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Four Noble Truths |
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Three marks of existence |
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Gautama Buddha |
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Practices and Attainment |
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Buddhahood · Bodhisattva |
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Comparative Studies |
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Samatha (Pāli), śamatha (Sanskrit) or orthographically romanized to shamatha and is often translated as 'Calm Abiding' (Tibetan shinay), comprises a suite, type or style of Buddhist meditation or concentration practices designed to enhance sustained voluntary attention, and culminates in an attention that can be sustained effortlessly and for hours on end [1]. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The History of Buddhism spans the 6th century BCE to the present starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama. Foundation to the Common Era Some sources give the date of the Buddha's birth as 563 BCE and others as 624 BCE Theravada Buddhist countries tend to use the latter figure Lists and numbering of Buddhist councils vary between and even within schools Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term Background Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived In sramanic philosophy Nirvana (निर्वाण| Nirvāṇa; निब्बान Nibbāna; Prakrit: णिव्वाण The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem, are the three things that Buddhists take refuge Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term According to the Buddhist tradition all phenomena other than Nirvana, ( sankhara) are marked by three characteristics sometimes referred to as the Dharma seals In Buddhist phenomenology and Soteriology, the five skandhas ( Sanskrit) or khandhas ( Pāli) are five "aggregates" Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates ( Skandhas Dhamma ( Pāli: धम्म or Dharma (धर्म in Buddhism has two primary meanings the teachings of the Buddha which lead to enlightenment The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit paticcasamuppāda; rten Karma ( Sanskrit: कर्मन karman, Pāli: कमा Kamma) means "action" or "doing" whatever A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the In Buddhism, buddhahood ( Sanskrit: buddhatva. Pali: buddhatta. In the Buddhist context a bodhisattva (बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva;; Vietnamese Bồ Tát; बोधिसत्त bodhisatta The four stages of Enlightenment in Buddhism are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life Theravada Buddhism Theravada Buddhism 's teachings on the paramitas can be found in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of Meditation techniques that develop Mindfulness, concentration, tranquility and insight In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms Obtaining exact numbers of practicing Buddhists can be difficult and may be reliant on the definition used Buddhist beliefs and practices vary according to region There are distinctions between and within the Buddhism practised in various regions including In South Asia Mahayana Buddhism is the State religion of Bhutan, and Buddhists comprise 98% of its population. History See also History of Buddhism in Cambodia Unconfirmed Singhalese sources assert that missionaries of King Asohka introduced Buddhism into Chinese Buddhism ( Pinyin fójiào refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China proper since ancient times Buddhism is a world religion which arose in Bihar, India and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha (literally Among the five official religions of Indonesia, according to the state ideology of Pancasila According to Suharto, Buddhism and Hinduism were Indonesia's classical The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods namely the Nara period (up to 784 the Heian period (794–1185 and the post-Heian period Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism Buddhism is the primary religion of Laos. The Buddhism practiced in Laos is of the Theravada tradition Buddhism is the second largest religion in Malaysia after Islam, with 19 Buddhism in Mongolia is essentially Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa school History The history of Buddhism in Burmaextends nearly a millennium Buddha was born in Shakya kingdom which lies in Rupandehi district Lumbini zone of Nepal Historically Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands as early as the late 16th century, when Russian explorers travelled to and settled in As of 2000 425% of the Singaporeans register themselves as Buddhist by religion General Buddhism in Sri Lanka is primarily of the Theravada school and constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the populationAccording to traditional Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school Nearly 95% of Thailand 's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school though Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including Buddhism came to Vietnam in the first century CE By the end of the second century Vietnam developed a major Buddhist centre in the region commonly known as the Luy Lâu Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. The Schools of Buddhism. Buddhism is classified in various ways History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayana, Mantranaya, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and The Early Buddhist schools are those schools into which according to most scholars the Buddhist monastic Sangha initially split due originally to differences in The term pre-sectarian Buddhism is used by some scholars to refer to the Buddhism that existed before the various subsects of Buddhism came into being Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars Historicity and Background Place in the Canon Various Mahayana Sutras have been included in the Tibetan Canon and the Chinese Canon. The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of Sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The cultural elements of Buddhism vary by region and include Buddhist Festivals and Observances Vesak The following is a List of Buddhist topics: A Abhidharma Aggañña Sutta Ahimsa Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical 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 Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of Meditation techniques that develop Mindfulness, concentration, tranquility and insight Samatha is a subset of the broader family of Samadhi ("concentration") meditation practices[2]. In Buddhism, samādhi ( Pali; Skt) is mental concentration In the Pali literature, samadhi is found in the following contexts Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness
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Etymology
According to Jamgon Lodro Thaye, insight may be garnered by an exegesis of the etymology of shamatha:
