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Dhyana
Sanskrit Name
Romanization Dhyāna
Devanāgarī ध्यान
Pali Name
Romanization Jhāna
Devanāgarī झान
Sinhala ඣාන
Chinese Name
Hanyu Pinyin Chán
Wade-Giles Ch’an
Cantonese IPA sɪm4
Cantonese Jyutping sim
Hanzi 禪
Jiantizi 禅
Korean Name
Revised Romanization Seon
McCune-Reischauer Sŏn
Hangul 선
Hanja 禪
Japanese Name
Romaji Zen
Kanji 禅
Vietnamese Name
Quốc ngữ Thiền
Tibetan Name
Wylie bsam gtan (pronounced samten)

Dhyāna (from Sanskrit ध्यान dhyāna) or Jhāna in Pāli refers to a stage of meditation, which is a subset of samadhi. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical In Linguistics, romanization (or latinization, also spelled romanisation or latinisation) is the representation of a Word or Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. In Linguistics, romanization (or latinization, also spelled romanisation or latinisation) is the representation of a Word or The Sinhala script is an Abugida script used in Sri Lanka to write the Official language Sinhala and also sometimes the Liturgical Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. Wade-Giles (ˌweɪdˈʤaɪlz) sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system (phonetic notation and Transcription) for the Mandarin Jyutping (sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a Romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( This article is mainly about the spoken Korean language See Hangul for details on the native Korean writing system The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language Romanization system in South Korea. McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language Romanization systems along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities The romanization of Japanese or ( is the use of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) The Vietnamese alphabet has the following 29 letters in collating order Description The Vietnamese alphabet called Chữ Quốc Ngữ Tibetan refers to a group of languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia as well as by overseas The Wylie transliteration scheme is a method for transliterating the Tibetan script using the keys on a typical English language Typewriter. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness Samadhi ( Sanskrit: sa समाधि is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation or It is a key concept in Hinduism,Buddhism, and Sikhism. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Sikhism ( IPA: or; ਸਿੱਖੀ sikkhī, IPA:) founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century Equivalent terms are "Chán" in modern Chinese, "Zen" in Japanese, "Seon" in Korean, "Thien" in Vietnamese, and "Samten" in Tibetan. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities

Contents

Dhyāna in Hinduism

Main article: Dhyana in Hinduism

In Hinduism, dhyana is considered to be an instrument to gain self knowledge, separating maya from reality to help attain the ultimate goal of Moksha. According to the Hindu Yoga Sutra dhyana is one of the eight methods of Yoga, (the other seven methods are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama Maya ( Sanskrit sa माया māyā) in Indian religions, has multiple meanings In Indian religions, Moksha ( Sanskrit: sa मोक्ष mokṣa) or Mukti ( Sanskrit: sa मुक्ति literally "release"

The Bhagavad Gita, thought to have been written some time between 400 and 100 BC, talks of four branches of yoga:

Dhyana in Raja Yoga is also found in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Karma yoga (Sanskrit कर्म योग (also known as Buddhi Yoga or the "discipline of action" is based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Jnâna yoga ( Devanāgarī: ज्ञान योग or "path of knowledge" is one of the types of Yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies Bhakti Yoga ( Devanāgarī: भक्ति योग is a term within Hinduism which denotes the spiritual practice of fostering loving devotion to God According to the Hindu Yoga Sutra dhyana is one of the eight methods of Yoga, (the other seven methods are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama Rāja Yoga ("royal Yoga " "royal union" also known as Classical Yoga or simply Yoga) is one of the six orthodox ( Astika) Patañjali ( Devanāgarī पतञ्जलि (fl 150 BCE or 2nd c This is an article about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali For general information on sutras see Sutra. Practiced together with Dharana and Samadhi it constitutes the Samyama. See also Samyama Beginner's mind Samadhi ( Sanskrit: sa समाधि is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation or Samyama (from Sanskrit संयम saṃ-yama Combined simultaneous practice of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna & Samādhi. Depictions of Hindu yogis performing dhyāna are found in ancient texts and in statues and frescoes of ancient India temples. A yogi ( Sanskrit, feminine root Yogini) is a term for a male practitioner of various forms of the path of Yoga, maintaining

The Bhagavad Gita talks of only two main modes , Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga (Not to be confused with physical exercise Yoga (Hatha Yoga) ). Meditation is a subset to attaining Jnana since you realize the one Advaita principle

