138-655: Ānāpānasati ( Pali ; Sanskrit : ānāpānasmṛti ), meaning " mindfulness of breathing " ( sati means mindfulness; ānāpāna refers to inhalation and exhalation ), is the act of paying attention to the breath. It is the quintessential form of Buddhist meditation , attributed to Gautama Buddha , and described in several suttas , most notably the Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118). Derivations of anāpānasati are common to Tibetan , Zen , Tiantai , and Theravada Buddhism as well as Western-based mindfulness programs. The Ānāpānasati Sutta prescribes mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation as an element of mindfulness of
276-415: A Middle Indo-Aryan language , is different from Classical Sanskrit more with regard to its dialectal base than the time of its origin. A number of its morphological and lexical features show that it is not a direct continuation of Ṛgvedic Sanskrit. Instead it descends from one or more dialects that were, despite many similarities, different from Ṛgvedic . The Theravada commentaries refer to
414-515: A before doubled consonants: The vowels ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩ are lengthened in the flexional endings including: -īhi, -ūhi and -īsu A sound called anusvāra (Skt.; Pali: niggahīta ), represented by the letter ṁ (ISO 15919) or ṃ (ALA-LC) in romanization, and by a raised dot in most traditional alphabets, originally marked the fact that the preceding vowel was nasalized. That is, aṁ , iṁ and uṁ represented [ã] , [ĩ] and [ũ] . In many traditional pronunciations, however,
552-521: A lingua franca or common language of culture among people who used differing dialects in North India, used at the time of the Buddha and employed by him. Another scholar states that at that time it was "a refined and elegant vernacular of all Aryan-speaking people". Modern scholarship has not arrived at a consensus on the issue; there are a variety of conflicting theories with supporters and detractors. After
690-650: A continuation of a language spoken in the area of Magadha in the time of the Buddha. Nearly every word in Pāḷi has cognates in the other Middle Indo-Aryan languages, the Prakrits . The relationship to Vedic Sanskrit is less direct and more complicated; the Prakrits were descended from Old Indo-Aryan vernaculars . Historically, influence between Pali and Sanskrit has been felt in both directions. The Pali language's resemblance to Sanskrit
828-493: A decrease in habitual responding in a 20-minute Stroop test , which, as suggested by Richard Davidson and colleagues, may illustrate a lessening of emotionally reactive and automatic responding behavior. It has been scientifically demonstrated that ānāpānasati enhances connectivity in the brain. The Abhidhamma literature discerns sixteen stages – or contemplations – of ānāpānasati. These are divided into four tetrads (i.e., four groups of four). The first four steps involve focusing
966-547: A degraded form of Pali, But Masefield states that further examination of a very considerable corpus of texts will probably show that this is an internally consistent Pali dialect. The reason for the changes is that some combinations of characters are difficult to write in those scripts. Masefield further states that upon the third re-introduction of Theravada Buddhism into Sri Lanka (The Siyamese Sect), records in Thailand state that large number of texts were also taken. It seems that when
1104-567: A few loan-words from local languages where Pali was used (e.g. Sri Lankans adding Sinhala words to Pali). These usages differentiate the Pali found in the Suttapiṭaka from later compositions such as the Pali commentaries on the canon and folklore (e.g., commentaries on the Jataka tales ), and comparative study (and dating) of texts on the basis of such loan-words is now a specialized field unto itself. Pali
1242-643: A high degree of mutual intelligibility. Theravada tradition, as recorded in chronicles like the Mahavamsa , states that the Tipitaka was first committed to writing during the first century BCE. This move away from the previous tradition of oral preservation is described as being motivated by threats to the Sangha from famine, war, and the growing influence of the rival tradition of the Abhayagiri Vihara . This account
1380-545: A meditative tradition consisting of analysis based on observation—inductive reasoning within meditation—was not transmitted to Tibet; what Gelukpa writers call analytical meditation is syllogistic reasoning within meditation. Thus, Jamyang Shaypa fails to recognize the possibility of an 'analytical meditation' based on observation, even when he cites passages on breath meditation from Vasubandhu's Treasury of Manifest Knowledge and, especially, Asaṅga's Grounds of Hearers that appear to describe it. Stephen Batchelor , who for years
1518-488: A mix of several Prakrit languages from around the 3rd century BCE, combined and partially Sanskritized. There is no attested dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan with all the features of Pali. In the modern era, it has been possible to compare Pali with inscriptions known to be in Magadhi Prakrit, as well as other texts and grammars of that language. While none of the existing sources specifically document pre-Ashokan Magadhi,
SECTION 10
#17328523899731656-583: A mockery of the Vedic-Brahmanic cosmogony, as described in the Hymn of Creation of Veda X, 129 and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad . These were integrated with a branched list that describes the conditioning of mental processes, akin to the five skandhas. Eventually, this branched list developed into the standard twelvefold chain as a linear list. According to Boisvert, "the function of each of
1794-415: A number of similarities between surviving fragments and Pali morphology. Ardhamagadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit thought to have been spoken in modern-day Bihar & Eastern Uttar Pradesh and used in some early Buddhist and Jain drama. It was originally thought to be a predecessor of the vernacular Magadhi Prakrit, hence the name (literally "half-Magadhi"). Ardhamāgadhī
1932-466: A particular deity wearing such-and-such a costume, of certain particular colors, holding certain particular sceptres in his hand. Those details are very closely connected with the individualities of particular psychological processes. [Buddha:] "It's possible that a senseless person — immersed in ignorance, overcome with craving — might think that he could outsmart the Teacher's message in this way: 'So — form
2070-476: A practical strategy rather than as a metaphysical doctrine". To Albahari, Nibbāna is an ever-present part of human nature, which is gradually "uncovered" by the cessation of ignorance. The Early Buddhist schools developed detailed analyses and overviews of the teachings found in the sutras, called Abhidharma . Each school developed its own Abhidharma. The best-known is the Theravāda Abhidhamma , but
2208-505: A practice tradition because of the great difference between this type of inductive meditative reasoning based on observation and the types of meditative reasoning using consequences ( thal 'gyur, prasaanga ) or syllogisms ( sbyor ba, prayoga ) with which Gelukpas were familiar. Thus, although Gelukpa scholars give detailed interpretations of the systems of breath meditation set forth in Vasubandu's and Asaṅga's texts, they may not fully account for
2346-418: A single practice: keeping the breath in mind. When the mind is with the breath, all four frames of reference are right there. The difference lies simply in the subtlety of one's focus.... [A]s a meditator get more skilled in staying with the breath, the practice of satipatthana gives greater sensitivity in peeling away ever more subtle layers of participation in the present moment until nothing is left standing in
