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101-455: The five hindrances are: According to Gil Fronsdal, the Pali term nīvaraṇa means covering. Fronsdal states that these hindrances cover over: the clarity of our mind, and our ability to be mindful, wise, concentrated, and stay on purpose. According to Rhys Davids, the Pali term nīvaraṇa (Sanskrit: nivāraṇa ) refers to an obstacle or hindrance only in the ethical sense, and is usually enumerated in

202-471: A development took place in early Buddhism resulting in a change in doctrine that considered prajñā to be an alternative means to awakening, alongside the practice of dhyāna . The suttas contain traces of ancient debates between Mahāyāna and Theravāda schools concerning the interpretation of the teachings and the development of insight. Out of these debates developed the idea that bare insight suffices to reach liberation , by discerning

303-569: A literal sense, since it includes teachings by disciples. The traditional Theravādin ( Mahavihārin ) interpretation of the Pali Canon is given in a series of commentaries covering nearly the whole Canon, compiled by Buddhaghosa ( fl. 4th–5th century AD) and later monks, mainly on the basis of earlier materials now lost. Subcommentaries were written afterward, commenting further on the Canon and its commentaries. The traditional Theravādin interpretation

404-490: A much earlier period. Aspects of the Pali Canon, such as what it says about society and South Asian history, are in doubt because the Pali Canon was extensively redacted in the 5th- or 6th-century AD, nearly a thousand years after the death of the Buddha. Further, this redacted Pali Canon of Sri Lanka itself mentions that it was previously redacted towards the end of 1st-century BC. According to Early Buddhism scholar Lars Fogelin,

505-425: A narrowing of the mind. Vetter notes that samādhi may refer to the four stages of dhyāna meditation, but that only the first stage refers to strong concentration, from which arise the other stages, which include mindfulness. According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rūpa-jhānas describes two different cognitive states. Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhāna denotes

606-437: A new form of tradition, and the innovation was likely opposed by the more conservative monks. As with many other innovations, it was only after some time that it was generally accepted. Therefore, it was much later that the records of this event were transformed into an account of a "council" (sangayana or sangiti ) which was held under the patronage of King Vattagamani . Textual fragments of similar teachings have been found in

707-604: A set of five. In the Pali Canon 's Samyutta Nikaya , several discourses juxtapose the five hindrances with the seven factors of enlightenment ( bojjhanga ). For instance, according to SN 46.37, the Buddha stated: Bhikkhus , there are these five obstructions, hindrances, corruptions of the mind, weakeners of wisdom. What five? Sensual desire... ill will... sloth and torpor ... restlessness and remorse... doubt... There are, bhikkhus, these seven factors of enlightenment, which are nonobstructions, nonhindrances, noncorruptions of

808-408: A state of absorption, in the third and fourth jhāna one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to it. According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhāna by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element." Alexander Wynne further explains that

909-574: A wide appeal due to being inclusive of different Buddhist and non-buddhist wisdom, poetry as well as science. It has together with the modern American Zen tradition served as one of the main inspirations for the "mindfulness movement" as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and others. The Vipassanā Movement, also known as the Insight Meditation Movement, is rooted in Theravāda Buddhism and the revival of meditation techniques, especially

1010-429: Is paccakkha "perceptible to the senses" (Pāli; Sanskrit: pratyakṣa ), literally "before the eyes", which refers to direct experiential perception. Thus, the type of seeing denoted by vipassanā is that of direct perception, as opposed to knowledge derived from reasoning or argument. In Tibetan, vipassanā is lhaktong ( Wylie : lhag mthong ). Lhak means "higher", "superior", "greater"; tong

1111-422: Is Dipa Ma . Practice begins with the preparatory stage, the practice of śīla (virtue): giving up worldly thoughts and desires. Jeff Wilson notes that morality is a quintessential element of Buddhist practice, and is also emphasized by the first generation of post-war western teachers. However, in the contemporary mindfulness movement, morality as an element of practice has been mostly discarded, "mystifying"

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1212-494: Is "pacification", "the slowing or cooling down", "rest." The semantic field of Tibetan né is "to abide or remain" and this is cognate or equivalent with the final syllable of the Sanskrit, thā . According to Jamgon Kongtrul , the terms refer to "peace" and "pacification" of the mind and the thoughts. Vipassanā is a Pali word derived from the prefix " vi- " and the verbal root " -passanā ": The literal meaning

1313-467: Is "super-seeing," but is often translated as "insight" or "clear-seeing." Henepola Gunaratana defines vipassanā as "[l]ooking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing." According to Mitchell Ginsberg, vipassanā is "[i]nsight into how things are, not how we thought them to be." A synonym for vipassanā

