niànzhù)
zhagpa (dran pa nye bar gzhag pa)
mindfulness of
ānāpānasati ānāpānasmṛti 安那般那 ད གས་ ན་པ། wūk trenpa (dbugs dran
breathing (ānnàbānnà)
pa)
calm abiding/cessation samatha śamatha ⽌ (zhǐ) ཞ

ི ་གནས། shiney (zhi gnas)
insight/contemplation vipassanā vipaśyanā 観 (guān) ག་མཐ

ོ ང་། (lhag mthong)
meditative
concentration
samādhi samādhi 三昧 (sānmèi) ི ང་ང
ཏ ེ ་འཛན། ting-nge-dzin (ting nge dzin)
meditative absorption jhāna dhyāna 禪 (chán) བསམ་གཏན། samten (bsam gtan)
cultivation bhāvanā bhāvanā 修⾏ (xiūxíng) ོ མ་པ། (sgom pa)
cultivation of analysis
Vitakka and
*vicāra-bhāvanā
尋伺察 (xún ད ད་ོ མ། (dpyad sgom)
Vicāra sì chá)
cultivation of settling —
*sthāpya-
— འཇ
ོ ག་ོ མ། jokgom ('jog sgom)
bhāvanā
See also
General Buddhist practices
Mindfulness – awareness in the present moment

Satipatthana - Four Foundations of Mindfulness, based on Satipatthana Sutta
Theravada Buddhist meditation practices
Anapanasati – focusing on the breath, reference to Ānāpānasati Sutta

Samatha – calm-abiding, which steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates the mind
Vipassanā – insight, which enables one to see, explore and discern "formations" (conditioned
phenomena based on the five aggregates)
Satipatthana – Mindfulness of body, sensations, mind and mental phenomena
Brahmavihara – including loving-kindness (Metta), compassion (Karuṇā), sympathetic joy
(Mudita) and equanimity (Upekkha)
Buddhānussati – meditation on the nine Noble Qualities of Lord Buddha
Patikkulamanasikara
Kammaṭṭhāna
Mahasati Meditation
Dhammakaya Meditation
Zen Buddhist meditation practices
Shikantaza – just sitting

Kinhin
Zazen
Koan
Hua Tou
Suizen (historically practiced by the Fuke sect)
Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices
Deity yoga
Ngondro – preliminary practices
Tonglen – giving and receiving
Phowa – transference of consciousness at the time of death
Chöd – cutting through fear by confronting it
Mahamudra – the Kagyu version of 'entering the all-pervading Dharmadatu', the 'nondual state',
or the 'absorption state'
Dzogchen – the natural state, the Nyingma version of Mahamudra
Tantra techniques
Proper floor-sitting postures and supports while meditating
Floor sitting: cross-legged (full lotus, half lotus, Burmese) or seiza

Cushions: zafu, zabuton
Traditional Buddhist texts on meditation
Anapanasati Sutta (in the Pali Nikayas) and parallels in the Āgamas (Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra)
Satipatthana Sutta (in the Pali Nikayas) and its parallel in the Āgamas (Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra)
Upajjhatthana Sutta (in the Pali Nikayas)
Kāyagatāsati Sutta (in the Pali Nikayas)
Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga ('The path of Purification'), used in Theravada Buddhism
Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (Treatise on the Stages of Yoga), a classic north Indian compendium on
meditation used by the Indian Yogācāra school, remains influential in East Asian Buddhism
and Tibetan Buddhism used in Tibetan Buddhism
Zhiyi's Great Concentration and Insight (Mohe Zhiguan) – used in the Chinese Tiantai school
Seventeen tantras – Major Tibetan Dzogchen texts.
The Wangchuk Dorje's "Ocean of Definitive Meaning", major text on Tibetan Mahamudra
meditation in the Kagyu school.
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal's "Mahamudra: The Moonlight – Quintessence of Mind and Meditation"
Fukan-zazengi (Advice on Zazen) – By Dogen, used in the Japanese Soto Zen school.
Traditional preliminary practices to Buddhist meditation
Taking refuge in the Triple Gem
Five Precepts
Eight Precepts
Awgatha
Gadaw
prostrations (also see Ngondro)
Western mindfulness
Mindfulness (psychology) – Western applications of Buddhist ideas