2484-624: Is ཕུང་པོ། in Tibetan, and the terms mean "collections or aggregates or bundles". The Buddha teaches in the Pali Canon the five aggregates as follows: The five aggregates are often interpreted in the later tradition as an explanation of the constituents of person and personality, and "the list of aggregates became extremely important for the later development of the teaching". According to this interpretation, in each skandha – body, sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness – there
2622-456: Is a Sanskrit word that means "multitude, quantity, aggregate", generally in the context of body, trunk, stem, empirically observed gross object or anything of bulk verifiable with senses. The term appears in the Vedic literature. The Pali equivalent word Khandha (sometimes spelled Kkhanda ) appears extensively in the Pali canon where, state Rhys Davids and William Stede, it means "bulk of
2760-478: Is a linear list of twelve elements from the Buddhist teachings which arise in dependence on the preceding link. While this list may be interpreted as describing the processes which give rise to rebirth, in essence it describes the arising of dukkha as a psychological process, without the involvement of an atman. Some scholars regard it to be a later synthesis of several older lists. The first four links may be
2898-445: Is an "aggregate, heap" of composite entities without essence. According to Harvey, the five skandhas give rise to a sense of personality, but are dukkha (unsatisfying), impermanent, and without an enduring self or essence. Each aggregate is an object of grasping (clinging), at the root of self-identification as "I, me, myself". According to Harvey, realizing the real nature of skandhas , both in terms of impermanence and non-self,
SECTION 20
#17328523899733036-502: Is called "purification" (parisuddhi) and it marks entering the stage of "realization of the Way", which in Abhidharma literature denotes the stage of "the stream entry" ( Sotāpanna ) that will inevitably lead the adept to Nirvana in no more than seven lives. Traditional anāpānasati teaches to observe inhalation and exhalation by focusing on the air coming in and out the nostrils, but followers of
3174-563: Is currently relatively little known, particularly in the Thai tradition, with many manuscripts never catalogued or published. Paiśācī is a largely unattested literary language of classical India that is mentioned in Prakrit and Sanskrit grammars of antiquity. It is found grouped with the Prakrit languages, with which it shares some linguistic similarities, but was not considered a spoken language by
3312-473: Is emptiness and no substance. According to Damien Keown and Charles Prebish, canonical Buddhism asserts that "the notion of a self is unnecessarily superimposed upon five skandha" of a phenomenon or a living being. The skandha doctrine, states Matthew MacKenzie, is a form of anti-realism about everyday reality including persons, and presents an alternative to "substantialist views of the self". It asserts that everything perceived, each person and personality,
3450-549: Is entitled, "The Great Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra" (Ch. 大安般守意經) ( Taishō Tripiṭaka 602). At a later date, Buddhacinga, more commonly known as Fotudeng (佛圖澄) (231–349 CE), came from Central Asia to China in 310 and propagated Buddhism widely. He is said to have demonstrated many spiritual powers , and was able to convert the warlords in this region of China over to Buddhism. He is well known for teaching methods of meditation, and especially ānāpānasmṛti. Fotudeng widely taught ānāpānasmṛti through methods of counting breaths, so as to temper to
3588-527: Is frequently chanted in a ritual context. The secular literature of Pali historical chronicles, medical texts, and inscriptions is also of great historical importance. The great centres of Pali learning remain in Sri Lanka and other Theravada nations of Southeast Asia: Myanmar , Thailand , Laos and Cambodia . Since the 19th century, various societies for the revival of Pali studies in India have promoted awareness of
3726-496: Is generally accepted by scholars, though there are indications that Pali had already begun to be recorded in writing by this date. By this point in its history, scholars consider it likely that Pali had already undergone some initial assimilation with Sanskrit , such as the conversion of the Middle-Indic bahmana to the more familiar Sanskrit brāhmana that contemporary brahmans used to identify themselves. In Sri Lanka, Pali
3864-522: Is grasped". Mathieu Boisvert states that "many scholars have referred to the five aggregates in their works on Buddhism, [but] none have thoroughly explained their respective functions". According to Boisvert, the five aggregates and dependent origination are closely related, which explains the process that binds us to samsara . Boisvert notes that the pancha-upadanakkhanda does not incorporate all human experience. Vedana may transform into either niramisa or nekkhamma-sita vedana ( vedana which
4002-460: Is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbana." Anapanasati can also be practised with other traditional meditation subjects including the four frames of reference and mettā bhāvanā , as is done in modern Theravadan Buddhism. In the second century, the Buddhist monk An Shigao came from Northwest India to China and became one of
4140-456: Is it fitting to regard what is inconstant, stressful, subject to change as: 'This is mine. This is my self. This is what I am'?" [Monks:] "No, lord." "... Is feeling constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, lord."... "... Is perception constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, lord."... "... Are fabrications constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, lord."... "What do you think, monks — Is consciousness constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, lord." "And
4278-533: Is likely the most widely used Buddhist method for contemplating bodily phenomena. The mindfulness practice described in the Ānāpānasati Sutra is to go into the forest and sit beneath a tree and then to simply watch the breath: Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to
Anapanasati - Misplaced Pages Continue
4416-416: Is necessary for nirvana. This "emptiness from personality" can be found in descriptions of the enlightened, perfected state of Arhat and Tathagata , in which there is no longer any identification with the five skandhas. This "no essence" view has been a topic of questions, disagreements, and commentaries since ancient times, both in non-Buddhist Indian religions and Buddhist traditions. The use of
4554-403: Is not harmful) or into amisa or gehasita vedana (a "type of sensation [which] may act as an agent bringing about the future arising of craving and aversion"). This is determined by sanna . According to Boisvert, "not all sanna belong to the sanna-skandha ". The wholesome sanna recognise the three marks of existence ( dukkha , anatta , anicca ), and do not belong to
4692-449: Is not-self, feeling is not-self, perception is not-self, fabrications are not-self, consciousness is not-self. Then what self will be touched by the actions done by what is not-self?' Now, monks, haven't I trained you in counter-questioning with regard to this & that topic here & there? What do you think — Is form constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, lord." "And is that which is inconstant easeful or stressful?" "Stressful, lord." "And