1414-662: Is "turbid, unsettled, muddy, placed in the dark." According to the first-century CE exegetic Vimuttimagga , the five hindrances include all ten fetters : sense desire includes any attachment to passion; ill will includes all unwholesome states of hatred; and, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt include all unwholesome states of infatuation. The Vimuttimagga further distinguishes that "sloth" refers to mental states while "torpor" refers to physical states resultant from food or time or mental states; if torpor results from food or time, then one diminishes it through energy; otherwise, one removes it with meditation. In addition,

1515-513: Is "view, to see". So together, lhaktong may be rendered into English as "superior seeing", "great vision", or "supreme wisdom". This may be interpreted as a "superior manner of seeing", and also as "seeing that which is the essential nature". Its nature is a lucidity—a clarity of mind. According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu , " samatha , jhāna , and vipassanā were all part of a single path." According to Keren Arbel, samatha and vipassanā are not specific practices, but qualities of

1616-652: Is a matter of dispute. Meditation-practice was reinvented in the Theravāda tradition in the 18th–20th centuries, based on contemporary readings of the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta , the Visuddhimagga , and other texts, centering on vipassanā and "dry insight" and downplaying samatha . Vipassanā became of central importance in the 20th century Vipassanā movement which favors vipassanā over samatha . Some critics point out that both are necessary elements of

1717-500: Is a part of the beginning of a Bodhisattva's path, in the first "path of preparation" ( sambhāramarga ). The Sthavira nikāya , one of the early Buddhist schools from which the Theravāda tradition originates, emphasized sudden insight: "In the Sthaviravada [...] progress in understanding comes all at once, 'insight' ( abhisamaya ) does not come 'gradually' (successively— anapurva )." The Mahāsāṃghika , another one of

1818-517: 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 says records in Thailand state that upon the third re-introduction of Theravada Buddhism into Sri Lanka (The Siyamese Sect), large number of texts were also taken . When monastic ordination died out in Sri Lanka, many texts were lost also. Therefore

1919-429: Is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what purpose does it serve? Passion is abandoned. When insight is developed, what purpose does it serve? Discernment is developed. And when discernment is developed, what purpose does it serve? Ignorance is abandoned. Defiled by passion, the mind is not released. Defiled by ignorance, discernment does not develop. Thus from

2020-427: Is induced by samatha , and then jhāna is reflected upon with mindfulness, becoming the object of vipassanā , with the reflector realizing that jhāna is marked by the three characteristics. One who uses this method is referred to as a "tranquility worker" (Pāḷi: samatha yānika ). However modern Buddhist teachers such as Henepola Gunaratana state that there is virtually no evidence of this method in

2121-464: Is less likely to physically or emotionally overreact to the happenings of the world. The practitioner also becomes aware of the incessant changes involved in breathing, and the arising and passing away of mindfulness. This noticing is accompanied by reflections on causation and other Buddhist teachings, leading to insight into dukkha , anattā , and anicca . When these three characteristics have been comprehended, reflection subdues , and

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2222-469: Is likely that much of the Pali Canon dates back to the time period of the Buddha. They base this on many lines of evidence including the technology described in the canon (apart from the obviously later texts), which matches the technology of his day which was in rapid development; that it doesn't include back written prophecies of the great Buddhist ruler King Ashoka (which Mahayana texts often do) suggesting that it predates his time; that in its descriptions of

2323-653: Is mindfulness of breathing (Pāḷi: ānāpānasati ). Samatha is commonly practiced as a prelude to and in conjunction with wisdom practices. Some meditation practices, such as contemplation of a kasiṇa object, favor the development of samatha ; others, such as contemplation of the aggregates , are conducive to the development of vipassanā ; while others, such as mindfulness of breathing , are classically used for developing both mental qualities. The Visuddhimagga (5th century CE) mentions forty objects of meditation . Mindfulness ( sati ) of breathing ( ānāpāna : ānāpānasati ; S. ānāpānasmṛti )

2424-759: Is probably the second half of the Nalakasutta (Sn 699–723), and Upatisapasine may correspond to the Sariputtasutta (Sn 955–975). The identification of most of the other titles is less certain, but Schmithausen, following Oldenberg before him, identifies what Asoka calls the Laghulovada with part of a prose text in the Majjhima Nikaya , the Ambalatthika-Rahulovada Sutta (M no. 61). This seems to be evidence that some of these texts were already fixed by

2525-447: Is rarely mentioned separately, but is usually 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 vipassanā as a practice to gain insight. In the Theravāda tradition, vipassanā is a practice that seeks "insight into