The Tibetan term is shiné [shi-ne] (SHi-gNas) and the Sanskrit is Shamatha. Jamgon Kongtrul was a prominent Tibetan Buddhist teacher ( Lama) and is also the name shared by members of a lineage held by tradition to be his subsequent reincarnations Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy In the case of the Tibetan, the first syllable, shi, and in the case of the Sanskrit, the first two syllables, shama, refer to "peace" and "pacification". The meaning of peace or pacification in this context is that normally our mind is like a whirlwind of agitation. The agitation is the agitation of thought. Our thoughts are principally an obsessive concern with past, conceptualization about the present, and especially an obsessive concern with the future. This means that usually our mind is not experiencing the present moment at all. [3]
The semantic field of shi and shama is "pacification", "the slowing or cooling down", "rest". The semantic field of a Word is the set of Sememes (distinct meanings expressed by the word [4]
The semantic field of né is "to abide or remain" and this is cognate or equivalent with the final syllable of the Sanskrit, tha. [5]
General discussion
Buddhists consider meditation to be an act of concentration on a particular object or idea, sometimes in conjunction with inquiry into the nature of the object, as with "wisdom" (or Prajñā) practices such as vipassanā ("insight") or Dzogchen[6]. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices In the Pali Canon In the Pali Canon, paññā is defined in a variety of overlapping ways frequently centering on concentrated insight Vipassanā ( Pāli) or vipaśyanā (विपश्यना Sanskrit) means Insight into the impermanent nature or Anicca, According to some schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural primordial state or natural condition of every sentient Being Therefore, meditation from other religious traditions are sometimes referred to as a variation of samatha meditation that differ in the focus of concentration; such as breathing, scriptural passage, mantra, religious picture, a rock, body (as a representation of death), and so on. In this sense, samatha is not a strictly Buddhist meditation. Shamata in its single-pointed focus and concentration of mind is cognate with the sixth 'limb' of Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga which is Dharana or 'concentration'. Rāja Yoga ("royal Yoga " "royal union" also known as Classical Yoga or simply Yoga) is one of the six orthodox ( Astika) See also Samyama Beginner's mind For further discussion refer Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is an article about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali For general information on sutras see Sutra.
For Buddhists, it is commonly practiced as a prelude to and in conjunction with "wisdom" practices[7]. Traditionally, in Buddhist meditation there are 40 objects of meditation, although the breath as an object of meditation enjoys the widest popularity in contemporary society. In Buddhism, kammaṭṭhāna is a Pali word (Sanskrit karmasthana) which literally means the place of work, figuratively it Mindfulness of breathing or ānāpāna meditation which accompanies the Buddhist doctrine of rising and falling, can be used for both Samatha and Vipassanā Meditation. Ānāpānasati ( Pali) meaning ' Mindfulness of Breathing ("sati" means mindfulness "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation Vipassanā ( Pāli) or vipaśyanā (विपश्यना Sanskrit) means Insight into the impermanent nature or Anicca, Samatha can include other Samadhi practices, as well. Samadhi ( Sanskrit: sa समाधि is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation or
Within Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism, Samatha practice or 'Calm Abiding' progresses along ten carefully articulated stages or Bhumi, leading, in the tenth stage, to an exceptional state of meditative absorption or concentration[8] called the first jhāna (Sanskrit: dhyāna) which is often translated as state of tranquillity or bliss. Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayana, Mantranaya, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including The Bodhisattva 's path to awakening in the Mahayana tradition progresses through ten hierarchically arranged stages referred to as the "Bodhisattva Bhumis" ( Dhyāna in Hinduism See also Dhyana in Hinduism In Hinduism dhyana is considered to be an instrument to gain self knowledge separating maya from Thus, it furthers the right concentration aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path.
Śamatha is commonly used in Tibetan Buddhism and various branches of the Pure Land tradition. Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including Pure Land Buddhism ( Jìngtǔzōng; 浄土教 Jōdokyō; Korean: ko-Hang 정토종 jeongtojong; Vietnamese: 浄土宗 vi
Vajrayana perspective
Dzogchen Pönlop Rinpoche clearly charts the developmental relationship of the sadhanas of shamatha and vipashyana:
The ways these two aspects of meditation are practiced is that one begins with the practice of shamatha; on the basis of that, it becomes possible to practice vipashyana or lhagthong. For Sadhana the actress see Sadhana (actress Sadhana (Sanskrit sādhanam) is a Sanskrit term for "a means of accomplishing something" Through one's practrice of vipashyana being based on and carried on in the midst of shamatha, one eventually ends up practicing a unification of shamatha and vipashyana. The unification leads to a very clear and direct experience of the nature of all things. This brings one very close to what is called the absolute truth. [9]
See also
External links
- Buddhist Meditation in the Theravada tradition
- How Meditation Works
- The Samatha Trust
- Buddhanet Main Page
- Buddhanet Meditation E-Books
Notes
- ^ Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, 1st ed., 2006, p.6
- ^ Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, 1st ed., 2006, p.131
- ^ Ray, Reginald A. In Buddhism, kammaṭṭhāna is a Pali word (Sanskrit karmasthana) which literally means the place of work, figuratively it Muraqaba (Arabic مراقبة is the Sufi word for Meditation. (Ed. )(2004). In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambala. ISBN 1-57062-849-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) p. 69.
- ^ Ray, Reginald A. (Ed. )(2004). In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambala. ISBN 1-57062-849-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) p. 69.
- ^ Ray, Reginald A. (Ed. )(2004). In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambala. ISBN 1-57062-849-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) p. 70.
- ^ Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, 1st ed., 2006, p.164
- ^ Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, 1st ed., 2006, p.164
- ^ Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, 1st ed., 2006, p.6
- ^ Ray, Reginald A. (Ed. )(2004). In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambala. ISBN 1-57062-849-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) p. 76.
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