4830-660: Is often exaggerated by comparing it to later Sanskrit compositions—which were written centuries after Sanskrit ceased to be a living language, and are influenced by developments in Middle Indic , including the direct borrowing of a portion of the Middle Indic lexicon; whereas, a good deal of later Pali technical terminology has been borrowed from the vocabulary of equivalent disciplines in Sanskrit, either directly or with certain phonological adaptations. Post-canonical Pali also possesses
4968-930: Is that literature in Paiśācī is fragmentary and extremely rare but may once have been common. The 13th-century Tibetan historian Buton Rinchen Drub wrote that the early Buddhist schools were separated by choice of sacred language : the Mahāsāṃghikas used Prakrit, the Sarvāstivādins used Sanskrit, the Sthaviravādins used Paiśācī, and the Saṃmitīya used Apabhraṃśa . This observation has led some scholars to theorize connections between Pali and Paiśācī; Sten Konow concluded that it may have been an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Dravidian people in South India, and Alfred Master noted
5106-401: Is that which is inconstant easeful or stressful?" "Stressful, lord." "And is it fitting to regard what is inconstant, stressful, subject to change as: 'This is mine. This is my self. This is what I am'?" "No, lord." "Thus, monks, any form whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every form is to be seen as it actually
5244-533: Is the reason that Buddhism began to develop so vigorously in China with Fotudeng." As more monks such as Kumārajīva , Dharmanandi, Gautama Saṃghadeva, and Buddhabhadra came to the East, translations of meditation texts did as well, which often taught various methods of ānāpānasmṛti that were being used in India. These became integrated in various Buddhist traditions, as well as into non-Buddhist traditions such as Daoism . In
5382-461: Is thought to have entered into a period of decline ending around the 4th or 5th century (as Sanskrit rose in prominence, and simultaneously, as Buddhism's adherents became a smaller portion of the subcontinent), but ultimately survived. The work of Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in Buddhist thought. The Visuddhimagga , and the other commentaries that Buddhaghosa compiled, codified and condensed
5520-535: Is used as a name for the language of the Theravada canon. The word seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the Pāli (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or vernacular translation that followed it in the manuscript. K. R. Norman suggests that its emergence was based on a misunderstanding of the compound pāli-bhāsa , with pāli being interpreted as
5658-694: Is usually divided into canonical and non-canonical or extra-canonical texts. Canonical texts include the whole of the Pali Canon or Tipitaka . With the exception of three books placed in the Khuddaka Nikaya by only the Burmese tradition, these texts (consisting of the five Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka , the Vinaya Pitaka , and the books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka ) are traditionally accepted as containing
Anapanasati - Misplaced Pages Continue
5796-403: Is very popular in traditional and modern forms of Yoga. The practice of focusing one's attention changes the brain in ways to improve that ability over time; the brain grows in response to meditation. Meditation can be thought of as mental training, similar to learning to ride a bike or play a piano. Meditators experienced in focused attention meditation (of which ānāpānasati is one type) showed
5934-692: The Burmese Vipassana movement instead recommend focusing on the abdomen's movement during the act of breathing. Other Buddhist schools also teach that as an alternative point of focus. According to John Dunne, for the practice to be successful, one should dedicate to the practice, and set out the goal of the meditation session. According to Philip Kapleau , in Zen practice one may decide to either practice anāpānasati while seated or standing or lying down or walking , or while alternating seated, standing, lying down, and walking meditation. Then one may concentrate on
6072-710: The Mahāsāṃghika branch became influential in Central and East India . Akira Hirakawa and Paul Groner also associate Pali with Western India and the Sthavira nikāya, citing the Saurashtran inscriptions, which are linguistically closest to the Pali language. Although Sanskrit was said in the Brahmanical tradition to be the unchanging language spoken by the gods in which each word had an inherent significance, such views for any language
6210-757: The Milindapanha ) may have been composed in India before being transmitted to Sri Lanka, but the surviving versions of the texts are those preserved by the Mahavihara in Ceylon and shared with monasteries in Theravada Southeast Asia. The earliest inscriptions in Pali found in mainland Southeast Asia are from the first millennium CE, some possibly dating to as early as the 4th century. Inscriptions are found in what are now Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia and may have spread from southern India rather than Sri Lanka. By
6348-608: The Pali Canon and non-canonical texts, and include several examples of the Ye dhamma hetu verse. The oldest surviving Pali manuscript was discovered in Nepal dating to the 9th century. It is in the form of four palm-leaf folios, using a transitional script deriving from the Gupta script to scribe a fragment of the Cullavagga . The oldest known manuscripts from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia date to
6486-653: The Pañcakrama tantric tradition ascribed to (the Vajrayana) Nagarjuna , ānāpānasmṛti counting breaths is said to be sufficient to provoke an experience of vipaśyanā (although it occurs in the context of "formal tantric practice of the completion stage in highest yogatantra"). At first glance, the four frames of reference for satipatthana practice sound like four different meditation exercises, but MN 118 [the Anapanasati Sutta ] makes clear that they can all center on
6624-517: The Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma was historically very influential, and has been preserved partly in the Chinese Āgama. The internal and external sense bases together form the "six sense bases". In this description, found in texts such as Salayatana samyutta , the coming together of an object and a sense-organ results in the arising of the corresponding consciousness. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi ,
6762-468: The Theravada tradition, suffering arises when one identifies with or clings to the aggregates. This suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. Both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions assert that the nature of all aggregates is intrinsically empty of independent existence and that these aggregates do not constitute a "self" of any kind. Skandha ( Sanskrit : स्कन्ध )
6900-463: The five aggregates of clinging ( Pañcupādānakkhandhā ), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also explained as the five factors that constitute and explain a sentient being's person and personality, but this is a later interpretation in response to Sarvāstivādin essentialism. The 14th Dalai Lama subscribes to this interpretation. The five aggregates or heaps of clinging are: In
7038-455: The sanna-skandha . Unwholesome sanna is not "conducive to insight", and without proper sanna , the "person is likely to generate craving, clinging and becoming". As with sanna , "not all sankhara belong to the sankharaskandha ", since not all sankhara produce future effects. According to Johannes Bronkhorst, the notion that the five aggregates are not self has to be viewed in light of debates about "liberating knowledge",