2626-541: Is summarized in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga . A spokesman for the Buddha Sasana Council of Burma states that the Canon contains everything needed to show the path to nirvāna ; the commentaries and subcommentaries sometimes include much speculative matter, but are faithful to its teachings and often give very illuminating illustrations. In Sri Lanka and Thailand , "official" Buddhism has in large part adopted

2727-477: Is the case where a monk has developed tranquillity preceded by insight. [...] Then there is the case where a monk has developed tranquillity in tandem with insight. [...] Then there is the case where a monk's mind has its restlessness concerning the Dhamma [Comm: the corruptions of insight] well under control. Buddhaghosa , in his influential Theravāda scholastic treatise Visuddhimagga , states that jhāna

2828-535: Is the clear understanding born of the same meditation. Calm leads to insight and insight leads to calm." By the tenth century meditation was no longer practiced in the Theravada tradition, due to the belief that Buddhism had degenerated, and that liberation was no longer attainable until the coming of the future Buddha, Maitreya . It was reinvented in Myanmar (Burma) in the 18th century by Medawi (1728–1816), leading to

2929-448: Is the most common samatha practice (though this term is also used for vipassanā meditation). Samatha can include other samādhi practices as well. Theravāda Buddhism describes the development of samatha in terms of three successive mental images or 'signs' ( nimitta ) and five stages of joy ( Pīti ). According to the Theravāda -tradition, pīti , a feeling of joy, gladness or rapture, arises from

3030-406: Is then no longer absorbed in concentration, but is mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to them, "directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects." A number of suttas mention samatha and vipassanā as mental qualities that are to be developed in tandem. In SN 43.2, the Buddha states: "And what, bhikkhus , is the path leading to

3131-405: Is traditionally believed by Theravadins that most of the Pali Canon originated from the Buddha and his immediate disciples. According to the scriptures, a council was held shortly after the Buddha's passing to collect and preserve his teachings. The Theravada tradition states that the Canon was recited orally from the 5th century to the first century BC, when it was written down. The memorization

Five hindrances - Misplaced Pages Continue

3232-554: The dhyāna -scheme is poorly understood. According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati , sampajāno , and upekkhā , are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states, whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects. The north Indian Buddhist traditions like the Sarvastivada and the Sautrāntika practiced meditation as outlined in texts like

3333-532: The Abhidhamma Pitaka (literally "beyond the dhamma", "higher dhamma" or "special dhamma", Sanskrit: Abhidharma Pitaka ), is a collection of texts which give a scholastic explanation of Buddhist doctrines particularly about mind, and sometimes referred to as the "systematic philosophy" basket. There are seven books in the Abhidhamma Pitaka: The traditional position is that abhidhamma refers to

3434-562: The Abhidharmakośakārikā of Vasubandhu and the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra . The Abhidharmakośakārikā states that vipaśyanā is practiced, once one has reached samādhi ("absorption"), by cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness ( smṛtyupasthāna ). This is achieved, according to Vasubandhu , [b]y considering the unique characteristics ( svālakṣaṇa ) and the general characteristics ( sāmānyalakṣaṇā ) of

3535-606: The Majjhima Nikaya was published by Wisdom Publications in 1995. Translations by Bhikkhu Bodhi of the Samyutta Nikaya and the Anguttara Nikaya were published by Wisdom Publications in 2003 and 2012, respectively. In 2018, new translations of the entirety of the five Nikayas were made freely available on the website suttacentral by the Australian Bhikkhu Sujato , the translations were also released into

3636-514: The Public domain . A Japanese translation of the Canon, edited by Takakusu Junjiro , was published in 65 volumes from 1935 to 1941 as The Mahātripiṭaka of the Southern Tradition (南伝大蔵経 Nanden daizōkyō ). A Chinese translation of the above-mentioned Japanese translation was undertaken between 1990–1998 and thereafter printed under the patronage of Kaoshiung's Yuan Heng Temple. As noted above,

3737-556: The Pyu city-states in Burma dating only to the mid 5th to mid 6th century CE. The Pāli Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (from Pali piṭaka , meaning "basket", referring to the receptacles in which the palm-leaf manuscripts were kept). Thus, the canon is traditionally known as the Tipiṭaka ("three baskets"). The three pitakas are as follows: The Vinaya Pitaka and

3838-632: The Sutta Pitaka , and Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka . The Arhats present accepted the recitations, and henceforth, the teachings were preserved orally by the Sangha . The Tipitaka that was transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Asoka was initially preserved orally and was later written down on palm leaves during the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BC, approximately 454 years after