Analog in Vedas
Dhyana in Hinduism
Ksirodakasayi Vishnu
Paramatma
Analog in Taoism
Daoist meditation
Internal alchemy
Notes
1. The Pali and Sanskrit word bhāvanā literally means "development" as in "mental
development." For the association of this term with "meditation," see Epstein (1995), p. 105;
and, Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 20. As an example from a well-known discourse of the
Pāli Canon, in "The Greater Exhortation to Rahula" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62),
Sariputta tells Rahula (in Pali, based on VRI, n.d.) (http://www.tipitaka.org/romn/cscd/s0202m.m
ul1.xml): ānāp ānassatiṃ, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvehi. Thanissaro (2006) (http://www.accesstoi
nsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.062.than.html) translates this as: "Rahula, develop the meditation
[bhāvana] of mindfulness of in-&-out breathing." (Square-bracketed Pali word included based
on Thanissaro, 2006, end note.)
2. See, for example, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), entry for "jhāna1" (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/c
gi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:2005.pali); Thanissaro (1997) (http://www.accesstoinsight.or
g/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html); as well as, Kapleau (1989), p. 385, for the derivation of
the word "zen" from Sanskrit "dhyāna." PTS Secretary Dr. Rupert Gethin, in describing the
activities of wandering ascetics contemporaneous with the Buddha, wrote:
[T]here is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at

producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technical term in English, be referred
to as 'altered states of consciousness'. In the technical vocabulary of Indian
religious texts, such states come to be termed 'meditations' (Sanskrit: dhyāna, Pali:
jhāna) or 'concentrations' (samādhi); the attainment of such states of consciousness
was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper knowledge and
experience of the nature of the world." (Gethin, 1998, p. 10.)
3. * Kamalashila (2003), p. 4, states that Buddhist meditation "includes any method of meditation
that has awakening as its ultimate aim."
* Bodhi (1999): "To arrive at the experiential realization of the truths it is necessary to take up
the practice of meditation [...] At the climax of such contemplation the mental eye [...] shifts its
focus to the unconditioned state, Nibbana."
* Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 142: "Meditation – general term for a multitude of religious
practices, often quite different in method, but all having the same goal: to bring the
consciousness of the practitioner to a state in which he can come to an experience of
'awakening,' 'liberation,' 'enlightenment.'"
* Kamalashila (2003) further allows that some Buddhist meditations are "of a more preparatory
nature" (p. 4).
4. Goldstein (2003) writes that, in regard to the Satipatthana Sutta, "there are more than fifty
different practices outlined in this Sutta. The meditations that derive from these foundations of
mindfulness are called vipassana [...] and in one form or another – and by whatever name – are
found in all the major Buddhist traditions." (p. 92)
The forty concentrative meditation subjects refer to Visuddhimagga's oft-referenced

enumeration.
5. Regarding Tibetan visualizations, Kamalashila (2003), writes: "The Tara meditation [...] is one
example out of thousands of subjects for visualization meditation, each one arising out of some
meditator's visionary experience of enlightened qualities, seen in the form of Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas." (p. 227)
6. Polak refers to Vetter, who noted that in the suttas right effort leads to a calm state of mind.
When this calm and self-restraint had been reached, the Buddha is described as sitting down
and attaining the first jhana, in an almost natural way.[15]
7. See also Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit
aka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html)
8. While the commentarial tradition explains vitarka and vicara as the concentration on an object
of meditation, the terms may simply refer to "the normal process of discursive thought."[28]
Bucknell refers to:
* Martin Stuart-Fox, "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism," Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies 12.2 (1989): 79-110
* Paul Griffiths, "Buddhist Jhana: A form-critical study," Religion 13 (1983): 55-68
According to Fox, referring to Rhys Davids & Stede, when vitarka-vicara are mentioned in
tandem, they are one expression, "to cover all' varieties of thinking, including sustained and
focused thought. It is thinking in this inclusive sense that the meditator suppresses through
concentration when he attains one-ness of mind and thus moves from first to second jhana."[29]
See also Sujato, (https://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/why-vitakka-doesnt-mean-thinking-i