SECTION 50
#17328523899737176-404: The skandha too are considered unreal and nonsubstantial in numerous other Buddhist Nikaya and Āgama texts. According to Thanissaro , the Buddha never tried to define what a "person" is, though scholars tend to approach the skandhas as a description of the constituents of the person. He adds that almost any Buddhist meditation teacher explains it that way, as Buddhist commentaries from about
7314-423: The skandhas concept to explain the self is unique to Buddhism among major Indian religions, and responds to Sarvastivada teachings that "phenomena" or its constituents are real. It also contrasts with the premise of Hinduism and Jainism that a living being has an eternal soul or metaphysical self. In some early Buddhist texts, the individual is considered unreal but the skandha are considered real. But
7452-484: The 11th century, a so-called "Pali renaissance" began in the vicinity of Pagan , gradually spreading to the rest of mainland Southeast Asia as royal dynasties sponsored monastic lineages derived from the Mahavihara of Anuradhapura . This era was also characterized by the adoption of Sanskrit conventions and poetic forms (such as kavya ) that had not been features of earlier Pali literature. This process began as early as
7590-791: The 13th–15th century, with few surviving examples. Very few manuscripts older than 400 years have survived, and complete manuscripts of the four Nikayas are only available in examples from the 17th century and later. Pali was first mentioned in Western literature in Simon de la Loubère 's descriptions of his travels in the kingdom of Siam. An early grammar and dictionary was published by Methodist missionary Benjamin Clough in 1824, and an initial study published by Eugène Burnouf and Christian Lassen in 1826 ( Essai sur le Pali, ou Langue sacrée de la presqu'île au-delà du Gange ). The first modern Pali-English dictionary
7728-433: The 1st century CE onwards have done. In Thanissaro's view, however, this is incorrect, and he suggests that skandhas should be viewed as activities, which cause suffering, but whose unwholesome workings can be interrupted. Rupert Gethin also notes that the five skandhas are not merely "the Buddhist analysis of man", but "five aspects of an individual being's experience of the world... encompassing both grasping and all that
7866-611: The 5th century, but intensified early in the second millennium as Pali texts on poetics and composition modeled on Sanskrit forms began to grow in popularity. One milestone of this period was the publication of the Subodhalankara during the 14th century, a work attributed to Sangharakkhita Mahāsāmi and modeled on the Sanskrit Kavyadarsa . Peter Masefield devoted considerable research to a form of Pali known as Indochinese Pali or 'Kham Pali'. Up until now, this has been considered
8004-583: The Absolute; while it is immanent in all concrete and particular objects, it is not in itself definable. The Tathāgatagarbha Sutras , which concern the Buddha-nature , developed in India but played a prominent role in China. They on occasion speak of the ineffable skandhas of the Buddha (beyond the nature of worldly skandhas and beyond worldly understanding). In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
8142-464: The Buddha tells of how the Buddha's skandhas are in fact eternal and unchanging. The Buddha's skandhas are said to be incomprehensible to unawakened vision. The Vajrayana tradition further develops the aggregates in terms of mahamudra epistemology and tantric reifications. Referring to mahamudra teachings, Chogyam Trungpa identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of ignorance (Pali, avijjā ; Skt., avidyā ), allowing one to have
8280-582: The Kagyupa, in the context of mahāmudrā, ānāpānasmṛti is thought to be the ideal way for the meditator to transition into taking the mind itself as the object of meditation and generating vipaśyanā on that basis. The prominent contemporary Kagyu/Nyingma master Chogyam Trungpa , echoing the Kagyu Mahāmudrā view, wrote, "your breathing is the closest you can come to a picture of your mind. It is the portrait of your mind in some sense... The traditional recommendation in
8418-505: The Pali language as " Magadhan " or the "language of Magadha". This identification first appears in the commentaries, and may have been an attempt by Buddhists to associate themselves more closely with the Maurya Empire . However, only some of the Buddha's teachings were delivered in the historical territory of Magadha kingdom . Scholars consider it likely that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo-Aryan, which had
SECTION 60
#17328523899738556-696: The Prajnaparamita texts are a historical reaction to some early Buddhist Abhidhammas. Specifically, it is a response to Sarvastivada teachings that "phenomena" or their constituents are real. The prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness" is also consistent with the Theravada Abhidhamma. This is formulated in the Heart Sutra . The Sanskrit version of the "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" ("Heart Sutra"), which may have been composed in China from Sanskrit texts, and later back-translated into Sanskrit, states that
8694-445: The Prakrits." According to K. R. Norman , differences between different texts within the canon suggest that it contains material from more than a single dialect. He also suggests it is likely that the viharas in North India had separate collections of material, preserved in the local dialect. In the early period it is likely that no degree of translation was necessary in communicating this material to other areas. Around
8832-637: The Sinhala commentarial tradition that had been preserved and expanded in Sri Lanka since the 3rd century BCE. With only a few possible exceptions, the entire corpus of Pali texts known today is believed to derive from the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka. While literary evidence exists of Theravadins in mainland India surviving into the 13th century, no Pali texts specifically attributable to this tradition have been recovered. Some texts (such as
8970-452: The Sri Lankan tradition and then spread to other Theravada regions, some texts may have other origins. The Milinda Panha may have originated in northern India before being translated from Sanskrit or Gandhari Prakrit . There are also a number of texts that are believed to have been composed in Pali in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma but were not widely circulated. This regional Pali literature
9108-401: The Theravada tradition teaches that the six sense bases accommodate "all the factors of existence"; it is "the all", and "apart from which nothing at all exists", and "are empty of a self and of what belongs to the self". The suttas do not describe this as an alternative of the skandhas. The Abhidhamma, striving to "a single all-inclusive system", explicitly connects the five aggregates and
9246-529: The UK; incongruously, the citizens of the UK were not nearly so robust in Sanskrit and Prakrit language studies as Germany, Russia, and even Denmark . Even without the inspiration of colonial holdings such as the former British occupation of Sri Lanka and Burma, institutions such as the Danish Royal Library have built up major collections of Pali manuscripts, and major traditions of Pali studies. Pali literature