3939-691: The Suttanipata . However, some scholars, particularly in Japan, maintain that the Suttanipāta is the earliest of all Buddhist scriptures, followed by the Itivuttaka and Udāna . However, some of the developments in teachings may only reflect changes in teaching that the Buddha himself adopted, during the 45 years that the Buddha was teaching. Scholars generally agree that the early books include some later additions. Aspects of these late additions are or may be from

4040-511: The agama of other major Buddhist schools in India. They were, however, written down in various Prakrits other than Pali as well as Sanskrit . Some of those were later translated into Chinese (earliest dating to the late 4th century AD). The surviving Sri Lankan version is the most complete, but was extensively redacted about 1,000 years after Buddha's death, in the 5th or 6th century CE. The earliest textual fragments of canonical Pali were found in

4141-498: The three marks (qualities) of (human) existence ( tilakkhaṇa ), namely dukkha (suffering), anattā (non-self), and anicca (impermanence). Thanissaro Bikkhu also argues that samatha and vipassanā have a "unified role," whereas "[t]he Abhidhamma and the Commentaries, by contrast, state that samatha and vipassanā are two distinct meditation paths." Gunaratana notes that "[t]he classical source for

Five hindrances - Misplaced Pages Continue

4242-499: The unconditioned ? Serenity and insight..." In SN 35.245, the Kimsuka Tree Sutta , the Buddha provides an elaborate metaphor in which serenity and insight are "the swift pair of messengers" who deliver the message of nibbāna (Pāli; Skt.: nirvāṇa ) via the noble eightfold path : These two qualities have a share in clear knowing. Which two? Tranquility ( samatha ) & insight ( vipassanā ). When tranquility

4343-584: The " New Burmese Method ", the Thai Forest Tradition , and modern influences on the traditions of Sri Lanka , Burma , Laos , and Thailand . In the Vipassanā Movement, the emphasis is on the Satipatthana Sutta and the use of mindfulness to gain insight into the impermanence of the self. It argues that the development of strong samatha can be disadvantageous, a stance for which

4444-499: The 5th century AD. Gregory Schopen argues that it is not until the 5th to 6th centuries AD that we have any definite evidence about the contents of the Canon. This position was criticized by A. Wynne. Western scholarship suggests that the composition of the Abhidhamma Pitaka likely began around 300 BCE, but may have drawn on an earlier tradition of lists and rubrics known as " matrika ". Traditional accounts include it among

4545-530: The Buddha telling his disciples to go meditate, they never quote him as saying "go do vipassanā ," but always "go do jhāna ." And they never equate the word " vipassanā " with any mindfulness techniques. In the few instances where they do mention vipassanā , they almost always pair it with samatha — not as two alternative methods, but as two qualities of mind that a person may "gain" or "be endowed with," and that should be developed together. According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, dhyāna constituted

4646-425: The Buddha, and that the later teachings were memorized by the Buddha's followers while he was still alive. His thesis is based on study of the processes of the first great council, and the methods for memorization used by the monks, which started during the Buddha's lifetime. It's also based on the capability of a few monks, to this day, to memorize the entire canon. Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali argue that it

4747-517: The Buddhist training, while other critics argue that dhyāna is not a single-pointed concentration exercise. The Sanskrit word śamatha can be translated as "tranquility"; "tranquility of the mind"; "tranquillity of awareness"; "serenity"; "calm"; "meditative calm"; or "quietude of the heart." The Tibetan term for samatha is ཞི་གནས་ ( shyiné ; Wylie : zhi-gnas ). The semantic field of Sanskrit shama and Tibetan shi

4848-454: The Canon consists of three pitakas. Details are given below. For more complete information, see standard references on Pali literature. The first category, the Vinaya Pitaka , is mostly concerned with the rules of the sangha , both monks and nuns . The rules are preceded by stories telling how the Buddha came to lay them down, and followed by explanations and analysis. According to

4949-531: The Canon for some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from an earlier period." A variety of factors suggest that the early Sri Lankan Buddhists regarded canonical literature as such and transmitted it conservatively. Theravada tradition generally treats the Canon as a whole as originating with the Buddha and his immediate disciples (with the exception of certain, generally Abhidhamma texts, that explicitly refer to events long after his death). Scholars differ in their views regarding

5050-736: The Canon was published in Burma in 1900, in 38 volumes. The following editions of the Pali text of the Canon are readily available in the West: Pali Canon in English Translation , 1895-, in progress, 43 volumes so far, Pali Text Society, Bristol; for details of these and other translations of individual books see the separate articles. In 1994, the then President of the Pali Text Society stated that most of these translations were unsatisfactory. Another former President said in 2003 that most of

