Samatha
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Samatha
''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the mind developed in tandem in Buddhist practice. In the Pali Canon and the Āgama they are not specific practices, but elements of "a single path," and "fulfilled" with the development (''bhāvanā'') of ''sati'' ("mindfulness") and '' jhana/dhyana'' ("meditation") and other path-factors. While ''jhana/dhyana'' has a central role in the Buddhist path, ''vipassanā'' is hardly mentioned separately, but mostly described along with ''samatha''. The '' Abhidhamma Pitaka'' and the commentaries describe samatha and vipassanā as two separate techniques, taking samatha to mean concentration-meditation, and ''vipassana'' as a practice to gain insight. In the Theravada-tradition, ''vipassanā'' is defined as a practice that seeks "insight into the ...
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Samatha
''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the mind developed in tandem in Buddhist practice. In the Pali Canon and the Āgama they are not specific practices, but elements of "a single path," and "fulfilled" with the development (''bhāvanā'') of ''sati'' ("mindfulness") and '' jhana/dhyana'' ("meditation") and other path-factors. While ''jhana/dhyana'' has a central role in the Buddhist path, ''vipassanā'' is hardly mentioned separately, but mostly described along with ''samatha''. The '' Abhidhamma Pitaka'' and the commentaries describe samatha and vipassanā as two separate techniques, taking samatha to mean concentration-meditation, and ''vipassana'' as a practice to gain insight. In the Theravada-tradition, ''vipassanā'' is defined as a practice that seeks "insight into the ...
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Theravada
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhism), Buddha Dhamma'' in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a Indo-Aryan languages, classical Indian language, Pali, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and ''lingua franca''.Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity'', p. 2. In contrast to ''Mahāyāna'' and ''Vajrayāna'', Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine (''pariyatti'') and monastic discipline (''vinaya''). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. ...
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Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; " taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ; ...
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Visuddhimagga
The ''Visuddhimagga'' (Pali; English: ''The Path of Purification''), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and systematizing the 5th century understanding and interpretation of the Buddhist path as maintained by the elders of the Mahavihara Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is considered the most important Theravada text of outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures,See, for instance, Kheminda Thera, in Ehara et al. 1995 p. xliii: "The ''Visuddhimagga'' is a household word in all ''Theravāda'' lands. No scholar of Buddhism whether of ''Theravāda'' or of ''Mahāyāna'' is unacquainted with it." and is described as "the hub of a complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka." Background Structure The structure of the ''Visuddhimagga'' is based on the ''Ratha-vinita Sutta'' ("Relay Chariots Discourse," MN 24), which describes th ...
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Vipassana Movement
The Vipassanā movement, also called (in the United States) the Insight Meditation Movement and American vipassana movement, refers to a branch of modern Burmese Theravāda Buddhism that promotes "bare insight" (''sukha-vipassana'') to attain stream entry and preserve the Buddhist teachings, which gained widespread popularity since the 1950s, and to its western derivatives which have been popularised since the 1970s, giving rise to the more dhyana-oriented mindfulness movement. The Burmese vipassana movement has its roots in the 19th century, when Theravada Buddhism came to be influenced by western modernism, and some monks tried to restore the Buddhist practice of meditation. Based on the commentaries, Ledi Sayadaw popularized ''vipassana meditation'' for lay people, teaching ''samatha'' and stressing the practice of ''satipatthana'' to acquire ''vipassana'' (insight) into the three marks of existence as the main means to attain the beginning of awakening and become a stream ...
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Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism (the other being ''Theravāda'' and Vajrayana).Harvey (2013), p. 189. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna Sūtras and their emphasis on the ''bodhisattva'' path and ''Prajñāpāramitā''. ''Vajrayāna'' or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna, which make use of numerous tantric methods considered to be faster and more powerful at achieving Buddhahood by Vajrayānists. "Mahāyāna" also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha (''samyaksaṃbuddha'') for the benefit of all sentient beings, and is thus als ...
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Dhyāna In Buddhism
In the oldest texts of Buddhism, ''dhyāna'' () or ''jhāna'' () is a component of the training of the mind (''bhavana''), commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, "burn up" the defilements, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness ('' upekkhā-sati- parisuddhi'')." ''Dhyāna'' may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment. In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Theravāda, ''dhyāna'' is equated with "concentration", a state of one-pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non-beneficial for the first stage of awakening, which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and ''vipassan ...
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Dhyana In Buddhism
In the oldest texts of Buddhism, ''dhyāna'' () or ''jhāna'' () is a component of the training of the mind (''bhavana''), commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, "burn up" the defilements, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness ('' upekkhā-sati- parisuddhi'')." ''Dhyāna'' may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment. In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Theravāda, ''dhyāna'' is equated with "concentration", a state of one-pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non-beneficial for the first stage of awakening, which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and ''vipassan ...
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Bhavana
''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0755-bhAvodaya.pdf .) literally means "development" or "cultivating" or "producing" in the sense of "calling into existence".Nyanatiloka (1980), p. 67. It is an important concept in Buddhist practice (''Patipatti''). The word ''bhavana'' normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as ''citta-bhavana'' (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or ''metta-bhavana'' (the development/cultivation of lovingkindness). When used on its own, ''bhavana'' signifies contemplation and 'spiritual cultivation' generally. Etymology ''Bhavana'' derives from the word ''Bhava'' meaning ''becoming'' or the sub ...
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Henepola Gunaratana
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monk. He is affectionately known as Bhante G. Bhante Gunaratana is currently the abbot of the Bhavana Society, a monastery and meditation retreat center that he founded in High View, West Virginia in 1985. Early life Henepola Gunaratana was born Ekanayaka Mudiyanselage Ukkubanda on December 7, 1927, in the small Sri Lankan village of Henepola. At 7, he began attending a school run by Catholic missionary nuns in Medagama. It was the closet school to his home, and attracted many students as they provided them with a warm meal. A year later, Gunaratana would switch to the new primary school opened by the Buddhist temple in Dehideniya. After four years he left formal education at 11 in order to train for a noviceship at a temple in Kosinna, Rambukkana District. However this initial novitiate was cut short. Three months later, he was brought home by his father when a letter was sent saying that one of the temple yout ...
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