9384-462: The aggregates are not self aids in letting go of this grasping. Miri Albahari also objected to the usual understanding of the skandhas as denoting the absence of any "self". Albahari argued that the khandhas do not necessarily constitute the entirety of the human experience, and that the Hindu concept of Ātman is not explicitly negated by Pāli Canon. According to Albani , "anattā is best understood as
9522-400: The aggregates, in their respective order, can be directly correlated with the theory of dependent origination—especially with the eight middle links." Four of the five aggregates are explicitly mentioned in the sequence, yet in a different order than the list of aggregates, which concludes with viññāṇa • vijñāna : The interplay between the five-aggregate model of immediate causation and
9660-610: The anusvāra is pronounced more strongly, like the velar nasal [ŋ] , so that these sounds are pronounced instead [ãŋ] , [ĩŋ] and [ũŋ] . However pronounced, ṁ never follows a long vowel; ā, ī and ū are converted to the corresponding short vowels when ṁ is added to a stem ending in a long vowel, e.g. kathā + ṁ becomes kathaṁ , not *kathāṁ , devī + ṁ becomes deviṁ , not * devīṁ . Five aggregates Skandhas ( Sanskrit ) or khandhas ( Pāḷi ) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings, clusters". In Buddhism , it refers to
9798-680: The available sources suggest that Pali is not equatable with that language. Modern scholars generally regard Pali to have originated from a western dialect, rather than an eastern one. Pali has some commonalities with both the western Ashokan Edicts at Girnar in Saurashtra , and the Central-Western Prakrit found in the eastern Hathigumpha inscription . These similarities lead scholars to associate Pali with this region of western India. Nonetheless, Pali does retain some eastern features that have been referred to as Māgadhisms . Pāḷi, as
9936-473: The bite of snakes. Many people in Theravada cultures still believe that taking a vow in Pali has a special significance, and, as one example of the supernatural power assigned to chanting in the language, the recitation of the vows of Aṅgulimāla are believed to alleviate the pain of childbirth in Sri Lanka. In Thailand, the chanting of a portion of the Abhidhammapiṭaka is believed to be beneficial to
10074-541: The body, aggregate, heap, material collected into bulk" in one context, "all that is comprised under, groupings" in some contexts, and particularly as "the elements or substrata of sensory existence, sensorial aggregates which condition the appearance of life in any form". Paul Williams et al. translate skandha as "heap, aggregate", stating it refers to the explanation of the psychophysical makeup of any being. Johannes Bronkhorst renders skandha as "aggregates". Damien Keown and Charles Prebish state that skandha
10212-417: The body, and recommends the practice of mindfulness of breathing as a means of cultivating the seven factors of awakening , which is an alternative formulation or description of the process of dhyana : sati (mindfulness), dhamma vicaya (analysis), viriya (persistence), pīti (rapture), passaddhi (serenity), samadhi (unification of mind), and upekkhā (equanimity). According to this and other sutras,
10350-472: The breath going through one's nose: the pressure in the nostrils on each inhalation, and the feeling of the breath moving along the upper lip on each exhalation. Other times practitioners are advised to attend to the breath at the tanden , a point slightly below the navel and beneath the surface of the body. Practitioners may choose to count each inhalation, "1, 2, 3,..." and so on, up to 10, and then begin from 1 again. Alternatively people sometimes also count
10488-518: The breath, and forms the basis of Zen practices. In the dhyana sutras his is organized into a teaching called "the six aspects" or "the six means" in which, according to Florin Deleanu: The practice starts with "counting" ( ganana ), which consists in counting breathing from one to ten. When this is accomplished without any counting failure ( dosha ), the practitioner advances to the second step, i.e., "pursuing" (anugama), which means intently following
10626-429: The breath, which happens to both beginning and adept practitioners, either by a thought or something else, then one simply returns one’s attention back to the breath. Philippe Goldin has said that important "learning" occurs at the moment when practitioners turn their attention back to the object of focus, the breath. Ānāpānasati is most commonly practiced with attention centered on the breath, without any effort to change
10764-418: The breathing, simultaneously focusing the mind into a state of peaceful meditative concentration. By teaching meditation methods as well as doctrine, Fotudeng popularized Buddhism quickly. According to Nan Huaijin , "Besides all its theoretical accounts of emptiness and existence, Buddhism also offered methods for genuine realization of spiritual powers and meditative concentration that could be relied upon. This
10902-405: The breathing. In the throat singing prevalent amongst the Buddhist monks of Tibet and Mongolia , the long and slow outbreath during chanting is the core of the practice. The sound of the chant also serves to focus the mind in one-pointed concentration ( samadhi ), while the sense of self dissolves as awareness becomes absorbed into a realm of pure sound. In some Japanese Zen meditation,
11040-434: The count, to begin to pay attention to the breath without counting. There are practitioners who count the breath all their lives as well. Beginning students are often advised to keep a brief daily practice of around 10 or 15 minutes a day. Also, a teacher or guide of some sort is often considered to be essential in Buddhist practice, as well as the sangha, or community of Buddhists, for support. When one becomes distracted from
11178-492: The culmination of its development. A popular post- canonical method still used today, follows four stages: Counting the breath is attributed by the Theravada tradition to Buddhaghosa 's commentary the Visuddhimagga , but Vasubandhu 's Abhidharmakośakārikā also teaches the counting of breaths to ten. The dhyāna sutras , based on Sarvastivada practices and translated into Chinese by An Shigao , also recommends counting
11316-423: The death of the Buddha, Pali may have evolved among Buddhists out of the language of the Buddha as a new artificial language. R. C. Childers, who held to the theory that Pali was Old Magadhi, wrote: "Had Gautama never preached, it is unlikely that Magadhese would have been distinguished from the many other vernaculars of Hindustan, except perhaps by an inherent grace and strength which make it a sort of Tuscan among
11454-408: The development of these factors leads to release (Pali: vimutti ; Sanskrit: mokṣa ) from dukkha (suffering) and the attainment of nirvana . Derivations of anāpānasati are a core meditation practice in Theravada , Tiantai, and Chan traditions of Buddhism as well as a part of Western-based mindfulness programs. According to Anālayo, in both ancient and modern times anāpānasati by itself
11592-441: The early grammarians because it was understood to have been purely a literary language. In works of Sanskrit poetics such as Daṇḍin 's Kavyadarsha , it is also known by the name of Bhūtabhāṣā , an epithet which can be interpreted as 'dead language' (i.e., with no surviving speakers), or bhūta means past and bhāṣā means language i.e. 'a language spoken in the past'. Evidence which lends support to this interpretation
11730-438: The emphasis is upon maintaining "strength in the abdominal area" (Chinese: dantian ; Japanese: tanden ) and slow deep breathing during the long outbreath, again to assist the attainment of a mental state of one-pointed concentration. There is also a "bamboo method", during which time one inhales and exhales in punctuated bits, as if running one's hand along the stalk of a bamboo tree. Pranayama , or Yogic breath control,