5151-534: The Canon, where the Buddha describes the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Sāvitrī as the foremost meter: Vipassana Samatha ( Sanskrit : शमथ; Chinese : 止 ; pinyin : zhǐ ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquility of awareness," and vipassanā ( Pāli ; Sanskrit : विपश्यना; Sinhala : විදර්ශනා ), literally "special, super ( vi- ), seeing ( -passanā )", are two qualities of

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5252-560: The Five Hindrances, according to the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha proclaimed: How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances? Herein, monks, when sense-desire is present, a monk knows, "There is sense-desire in me," or when sense-desire is not present, he knows, "There is no sense-desire in me." He knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-desire comes to be; he knows how

5353-542: The Pali Canon is found also in the scriptures of other early schools of Buddhism, parts of whose versions are preserved, mainly in Chinese. Many scholars have argued that this shared material can be attributed to the period of Pre-sectarian Buddhism . This is the period before the early schools separated in about the fourth or third century BC. Some scholars see the Pali Canon as expanding and changing from an unknown nucleus. Arguments given for an agnostic attitude include that

5454-439: The Pali Canon of Sri Lanka is a modified Canon and "there is no good reason to assume that Sri Lankan Buddhism resembles Early Buddhism in the mainland, and there are numerous reasons to argue that it does not." Dr. Peter Masefield M.P.T.S. researched a form of Pali known as Indochinese Pali or "Kham Pali". It had been considered a degraded form of Pali, but Masefield states that further examination of texts will probably show it

5555-498: The Pali canon to the Buddha's early followers. Peter Harvey states that "much" of the Pali Canon must derive from the Buddha's teaching, but also that "parts of the Pali Canon clearly originated after the time of the Buddha." A.K. Warder stated that there is no evidence to suggest that the shared teaching of the early schools was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers. J.W. de Jong said it would be "hypocritical" to assert that we can say nothing about

5656-466: The Pāḷi suttas . A few suttas describe a method of "bare insight", or "dry insight" where only vipassanā is practiced, examining ordinary physical and mental phenomena to discern the three marks. Gombrich and Brooks argue that the distinction as two separate paths originates in the earliest interpretations of the Sutta Pitaka , not in the suttas themselves. According to Richard Gombrich ,

5757-528: The Sri Lankan Pali Canon had been translated first into Indo-Chinese Pali, and then, at least in part, back again into Pali. One of the edicts of Ashoka , the "Calcutta-Bairat edict", lists several works from the canon which Ashoka considered advantageous. According to Alexander Wynne: The general consensus seems to be that what Asoka calls Munigatha correspond to the Munisutta (Sn 207–221), Moneyasute

5858-618: The Sutta Pitaka are remarkably similar to the works of the early Buddhist schools, often termed Early Buddhist Texts . The Abhidhamma Pitaka, however, is a strictly Theravada collection and has little in common with the Abhidhamma works recognized by other Buddhist schools. The Canon is traditionally described by the Theravada as the Word of the Buddha ( buddhavacana ), though this is not intended in

5959-558: The Vimuttimagga identifies four types of doubt: According to Buddhaghosa 's fifth-century CE commentary to the Samyutta Nikaya ( Sāratthappakāsinī ), one can momentarily escape the hindrances through jhanic suppression or through insight while, as also stated in the Vimuttimagga , one eradicates the hindrances through attainment of one of the four stages of enlightenment (see Table 1). The five mental factors that counteract

6060-549: The Vipassana Movement has been criticised, especially in Sri Lanka. The "New Burmese Method" was developed by U Nārada (1868–1955), and popularised by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–1982) and Nyanaponika Thera (1901–1994). Other influential Burmese proponents include Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw as well as Mother Sayamagyi and S. N. Goenka , who were both students of Sayagyi U Ba Khin . Influential Thai teachers include Ajahn Chah and Buddhadasa . A well-known Indian teacher

6161-535: The abandoning of the arisen sense-desire comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-desire comes to be. Each of the remaining four hindrances are similarly treated in subsequent paragraphs. The Buddha gives the following analogies in the Samaññaphala Sutta ( DN 2, "The Fruits of the Contemplative Life"): [W]hen these five hindrances are not abandoned in himself,

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6262-529: The abandonment of the five hindrances in favor of concentration on a single object. These stages are outlined by the Theravāda exegete Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhimagga (also in Atthasālinī ) and the earlier Upatissa (author of the Vimuttimagga ). Following the establishment of access concentration ( upacāra-samādhi ), one can enter the four jhānas , powerful states of joyful absorption in which