n-jhana/)Why vitakka doesn’t mean ‘thinking’ in jhana (https://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/12/0
6/why-vitakka-doesnt-mean-thinking-in-jhana/)
9. The common translation, based on the commentarial interpretation of dhyana as expanding
states of absorption, translates sampasadana as "internal assurance." Yet, as Bucknell
explains, it also means "tranquilizing," which is more apt in this context.[31]
10. Upekkhā is one of the Brahmaviharas.
11. Gombrich: "I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are
thus quite unlike the second."[32]
12. Wynne: "Thus the expression sato sampajāno in the third jhāna must denote a state of
awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhāna (cetaso ekodibhāva). It
suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e.,
that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is
true of the word upek(k)hā: it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be
aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth jhāna-s, as it seems to me,
describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful
awareness of objects.[35]
13. According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the
quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other - and indeed
higher - element.[32]
14. These definitions of samatha and vipassana are based on the "Four Kinds of Persons Sutta"
(AN 4.94). This article's text is primarily based on Bodhi (2005), pp. 269-70, 440 n. 13. See also
Thanissaro (1998d) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.094.than.html).
15. See Thanissaro (1997) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html)
where for instance he underlines: "When [the Pali discourses] depict the Buddha telling his
disciples to go meditate, they never quote him as saying 'go do vipassana,' but always 'go do
jhana.' And they never equate the word vipassana with any mindfulness techniques. In the few
instances where they do mention vipassana, they almost always pair it with samatha – not as
two alternative methods, but as two qualities of mind that a person may 'gain' or 'be endowed
with,' and that should be developed together."
Similarly, referencing MN 151, vv. 13–19, and AN IV, 125-27, Ajahn Brahm (who, like Bhikkhu
Thanissaro, is of the Thai Forest Tradition) writes: "Some traditions speak of two types of
meditation, insight meditation (vipassana) and calm meditation (samatha). In fact, the two are
indivisible facets of the same process. Calm is the peaceful happiness born of meditation;
insight is the clear understanding born of the same meditation. Calm leads to insight and
insight leads to calm." (Brahm, 2006, p. 25.)
16. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1251-53. See also Thanissaro (1998c) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak
a/sn/sn35/sn35.204.than.html) (where this sutta is identified as SN 35.204). See also, for
instance, a discourse (Pali: sutta) entitled, "Serenity and Insight" (SN 43.2), where the Buddha
states: "And what, bhikkhus, is the path leading to the unconditioned? Serenity and insight...."
(Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1372-73).
17. To be distinguished from the Mahayana Yogacara school, though they may have been a
precursor.[1]
18. Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 33-34. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford
University Press, 1986. The author is referring to Pali literature. See however B. Alan Wallace,
The bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus Publishing
Company, 1998, where the author demonstrates similar approaches to analyzing meditation
within the Indo-Tibetan and Theravada traditions.
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13. Analayo, Early Buddhist Meditation Studies, p.69-70, 80
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pitaka/sn/sn51/sn51.020.than.html). Access to Insight.
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pitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html). Access to Insight.
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n.html). Access to Insight.
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Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ.
Bronkhorst, Johannes (2012). Early Buddhist Meditation. Buddhist Meditation from Ancient
India to Modern Asia, Jogye Order International Conference Hall, Seoul, 29 November 2012.
Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid; Ehrhard, Franz-Karl; Diener, Michael S. (2008), Lexicon
Boeddhisme. Wijsbegeerte, religie, psychologie, mystiek, cultuur en literatuur, Asoka
Gombrich, Richard F. (1997), How Buddhism Began, Munshiram Manoharlal
Lachs, Stuart (2006), The Zen Master in America: Dressing the Donkey with Bells and Scarves
(http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Zen_Master_in_America.html)
Schmithausen, Lambert (1981), On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating
Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism". In: Studien zum Jainismus und Buddhismus
(Gedenkschrift für Ludwig Alsdorf), hrsg. von Klaus Bruhn und Albrecht Wezler, Wiesbaden
1981, 199–250
Shankman, Richard (2008), The Experience of Samadhi: An In-depth Exploration of Buddhist
Meditation, Shambhala
Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL
Wynne, Alexander (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge
Web-sources
Further reading
Scholarly (general overview)
Gethin, Rupert (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-
19-289223-1
Scholarly (origins)
Stuart-Fox, Martin (1989), "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism", Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies, 12 (2)
Bucknell, Robert S. (1993), "Reinterpreting the Jhanas", Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies, 16 (2)
Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL
Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ.
Traditional Theravada
Gunaratana, Henepola (1988), The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation (http://www.acce

sstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html) (Wheel No. 351/353). Kandy, Sri Lanka:
Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0035-X.
Burmese Vipassana Movement
Nyanaponika Thera (1996), The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. York Beach, ME: Samuel
Weiser, Inc. ISBN 0-87728-073-8.
Hart, William (1987), The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation: As Taught by S.N. Goenka.
HarperOne. ISBN 0-06-063724-2
Thai Forest Tradition
Brahm, Ajahn (2006), Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook. Somerville,
MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-275-7
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Wings to Awakening, a study of the factors taught by Gautama Buddha as
being essential for awakening
Other Thai traditions
Buddhadasa, Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree
Re-assessing jhana
Quli, Natalie (2008), "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhana in Convert Theravada" (http://www.
leighb.com/Jhana_in_Theravada_Quli.pdf) (PDF), Pacific World 10:225–249
Shankman, Richard (2008), The Experience of Samadhi: An In-depth Exploration of Buddhist
Meditation, Shambhala
Arbel, Keren (2017), Early Buddhist Meditation: The Four Jhanas as the Actualization of Insight
(https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317383994), Taylor & Francis
Zen
Hakuin, Hakuin on Kensho. The Four Ways of Knowing. Shambhala