11868-424: The entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.' While inhaling and exhaling, the meditator practises: If this practice is pursued and well developed, it is said by the Buddha to bring great benefit, aiding the development of mindfulness as one of
12006-459: The exhalation: "1, 2, 3,...", on both the inhalation and exhalation. If the count is lost then one should start again from the beginning. The type of practice recommended in The Three Pillars of Zen is for one to count "1, 2, 3,..." on the inhalation for a while, then to eventually switch to counting on the exhalation, then eventually, once one has more consistent success in keeping track of
12144-455: The external breathing reaches a state of stillness in correct meditation: A practitioner with sufficient skill does not breathe externally. That external breathing has stopped, but the internal breathing functions. With internal breathing there is no exhalation through the nose or mouth, but all pores on the body are breathing. A person who is breathing internally appears to be dead, but actually he has not died. He does not breathe externally, but
12282-416: The factors of awakening: On whatever occasion the monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world, on that occasion his mindfulness is steady & without lapse. When his mindfulness is steady & without lapse, then mindfulness as a factor for awakening becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to
12420-457: The first translators of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. He translated a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra between 148 and 170 CE. Though once believed to have been lost, the original translation was rediscovered at Amanosan Kongō-ji , Osaka, Japan, by Professor Ochiai Toshinori in 1999. Its commentary, on the other hand, is a significantly longer text than what appears in the Ekottara Āgama , and
12558-443: The five aggregates. These dhātu s can be arranged into six triads, each triad composed of a sense object, a sense organ, and sense consciousness. The Abhidhamma and post-canonical Pali texts create a meta-scheme for the Sutta Pitaka 's conceptions of aggregates, sense bases and dhattus (elements). This meta-scheme is known as the four paramatthas or ultimate realities, three conditioned, one unconditioned: The Twelve Nidanas
12696-456: The five aggregates; as a result of such inductive reasoning, the meditator progresses through the Hearer paths of preparation, seeing, and meditation. It seems at least possible that both Vasubandhu and Asaṅga presented their respective versions of such a method, analogous to but different from modern Theravāda insight meditation, and that Gelukpa scholars were unable to reconstruct it in the absence of
12834-617: The five skandhas are empty of self-existence, and famously states "form is emptiness , emptiness is form. The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness." The Madhyamaka school elaborates on the notion of the Middle Way . Its basic text is the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , written by Nagarjuna , who refuted the Sarvastivada conception of reality, which reifies dhammas. The simultaneous non-reification of
12972-530: The higher stages of breath meditation set forth in those texts. . . it appears that neither the Gelukpa textbook writers nor modern scholars such as Lati Rinpoche and Gendun Lodro were in a position to conclude that the first moment of the fifth stage of Vasubandhu's system of breath meditation coincides with the attainment of special insight and that, therefore, the first four stages must be a method for cultivating special insight. Zahler continues, [I]t appears . .that
13110-443: The illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious wisdom (Pali, vijjā ; Skt. vidyā ), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other." According to Trungpa Rinpoche , the five skandhas are "a set of Buddhist concepts which describe experience as a five-step process" and that "the whole development of the five skandhas... is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from
13248-401: The inhalation as it enters the body and moves from the throat, through the heart, the navel, the kidneys, the thighs to the toes and then the reverse movement of the exhalation until it leaves the body. Next comes "concentration" (sthapana) which denotes focusing one's attention on some part of the body from the tip of the nose to the big toe. In the fourth step, called" observation" (upalaksana),
13386-628: The internal breathing has come alive. In the Tibetan Buddhist lineage, ānāpānasmṛti is done to calm the mind in order to prepare one for various other practices. Two of the most important Mahāyāna philosophers, Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, in the Śrāvakabhūmi chapters of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and the Abhidharma-kośa , respectively, make it clear that they consider ānāpānasmṛti a profound practice leading to vipaśyanā (in accordance with
13524-463: The knowledge of Ātman (eternal soul) which was deemed liberating by the Vedic traditions. Bronkhorst notes that "knowledge of the self plays no useful role on the Buddha’s path to liberation". What is important is not to grasp at the forms, sounds, odors, flavors, objects, and mental properties which are perceived with the six sense organs (these include mind as the sixth sense organ). The insight that
13662-584: The language and its literature, including the Maha Bodhi Society founded by Anagarika Dhammapala . In Europe, the Pali Text Society has been a major force in promoting the study of Pali by Western scholars since its founding in 1881. Based in the United Kingdom, the society publishes romanized Pali editions, along with many English translations of these sources. In 1869, the first Pali Dictionary
13800-454: The language underwent a small degree of Sanskritisation (i.e., MIA bamhana > brahmana, tta > tva in some cases). Bhikkhu Bodhi , summarizing the current state of scholarship, states that the language is "closely related to the language (or, more likely, the various regional dialects) that the Buddha himself spoke". He goes on to write: Scholars regard this language as a hybrid showing features of several Prakrit dialects used around
13938-548: The lineage of meditators that developed in the Kagyu-Nyingma tradition is based on the idea of mixing mind and breath." The Gelukpa allow that it is possible to take the mind itself as the object of meditation, however, Zahler reports, the Gelukpa discourage it with "what seems to be thinly disguised sectarian polemics against the Nyingma Great Completeness [Dzogchen] and Kagyu Great Seal [mahāmudrā] meditations." In
14076-439: The mind on breathing, which is the 'body-conditioner' ( Pali : kāya-sankhāra ). The second tetrad involves focusing on the feelings ( vedanā ), which are the 'mind-conditioner' ( citta-sankhāra ). The third tetrad involves focusing on the mind itself ( citta ), and the fourth on 'mental qualities' ( dhamma ). (Compare right mindfulness and satipatthana .) Any anapanasati meditation session should progress through
14214-659: The monastic ordination died out in Sri Lanka, many texts were lost also. Therefore the Sri Lankan Pali canon had been translated first into Indo-Chinese Pali, and then back again into Pali. Despite an expansion of the number and influence of Mahavihara-derived monastics, this resurgence of Pali study resulted in no production of any new surviving literary works in Pali. During this era, correspondences between royal courts in Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia were conducted in Pali, and grammars aimed at speakers of Sinhala, Burmese, and other languages were produced. The emergence of