6363-519: The absolute teaching, while the suttas are adapted to the hearer. Most scholars describe the abhidhamma as an attempt to systematize the teachings of the suttas: Cousins says that where the suttas think in terms of sequences or processes the abhidhamma thinks in terms of specific events or occasions. The Pali Canon uses many Brahmanical terminology and concepts. For example, the Sundarika Sutta includes an analogy, quoted in several other places in

6464-566: The awakenings of all Buddhas, past, present, and future. Anālayo further supports this by identifying that, in all extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Satipatthana Sutta , only the five hindrances and seven factors of enlightenment are consistently identified under the dhamma contemplation section; contemplations of the five aggregates , six sense bases and Four Noble Truths are not included in one or more of these non-Pali versions. In terms of gaining insight into and overcoming

6565-424: The body, sensation, the mind, and the dharmas. "The unique characteristics" means its self nature ( svabhāva ). "The general characteristics" signifies the fact that "All conditioned things are impermanent; all impure dharmas are suffering; and that all the dharmas are empty ( śūnya ) and not-self ( anātmaka ). Asaṅga 's Abhidharma-samuccaya states that the practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā

6666-457: The canon was composed soon after Buddha's paranirvana, but after a period of free improvisation, and then the core teachings were preserved nearly verbatim by memory. Hajime Nakamura writes that while nothing can be definitively attributed to Gautama as a historical figure, some sayings or phrases must derive from him. Most scholars agree there was a rough body of sacred literature that an early community maintained and transmitted. Much of

6767-409: The death of Gautama Buddha . The claim that the texts were "spoken by the Buddha" is meant in this non-literal sense. The existence of the bhanaka tradition existing until later periods, along with other sources, shows that oral tradition continued to exist side by side with written scriptures for many centuries to come. Thus, the so-called writing down of the scriptures was only the beginning of

6868-401: The degenerated age we live in. According to the Theravāda tradition, samatha refers to techniques that help to calm the mind. Samatha is thought to be developed by samādhi , interpreted by the Theravāda commentatorial tradition as concentration-meditation, the ability to rest the attention on a single object of perception. One of the principal techniques for this purpose

6969-415: The development of samatha in vipassanā meditation practice as described in modern Burmese Vipassanā meditation. Mahasi Sayadaw 's student Sayadaw U Pandita described the four vipassanā jhānas as follows: Samatha meditation and jhāna ( dhyāna ) are often considered synonymous by modern Theravāda , but the four jhānas involve a heightened awareness, instead of

7070-479: The distinction between the two vehicles of serenity and insight is the Visuddhimagga ." Ajahn Brahm (who, like Bhikkhu Thanissaro, is of the Thai Forest Tradition ) writes that Some traditions speak of two types of meditation, insight meditation ( vipassanā ) and calm meditation ( samatha ). In fact the two are indivisible facets of the same process. Calm is the peaceful happiness born of meditation; insight

7171-443: The early Buddhist schools, had the doctrine of ekakṣaṇacitta , "according to which a Buddha knows everything in a single thought-instant". This process however, meant to apply only to the Buddha and paccekabuddhas . Lay people may have to experience various levels of insights to become fully enlightened. The later Indian Mahāyāna scholastic tradition, as exemplified by Shantideva 's Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra , saw śamatha as

7272-420: The entire body is pervaded with pīti . In the Theravāda tradition various understandings of samatha exist: In modern Theravāda , liberation is thought to be attained by insight into the transitory nature of phenomena. This is accomplished by establishing sati (mindfulness) and samatha through the practice of ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing), using mindfulness for observing

7373-428: The evidence for the Buddha's teachings dates from long after his death. Some scholars of later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism say that little or nothing goes back to the Buddha. Ronald Davidson has little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is actually the word of the historical Buddha. Geoffrey Samuel says the Pali Canon largely derives from the work of Buddhaghosa and his colleagues in

7474-413: The evidence suggests that only parts of the Canon ever enjoyed wide currency, and that non-canonical works were sometimes much more widely used; the details varied from place to place. Rupert Gethin suggests that the whole of Buddhist history may be regarded as a working out of the implications of the early scriptures. According to a late part of the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught the three pitakas. It

7575-449: The fading of passion is there awareness-release. From the fading of ignorance is there discernment-release. Ven. Ānanda reports that people attain arahant ship in one of four ways: Friends, whoever — monk or nun — declares the attainment of arahantship in my presence, they all do it by means of one or another of four paths. Which four? There is the case where a monk has developed insight preceded by tranquility. [...] Then there

7676-729: The five hindrances, according to the Theravada tradition: Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During the First Buddhist Council , three months after the parinibbana of Gautama Buddha in Rajgir , Ananda recited