Dhyāna in Buddhism

In the Theravada tradition

Main article: Jhana in Theravada

In the Pali Canon the Buddha describes four progressive states of absorption meditation or jhāna. Advaita Vedanta ( IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit अद्वैत वेदान्त əd̪vait̪ə veːd̪ɑːnt̪ə is a sub-school of the Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness The jhānas are said by the Buddha to be conducive to a pleasant abiding and freedom from suffering (DN-22). The jhānas are states of meditation where the mind is free from the five hindrances (craving, aversion, sloth, agitation, doubt) and (from the second jhāna onwards) incapable of discursive thinking. In Buddhism, the five hindrances ( Pali: pañca nīvaraṇāni) are negative mental states that impede success with meditation ( The deeper jhānas can last for many hours. When a meditator emerges from jhāna, his/her mind is empowered and able to penetrate into the deepest truths of existence.

There are four deeper states of meditative absorption called the immaterial attainments. Sometimes these are also referred to as the "formless" jhānas, or arupajhana (distinguished from the first four jhānas, rupajhana). In Buddhism, the arūpajhānas are four successive levels of meditation on non-material objects In Buddhism, rūpajhānas ( Sanskrit: rūpadhyāna "meditations of form" literally "form meditations" are successive levels of In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word jhāna is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas.

Jhānas are normally described according to the nature of the mental factors which are present in these states

  1. Movement of the mind onto the object, Vitakka (Sanskrit: Vitarka)
  2. Retention of the mind on the object, Vicāra
  3. Joy, Pīti (Sanskrit: Prīti)
  4. Happiness, Sukha
  5. Tranquility, Passaddhi
  6. Equanimity, Upekkhā (Sanskrit: Upekṣā)
  7. One-pointedness, Ekaggatā (Sanskrit: Ekāgratā)[1]

Four progressive states of Jhāna:

  1. First Jhāna (Vitakka, Vicāra, Pīti, Sukha, Ekaggatā) - The five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss remains. Vitakka ( Pāli) or Vitarka (वितर्क Sanskrit) both in Hinduist Yoga and Buddhist Meditation, means the action of taking Vicara means the way Mind maintains Attention toward any object Prīti ( Sanskrit; Pali pīti) is a mental factor (Pali cetasika) associated with the concentrative absorption (Sanskrit Sukha is a Sanskrit and Pāli word that is often translated as “happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss Passaddhi is a Pali noun that has been translated as "calmness" "tranquillity" "repose" and "serenity Upekṣā ( Sanskrit / Devanāgarī script: उपेक्षा Pali: Upekkhā) is the Buddhist concept of Equanimity. Ekaggatā ( Pali) or Ekāgratā (एकाग्रता Sanskrit) means "one-pointedness" or the state (-tā of having one (eka point (agga Only the subtlest of mental movement remains - perceivable in its absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to form unwholesome intentions ceases.
  2. Second Jhāna (Pīti, Sukha, Ekaggatā) - All mental movement utterly ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions cease as well.
  3. Third Jhāna (Sukha, Ekaggatā) - One half of bliss disappears (joy).
  4. Fourth Jhāna (Upekkhā, Ekaggatā) - The other half of bliss (happiness) disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti and sukha). The Buddha described the jhānas as "the footsteps of the tathāgata". Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder Tathāgata (pronounced tāht-āhgatah) in Pali and Sanskrit (Chin The breath is said to cease temporarily in this state.

Traditionally, this fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic powers (abhigna). Abhijña ( Skt; Pali, abhiñña) has been translated generally as "knowing" "direct knowing" and "direct [2]

The scriptures state that one should not seek to attain ever higher jhanas but master one first, then move on to the next. 'Mastery of jhana' involves being able to enter a jhana at will, stay as long as one likes, leave at will and experience each of the jhana factors as required. They also seem to suggest that lower jhana factors may manifest themselves in higher jhanas, if the jhanas have not been properly developed. The Buddha is seen to advise his disciples to concentrate and steady the jhana further.