14352-460: The most widely read in China. Zhiyi classifies breathing into four main categories: panting ( 喘 ; chuǎn ), unhurried breathing ( 風 ; fēng ), deep and quiet breathing ( 氣 ; qì ), and stillness or rest ( 息 ; xi ). 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. Venerable Hsuan Hua , who taught Chan and Pure Land Buddhism , also taught that
14490-445: The name of a particular language. The name Pali does not appear in the canonical literature, and in commentary literature is sometimes substituted with tanti , meaning a string or lineage. This name seems to have emerged in Sri Lanka early in the second millennium CE during a resurgence in the use of Pali as a courtly and literary language. As such, the name of the language has caused some debate among scholars of all ages;
14628-512: The natural language, the root language of all beings. Comparable to Ancient Egyptian , Latin or Hebrew in the mystic traditions of the West , Pali recitations were often thought to have a supernatural power (which could be attributed to their meaning, the character of the reciter, or the qualities of the language itself), and in the early strata of Buddhist literature we can already see Pali dhāraṇī s used as charms, as, for example, against
14766-522: The point was lost on later Tibetan commentators. As a result, the largest Tibetan lineage, the Gelug , came to view ānāpānasmṛti as a mere preparatory practice useful for settling the mind but nothing more. Zahler writes: The practice tradition suggested by the Treasury itself--and also by Asaṅga's Grounds of Hearers--is one in which mindfulness of breathing becomes a basis for inductive reasoning on such topics as
14904-456: The practitioner discerns that the air breathed in and out as well as form (rupa), mind (citta), and mental functions (caitta) ultimately consists of the four great elements. He thus analyzes all the five aggregates . Next follows "the turning away" (vivarta) which consists of changing the object of observation from the air breathed in and out to "the wholesome roots" of purity (kusalamula) and ultimately to "the highest mundane dharma". The last step
15042-558: The principles of śamatha and vipaśyanā . In China, the Tiantai understanding of meditation has had the reputation of being the most systematic and comprehensive of all. The founder of the Tiantai school, Zhiyi , wrote many commentaries and treatises on meditation. Of these texts, Zhiyi's Concise Śamatha-vipaśyanā ( Chinese : 小止観 ; pinyin : Xiǎo Zhǐguān ), his Mahāśamatha Vipaśyanā ( 摩訶止観 ; Móhē Zhǐguān ), and his Six Subtle Dharma Gates ( 六妙法門 ; Liù Miào Fǎmén ) are
15180-401: The recently departed, and this ceremony routinely occupies as much as seven working days. There is nothing in the latter text that relates to this subject, and the origins of the custom are unclear. Pali died out as a literary language in mainland India in the fourteenth century but survived elsewhere until the eighteenth. Today Pali is studied mainly to gain access to Buddhist scriptures, and
15318-502: The relation between absolute and relative was a central topic in understanding the Buddhist teachings. The aggregates convey the relative (or conventional) experience of the world by an individual, although Absolute truth is realized through them. Commenting on the Heart Sutra, D.T. Suzuki notes: When the sutra says that the five Skandhas have the character of emptiness..., the sense is: no limiting qualities are to be attributed to
15456-472: The self and reification of the skandhas has been viewed by some Buddhist thinkers as highly problematic. The Yogacara school further analysed the workings of the mind, elaborated on the concept of nama-rupa and the five skandhas, and developed the notion of the Eight Consciousnesses . Shunyata, in Chinese texts, is "Wu" ( Chinese : 無 ; pinyin : Wú ), nothingness . In these texts,
15594-466: The short variants occur only in closed syllables, the long variants occur only in open syllables. Short and long e and o are therefore not distinct phonemes. e and o are long in an open syllable: at the end of a syllable as in [ne-tum̩] เนตุํ 'to lead' or [so-tum̩] โสตุํ 'to hear'. They are short in a closed syllable: when followed by a consonant with which they make a syllable as in [upek-khā] 'indifference' or [sot-thi] 'safety'. e appears for
15732-494: The six sense bases: Bodhi states that six-sense-bases is a "vertical" view of human experiences while the aggregates is a "horizontal" (temporal) view. The Theravada Buddhist meditation practice on sense bases is aimed at both removing distorted cognitions such as those influenced by cravings, conceits and opinions, as well as "uprooting all conceivings in all its guises". The eighteen dhātu s – six external bases, six internal bases, and six consciousnesses – function through
15870-516: The sixth century, the Tiantai school was formed, teaching the One Vehicle (Sanskrit: Ekayāna ), the vehicle of attaining Buddhahood , as the main principle, and three forms of śamatha-vipaśyanā correlated with the meditative perspectives of emptiness, provisional existence, and the mean, as the method of cultivating realization. The Tiantai school places emphasis on ānāpānasmṛti in accordance with
16008-458: The skandhas. The four domains are: 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: The Mahayana developed out of
16146-505: The spelling of the name also varies, being found with both long "ā" [ɑː] and short "a" [a] , and also with either a voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ] or non-retroflex [l] "l" sound. Both the long ā and retroflex ḷ are seen in the ISO 15919 / ALA-LC rendering, Pāḷi ; however, to this day there is no single, standard spelling of the term, and all four possible spellings can be found in textbooks. R. C. Childers translates
16284-560: The stages in order, beginning at the first, whether the practitioner has performed all stages in a previous session or not. According to several teachers in Theravada Buddhism, anapanasati alone will lead to the removal of all one's defilements ( kilesa ) and eventually to enlightenment . According to Roger Bischof, the Ven. Webu Sayadaw said of anapanasati: "This is a shortcut to Nibbana, anyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and
16422-505: The subtle nuances of that thought-world. According to A. K. Warder , the Pali language is a Prakrit language used in a region of Western India . Warder associates Pali with the Indian realm ( janapada ) of Avanti , where the Sthavira nikāya was centered. Following the initial split in the Buddhist community , the Sthavira nikāya became influential in Western and South India while
16560-471: The teachings of the Buddha in the Sutta Piṭaka ). However, as scholar Leah Zahler has demonstrated, "the practice traditions related to Vasubandhu's or Asaṅga's presentations of breath meditation were probably not transmitted to Tibet." Asaṅga correlates the sixteen stages of ānāpānasmṛti with the four smṛtyupasthānas in the same way that the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra does, but because he does not make this explicit
16698-479: The term 'Pali' as the name of the language of the Theravada canon also occurred during this era. While Pali is generally recognized as an ancient language, no epigraphical or manuscript evidence has survived from the earliest eras. The earliest samples of Pali discovered are inscriptions believed to date from 5th to 8th century located in mainland Southeast Asia, specifically central Siam and lower Burma . These inscriptions typically consist of short excerpts from