7777-591: The impermanence in the bodily and mental changes, to gain insight (P: vipassanā , S: vipaśyanā ; P: paññā , S: prajñā ) into the true nature of phenomena. The term vipassanā is often conflated with the Vipassanā Movement , which popularised new vipassanā teachings and practice. It started in the 1950s in Burma, but has gained wide renown mainly through American Buddhist teachers such as Joseph Goldstein , Tara Brach , Gil Fronsdal , Sharon Salzberg , and Jack Kornfield . The movement has

7878-481: The interpretations of Western scholars. Although the Canon has existed in written form for two millennia, its earlier oral nature has not been forgotten in Buddhist practice: memorization and recitation remain common. Among frequently recited texts are the Paritta . Even lay people usually know at least a few short texts by heart and recite them regularly; this is considered a form of meditation, at least if one understands

7979-447: The language of the kingdom of Magadhi as spoken by the Buddha, linguists have identified Pali as being more closely related to other prakrit languages of western India, and found substantial incompatibilities with the few preserved examples of Magadhi and other north-eastern prakrit languages. Linguistic research suggests that the teachings of the Buddha may have been recorded in an eastern Indian language originally, and transposed into

8080-476: The meaning. Monks are of course expected to know quite a bit more (see Dhammapada below for an example). A Burmese monk named Vicittasara even learned the entire Canon by heart for the Sixth Council (again according to the usual Theravada numbering). The relation of the scriptures to Buddhism as it actually exists among ordinary monks and lay people is, as with other major religious traditions, problematic:

8181-514: The mind developed in tandem in Buddhist practice. In the Pāli Canon and the Āgama these qualities are not specific practices, but elements of "a single path," and are "fulfilled" with the development ( bhāvanā ) of mindfulness ( sati ) and meditation ( jhāna / dhyāna ) and other path-factors . While jhāna / dhyāna has a central role in the Buddhist path, vipassanā

8282-567: The mind that a practitioner fulfills as they develop the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path , including sati ("mindfulness") and jhāna / dhyāna ("meditation"). In the Sutta Piṭaka the term " vipassanā " is hardly mentioned, while those texts frequently mention jhāna as the meditative practice to be undertaken. As Thanissaro Bhikkhu writes, When [the Pāli suttas] depict

8383-412: The mind; when developed and cultivated they lead to the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation. What seven? The enlightenment factor of mindfulness... equanimity... Anālayo underlines: To overcome the hindrances, to practise satipatthana , and to establish the awakening factors are, indeed, according to several Pali discourses, the key aspects and the distinctive features common to

8484-629: The monk regards it as a debt, a sickness, a prison, slavery, a road through desolate country. But when these five hindrances are abandoned in himself, he regards it as unindebtedness, good health, release from prison, freedom, a place of security. Similarly, in the Sa ṅ gārava Sutta ( SN 46.55), the Buddha compares sensual desire with looking for a clear reflection in water mixed with lac , turmeric and dyes; ill will with boiling water; sloth-and-torpor with water covered with plants and algae; restlessness-and-worry with wind-churned water; and, doubt with water that

8585-520: The nucleus of the Buddhist teachings in the Pali Canon may derive from Gautama Buddha himself, but that part of it also was developed after the Buddha by his early followers. Richard Gombrich says that the main preachings of the Buddha (as in the Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka ) are coherent and cogent, and must be the work of a single person: the Buddha himself, not a committee of followers after his death. Other scholars are more cautious, and attribute part of

8686-453: The origin of the Pali Canon, but generally believe that the Canon includes several strata of relatively early and late texts, but with little consensus regarding the relative dating of different sections of the Canon or which texts belong to which era. Prayudh Payutto argues that the Pali Canon represents the teachings of the Buddha essentially unchanged apart from minor modifications. He argues that it also incorporates teachings that precede

8787-452: The original "liberating practice" of the Buddha. Vetter further argues that the Noble Eightfold Path constitutes a body of practices that prepare one, and lead up to, the practice of dhyāna . Vetter and Bronkhorst further note that dhyāna is not limited to single-pointed concentration, which seems to be described in the first jhāna , but develops into equanimity and mindfulness, "born from samādhi ." Wynne notes that one

8888-582: The origins of mindfulness. The practitioner then engages in ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing), which is described in the Satipatthana Sutta as going into the forest and sitting beneath a tree to simply watch the breath: If the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short. In the "New Burmese Method", the practitioner attends to any arising mental or physical phenomenon, engaging in vitarka , noting or naming physical and mental phenomena (e.g. "breathing, breathing"), without engaging