In Mahayana traditions

Buddhist
Perfections
 
10 pāramī
dāna
sīla
nekkhamma
paññā
viriya
khanti
sacca
adhiṭṭhāna
mettā
upekkhā
   
 6 pāramitā 
dāna
sīla
kṣānti
vīrya
dhyāna
prajñā
 
Colored items are in both lists. Theravada Buddhism Theravada Buddhism 's teachings on the paramitas can be found in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries Bodhisattva and the Art of Giving The quality of giving is one of the virtues perfected over numerous lifetimes by Shakyamuni Buddha in his Bodhisattva Nekkhamma is a Pali word generally translated as "renunciation" while also conveying more specifically "giving up the world and leading a holy life" In the Pali Canon In the Pali Canon, paññā is defined in a variety of overlapping ways frequently centering on concentrated insight See also Bodhipakkhiya dhamma (Qualities conducive to Enlightenment Four Right Exertions Five Faculties Kshanti or kṣanti ( Skt) or khanti ( Pali) has been translated as patience forbearance and forgiveness Sacca is a Pāli word meaning "real" or "true" In early Buddhist literature sacca is often found in the context of the " Pali Canon texts While adhiṭṭhāna appears sporadically in the early Pali Canon, various late-canonical and post-canonical accounts of the Buddha Mettā meditation the practice of loving-kindness Mettā signifies Friendship and Non-violence as well as "a strong wish for the happiness of others" Upekṣā ( Sanskrit / Devanāgarī script: उपेक्षा Pali: Upekkhā) is the Buddhist concept of Equanimity. Theravada Buddhism Theravada Buddhism 's teachings on the paramitas can be found in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries Bodhisattva and the Art of Giving The quality of giving is one of the virtues perfected over numerous lifetimes by Shakyamuni Buddha in his Bodhisattva Kshanti or kṣanti ( Skt) or khanti ( Pali) has been translated as patience forbearance and forgiveness See also Bodhipakkhiya dhamma (Qualities conducive to Enlightenment Four Right Exertions Five Faculties Dhyāna in Hinduism See also Dhyana in Hinduism In Hinduism dhyana is considered to be an instrument to gain self knowledge separating maya from In the Pali Canon In the Pali Canon, paññā is defined in a variety of overlapping ways frequently centering on concentrated insight

In the Mahayana tradition, dhyāna is the fifth of six pāramitās (perfections). Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for Theravada Buddhism Theravada Buddhism 's teachings on the paramitas can be found in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries It is usually translated as "concentration" or "meditative stability. "

In East Asia, several schools of Buddhism were founded that focused on dhyāna, under the names Chan, Zen, and Soen. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. According to tradition, Bodhidharma brought Dhyāna to the Shaolin Temple in China, where it came to be transliterated as "chan" ("soen" in Korea, and then "zen" in Japan). Biography Contemporary accounts There are two known extant accounts written by contemporaries of Bodhidharma The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple ( is a Chan Buddhist temple at Song Shan in Zhengzhou City Henan Province Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan.

Dhyāna in Jainism

is called Samayika. Samayika (a Prakrit word derived from samay ( time) is the practice of Meditation in Jainism.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In the Suttapitaka, right concentration is often referred to as having five factors, with one-pointedness (ekaggata) not being explicitly identified as a factor of jhana attainment (see, for instance, SN 28. In Buddhism, rūpajhānas ( Sanskrit: rūpadhyāna "meditations of form" literally "form meditations" are successive levels of In Buddhism, the arūpajhānas are four successive levels of meditation on non-material objects Samadhi ( Sanskrit: sa समाधि is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation or Samyama (from Sanskrit संयम saṃ-yama Combined simultaneous practice of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna & Samādhi. Bhavana ( Pali and Sanskrit) means "development" In the teaching of the Buddha it is often used in a compound form in such phrases as Muraqaba (Arabic مراقبة is the Sufi word for Meditation. Pranava yoga is a name given to the classical method of Meditation outlined in the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali According to the Hindu Yoga Sutra dhyana is one of the eight methods of Yoga, (the other seven methods are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama The Sutta Pitaka (suttapiṭaka or Suttanta Pitaka cf Sanskrit सूत्र पिटक Sutra Pitaka) is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or 1-4, AN 4. 41, AN 5. 28).
  2. ^ For instance in AN 5. The Anguttara Nikaya (aṅguttaranikāya "Gradual Collection" or "Numerical Discourses" is a Buddhist scripture the fourth of the five Nikayas or 28, the Buddha states:
    "When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening. . . .
    "If he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives in and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening . . . " (Thanissaro, 1997. )

Sources

External links

Buddhist

Sufi

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, ( 19 June 1916 - 17 June 2004) was the eldest son of Sufi Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
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