16836-429: The third century BCE, subjected to a partial process of Sanskritization. While the language is not identical to what Buddha himself would have spoken, it belongs to the same broad language family as those he might have used and originates from the same conceptual matrix. This language thus reflects the thought-world that the Buddha inherited from the wider Indian culture into which he was born, so that its words capture
16974-425: The time of Ashoka there had been more linguistic divergence, and an attempt was made to assemble all the material. It is possible that a language quite close to the Pali of the canon emerged as a result of this process as a compromise of the various dialects in which the earliest material had been preserved, and this language functioned as a lingua franca among Eastern Buddhists from then on. Following this period,
17112-545: The traditional schools, introducing new texts and putting other emphases in the teachings, especially shunyata and the Bodhisattva-ideal . The Prajnaparamita -teachings developed from the first century BCE onward. They emphasise the "emptiness" of everything that exists. This means that there are no eternally existing "essences", since everything is dependently originated . The skandhas too are dependently originated, and lack any substantial existence. According to Red Pine,
17250-410: The truth of our insubstantiality," while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield." Trungpa Rinpoche writes (2001, p. 38): [S]ome of the details of tantric iconography are developed from abhidharma [that is, in this context, detailed analysis of the aggregates]. Different colors and feelings of this particular consciousness, that particular emotion, are manifested in
17388-408: The twelve-nidana model of requisite conditioning is evident, for instance both note the seminal role that mental formations have in both the origination and cessation of suffering. Mindfulness applies to four upassanā (domains or bases), "constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths," which also overlap with
17526-472: The very term 'mindfulness' ( sati in Pali, rendered in Tibetan by dran pa ) has come to be understood almost exclusively as 'memory' or 'recollection'." As Batchelor noted, however, in other traditions, particularly the Kagyu and Nyingma , mindfulness based on ānāpānasmṛti practice is considered to be quite profound means of calming the mind to prepare it for the higher practices of Dzogchen and Mahamudra . For
17664-598: The way of total release. Pali Pāli ( / ˈ p ɑː l i / ), also known as Pali-Magadhi , is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language on the Indian subcontinent . It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka as well as the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism . Pali is designated as a classical language by the Government of India . The word 'Pali'
17802-428: The word as "series" and states that the language "bears the epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure". There is persistent confusion as to the relation of Pāḷi to the vernacular spoken in the ancient kingdom of Magadha , which was located in modern-day Bihar . Beginning in the Theravada commentaries, Pali was identified with ' Magadhi ', the language of the kingdom of Magadha, and this
17940-446: The words of the Buddha and his immediate disciples by the Theravada tradition. Extra-canonical texts can be divided into several categories: Other types of texts present in Pali literature include works on grammar and poetics, medical texts, astrological and divination texts, cosmologies, and anthologies or collections of material from the canonical literature. While the majority of works in Pali are believed to have originated with
18078-455: Was a monk in the Gelukpa lineage, experienced this firsthand. He writes, "such systematic practice of mindfulness was not preserved in the Tibetan traditions. The Gelugpa lamas know about such methods and can point to long descriptions of mindfulness in their Abhidharma works, but the living application of the practice has largely been lost. (Only in dzog-chen , with the idea of 'awareness' [ rig pa ] do we find something similar.) For many Tibetans
18216-600: Was not exclusively used to convey the teachings of the Buddha, as can be deduced from the existence of a number of secular texts, such as books of medical science/instruction, in Pali. However, scholarly interest in the language has been focused upon religious and philosophical literature, because of the unique window it opens on one phase in the development of Buddhism . Vowels may be divided in two different ways: Long and short vowels are only contrastive in open syllables; in closed syllables, all vowels are always short. Short and long e and o are in complementary distribution:
18354-421: Was not shared in the early Buddhist traditions, in which words were only conventional and mutable signs. This view of language naturally extended to Pali and may have contributed to its usage (as an approximation or standardization of local Middle Indic dialects) in place of Sanskrit. However, by the time of the compilation of the Pali commentaries (4th or 5th century), Pali was described by the anonymous authors as
18492-570: Was prominently used by Jain scholars and is preserved in the Jain Agamas. Ardhamagadhi Prakrit differs from later Magadhi Prakrit in similar ways to Pali, and was often believed to be connected with Pali on the basis of the belief that Pali recorded the speech of the Buddha in an early Magadhi dialect. Magadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indic language spoken in present-day Bihar, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Its use later expanded southeast to include some regions of modern-day Bengal, Odisha, and Assam, and it
18630-506: Was published by Robert Childers in 1872 and 1875. Following the foundation of the Pali Text Society , English Pali studies grew rapidly and Childer's dictionary became outdated. Planning for a new dictionary began in the early 1900s, but delays (including the outbreak of World War I) meant that work was not completed until 1925. T. W. Rhys Davids in his book Buddhist India , and Wilhelm Geiger in his book Pāli Literature and Language , suggested that Pali may have originated as
18768-574: Was published using the research of Robert Caesar Childers, one of the founding members of the Pali Text Society. It was the first Pali translated text in English and was published in 1872. Childers' dictionary later received the Volney Prize in 1876. The Pali Text Society was founded in part to compensate for the very low level of funds allocated to Indology in late 19th-century England and the rest of
18906-546: Was taken to also be the language that the Buddha used during his life. In the 19th century, the British Orientalist Robert Caesar Childers argued that the true or geographical name of the Pali language was Magadhi Prakrit , and that because pāḷi means "line, row, series", the early Buddhists extended the meaning of the term to mean "a series of books", so pāḷibhāsā means "language of the texts". However, modern scholarship has regarded Pali as
19044-431: Was used in some Prakrit dramas to represent vernacular dialogue. Preserved examples of Magadhi Prakrit are from several centuries after the theorized lifetime of the Buddha, and include inscriptions attributed to Asoka Maurya . Differences observed between preserved examples of Magadhi Prakrit and Pali lead scholars to conclude that Pali represented a development of a northwestern dialect of Middle Indic, rather than being
#972027