8989-511: The phenomenon with further conceptual thinking. By noticing the arising of physical and mental phenomena, the meditator becomes aware how sense impressions arise from the contact between the senses and physical and mental phenomena, as described in the five skandhas and paṭiccasamuppāda . According to Sayadaw U Pandita, one's awareness and observation of these sensations is de-coupled from any kind of physical response, which reconditions one's impulsive responses to stimuli, such that one

9090-508: The political geography it presents India at the time of Buddha, which changed soon after his death; that it has no mention of places in South India, which would have been well known to Indians not long after Buddha's death; and various other lines of evidence dating the material back to his time. The views of scholars concerning the authorship of the Pali Canon can be grouped into three categories: Several scholars of early Buddhism argue that

9191-512: The process of noticing accelerates, noting phenomena in general, without necessarily naming them. According to Thai meditation master Ajahn Lee , the practice of both samatha and vipassanā together allows one to achieve various mental powers and gnosis (Pāḷi: abhiññā ), including the attainment of nirvāṇa , whereas the practice of vipassanā alone allows for the achievement of nirvāṇa , but no other mental powers or gnosis. Vipassanā jhānas are stages that describe

9292-785: The rise of the Vipassanā movement in the 20th century, reinventing vipassanā meditation, developing simplified meditation techniques (based on the Satipatthana sutta , the Ānāpānasati Sutta , the Visuddhimagga , and other texts), and emphasizing satipaṭṭhāna and bare insight. In this approach, samatha is regarded as a preparation for vipassanā , pacifying the mind and strengthening concentration, so that insight into impermanence can arise, which leads to liberation . Ultimately, these techniques aim at stream entry , which safeguards future development towards full awakening, despite

9393-538: The stories, the rules were devised on an ad hoc basis as the Buddha encountered various behavioral problems or disputes among his followers. This pitaka can be divided into three parts: The second category is the Sutta Pitaka (literally "basket of threads", or of "the well spoken"; Sanskrit: Sutra Pitaka , following the former meaning) which consists primarily of accounts of the Buddha's teachings. The Sutta Pitaka has five subdivisions, or nikayas : The third category,

9494-518: The teachings of earliest Buddhism, arguing that "the basic ideas of Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas." Alex Wynne said that some texts in the Pali Canon may go back to the very beginning of Buddhism, which perhaps include the substance of the Buddha's teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words. He suggests

9595-532: The texts recited at the First Buddhist Council and attribute differences in form and style to its composition by Sariputra . Opinions differ on what the earliest books of the Canon are. The majority of Western scholars consider the earliest identifiable stratum to be mainly prose works, the Vinaya (excluding the Parivāra) and the first four nikāyas of the Sutta Pitaka, and perhaps also some short verse works such as

9696-573: The time of the reign of Ashoka (304–232 BC), which means that some of the texts carried by the Buddhist missionaries at this time might also have been fixed. According to the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa , the Pali Canon was written down in the reign of King Vattagāmini ( Vaṭṭagāmiṇi ) (1st century BCE) in Sri Lanka , at the Fourth Buddhist council . Most scholars hold that little if anything

9797-426: The translations were done very badly. The style of many translations from the Canon has been criticized as "Buddhist Hybrid English" , a term invented by Paul Griffiths for translations from Sanskrit. He describes it as "deplorable", "comprehensible only to the initiate, written by and for Buddhologists". Selections: see List of Pali Canon anthologies . A translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi of

9898-447: The true nature of reality", which is defined as anicca (" impermanence "), dukkha ("suffering, unsatisfactoriness"), and anattā ("non-self"): the three marks of existence . In the Mahayana traditions vipassanā is defined as insight into śūnyatā ("emptiness") and Buddha-nature . In modern Theravāda , the relation between samatha and vipassanā

9999-522: The west Indian precursor of Pali sometime before the Asokan era. Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically Theravādin, but is instead the collection of teachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey , it contains material which is at odds with later Theravādin orthodoxy. He states that "the Theravādins, then, may have added texts to

10100-489: Was added to the Canon after this, though Schopen questions this. The climate of Theravāda countries is not conducive to the survival of manuscripts. Apart from brief quotations in inscriptions and a two-page fragment from the eighth or ninth century found in Nepal , the oldest manuscripts known are from late in the fifteenth century, and there is not very much from before the eighteenth. The first complete printed edition of

10201-627: Was reinforced by regular communal recitations. The tradition holds that only a few later additions were made. The Theravādin pitakas were first written down in Sri Lanka in the Alu Viharaya Temple no earlier than 29–17 BC. The geographic setting of identifiable texts within the Canon generally corresponds to locations in the Ganges region of northeastern India, including the kingdoms of Kosala , Kasi , Vajji , and Magadha . While Theravada tradition has generally regarded Pali as being synonymous with

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