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Kapleau, Phillip (1989), The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice and Enlightenment. NY:
Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-26093-8
Tibetan Buddhism
Mipham, Sakyong (2003). Turning the Mind into an Ally. NY: Riverhead Books. ISBN 1-57322-
206-2.
Buddhist modernism
Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart

Goldstein, Joseph (2003). One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism. NY: HarperCollins
Publishers. ISBN 0-06-251701-5
Mindfulness
Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2001). Full Catastrophe Living. NY: Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-385-30312-2
External links
Guided Meditations on the Lamrim – The Gradual Path to Enlightenment (http://thubtenchodro
n.org/GradualPathToEnlightenment/MeditationOutline.pdf) by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
(PDF file)
What is the purpose of meditation? (https://tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-is-the-purpose
-of-meditation/) Buddhism for Beginners (https://tricycle.org/beginners/)
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Buddhist meditation

Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in

Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward

Meditation and contemplation are preceded by preparatory

Anussati (Pāli; Sanskrit: Anusmriti) means "recollection,"

Sati/smrti (mindfulness) and satipatthana (establishment Illustration of mindfulness of death

the six sense-bases which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);

The Dimension of infinite space (Pali ākāsānañcāyatana, Skt. ākāśānantyāyatana),

Jhana and insight

Samatha (serenity) and vipassana (insight)

1. they develop serenity and then insight (Pali: samatha-pubbangamam vipassanam)

Sutta Pitaka and early commentaries

The oldest material of the Theravāda tradition on meditation can be

Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa with three copies of

Vipassana and/or samatta

The role of samatha in Buddhist practice, and the exact meaning of

Arbel has argued that insight precedes the practice of jhana.[6]

Thai Forest tradition

1. contemplation on the impure (asubhabhavana), for the greedy type person.

1. counting the breaths up to ten,

Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism

Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism was initially a network of loosely connected

Textual evidence shows that many Mahāyāna Buddhists in northern India as

East Asian Yogācāra methods

1. "dismissing the false - preserving the real" (ch 'ien-hsu ts'un-shih)

Esoteric practices in Japanese Tendai

Huayan meditation theory

These four ways of seeing or knowing reality are:[110]

In Pure Land Buddhism, repeating the name of Amitābha is

During sitting meditation ( 坐禅 , Ch. zuòchán, Jp. zazen, Ko. jwaseon),

Another common form of sitting meditation is called "Silent illumination"

Other forms of meditation in Tibetan Buddhism include the

Chinese esoteric Buddhism focused on a separate set of tantras than

Therapeutic uses of meditation

mindfulness/awareness sati smṛti 念 (niàn) ན་པ། (wylie: dran pa)

clear comprehension sampajañña samprajaña

vigilance/heedfulness appamada apramāda

ardency atappa ātapaḥ 勇猛 (yǒng nyima (nyi ma)

attention/engagement manasikara manaskāraḥ

calm abiding/cessation samatha śamatha ⽌ (zhǐ) ཞ

insight/contemplation vipassanā vipaśyanā 観 (guān) ག་མཐ

meditative absorption jhāna dhyāna 禪 (chán) བསམ་གཏན། samten (bsam gtan)

cultivation bhāvanā bhāvanā 修⾏ (xiūxíng) ོ མ་པ། (sgom pa)

Mindfulness – awareness in the present moment

Anapanasati – focusing on the breath, reference to Ānāpānasati Sutta

Shikantaza – just sitting

Floor sitting: cross-legged (full lotus, half lotus, Burmese) or seiza

Mindfulness (psychology) – Western applications of Buddhist ideas

[T]here is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at

The forty concentrative meditation subjects refer to Visuddhimagga's oft-referenced

See also Sujato, (https://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/why-vitakka-doesnt-mean-thinking-i

Gunaratana, Henepola (1988), The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation (http://www.acce

Burmese Vipassana Movement

Thai Forest Tradition

Other Thai traditions

Buddhadasa, Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree

Hakuin, Hakuin on Kensho. The Four Ways of Knowing. Shambhala

Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart

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