Early Buddhist Meditation

by Keren Arbel

  Potaliya Sutta on upekkhā based on unity 131–2

  Pratap, Chandra 40n7

  Pṛṣṭhapālasūtra of the (Mūla-) Sarvāstivādin Dīrghāgama 82–3n132, 179–80

  Rahula, Walpola: on changes in the Sri Lankan saṇgha in the first century BCE 187–8, 197n119 (and the development of gantha-dhura vs. vipassanā dhura 188, 198n122); on the jhānas 4, 24

  Ray, Reginald A. 188, 198n122

  renunciation (nekkhamma): and insights in the first jhāna 60; and thoughts that lead to nibbāna 72; upekkhā based on 135

  Ṛg Veda, rudiments of contemplative practices in 27–8

  Ronkin, Noa 5

  Saḷāyatanavibhanga Sutta: giving up the five faculties (pañca indriya) associated with attaining the four arūpa samapāttis 151n30; on gladness, discontent, and equanimity 128–34; jhānic discontent associated with the first jhāna 130

  Salla Sutta, on non-reactiveness to pleasant or unpleasant feelings 83n136, 146, 148, 154n95

  samādhi: developed through practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas 93, 101n41, 117, 156; five results that arise when one develops it 84n155; and insight (vipassanā) practice 86, 155; as a quality that allows practitioners to understand the origination and cessation of the five aggregates 93–4; see also sammā-samādhi; Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa, on the development samādhi

  Samādhibhāvanā Sutta on samādhi as a quality that allows practitioners to understand the origination and cessation of the five aggregates 93–4

  Samaṇamaṇḍikā Sutta 158

  samapattis (attainments): described as a way to escape Māra in the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta 66, 177; see also arūpa samapāttis (formless attainments)

  samatha-bhāvanā (“practice of serenity”): and the attainment of the fourth jhāna 183; nibbāna used as a synonym for samatha 194n71; and vipassanā-bhāvanā (lack of textual basis for dichotomy of 92; and the liberating role of the four jhānas 9, 12, 181–3; in the study of early Buddhism 1–2; as terms referring to the presence or absence of the jhānas 194n61)

  sammā-samādhi: and the development of non-discursive awareness 91–2; and the Eightfold Path (as a factor of 4, 92, 180; as the fulfilment of 91, 183); as a name for the attainment of the four jhānas in the Nikāyas 4, 91–4, 180; and the process of liberation expressed in the Upanisā Sutta 162; sammā-sati as the foundation of 4, 91, 112n17, 116, 180, 183

  sammā saṅkappa (right intention), and kusala chanda (wholesome intention) 73

  sammā-sati: as the foundation of sammā-samādhi 4, 91, 93, 112n17, 116, 180, 183; perfected before one enters into the jhānas 93

  sampajāna (practice of full awareness): and the four jhanās (attainment of the first jhāna 46; foundation formed in the second jhāna 120; fully expressed in third jhāna -awareness 167–9n6); noble mindfulness and full awareness (satisampajāna) as one of three qualities (samannāgato) attained on the Buddhist path 46–7; as a practice that enables practitioners to possess the qualities that comprise the Buddhist path 46

  Saṃyutta Nikāya (SN) 16n1, 40n6, 47, 101n41; attainment of nibbāna described as a process in 113n35 (and the cultivation of the four jhānas 1); on the attainment of samādhi 93, 100–1n40 (and the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas 95–6, 112n18, 117); on “clinging to a doctrine of self” (attāvāda-upādānaṃ) 43n85; on the development of the bojjhaṅgas (seven factors of awakening) 111n7; on discrimination between wholesome and unwholesome 112n24; on eradication of the āsavas 48, 50; on the five hindrances (nīvaraṇas) 76n22 (eradication of 49–50); on the four jhānas 178, 192n32 (and the attainment of nibbāna 1; and the development of the four satipaṭṭhānas 153n66; and the second jhāna 96; and the third jhāna 112n18, 117); on freedom from dukkha enabling the mind to be truly concentrated (samādhiyati) 101n42; jhāyin used as a term in 197n113; on the subjective aspect of self-consciousness 84n151; two layers of intending described in 151n38; on understanding the nature of phenomena 95–6; on viveka 51

  Sangīti Sutta, five results that arise when one develops samādhi 84n155

  Sankhārupapatti Sutta 191–2n26

  saññāvedayitanirodha 190n17; arūpa samāpattis distinguished from 192–3n34; and Buddhist meditation theory 23, 179; and the ceasing of upekkhā indriya 150n12; path to the achievement of not taught by the Buddha 43n91, 181, 193n44

  Sarbacker, Stuart R. 17n4, 24, 91, 173; on attainment of the arūpa samapāttis 175, 190n14; on historical developments that brought about the preference of scholasticism over meditation practice 189; on the liberating function of the arūpa samāpattis 193n47

  sati (mindfulness): and developing the bojjhaṅgas (as a basis for abandoning the five hindrances 49; as a gradual process 104, 153n69); and the four jhānas (dhammas present in the first jhāna 98; foundation of, formed in the second jhāna 120; full expression of, in third jhāna -awareness 167–8n6; nature and function of, in the fourth jhāna 142–5, 149, 162, 166, 169n36; purified upekkhā 137); and manasikāra (range of cognition) 142–4; as a multidimensional and versatile concept 141–2; noble mindfulness and full awareness (sati-sampajāna) as one of three qualities (samannāgato) attained on the Buddhist path 46–7; as one of sixteen dhammas present in the first jhāna according to the Anupada Sutta 98; as the Pāli term for the Sanskrit word smṛti 138–9, 152n55; and purified upekkhā, as the “breaking of ignorance” (avijjāya pabhedanaṃ) 137; and upaṭṭhāna 152n64; see also sammā-sati

  satipaṭṭhānas: four focuses of (and the development of samādhi 11–12, 93, 101n41, 118–19, 156; as vehicles for the establishment of mindfulness 111n10); and the four jhānas 1, 51, 156 (and the development of samādhi 11–12; and the jhānas 73–4, 87–9, 90–1, 98, 118–19, 140–1); see also vedanā (feeling)

  Satipaṭṭhāna Saṃyutta see Saṃyutta Nikāya (SN)

  Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta: on the cultivation of sati 152n48; importance in the history of the Theravāda tradition of 152n63; instructions on the process of breathing in 31; on the nature of sati 139–40, 143; on observing mind as mind (citte citānupassī) 118; opening practice prescribed by the Buddha in the beginning of 46–8 (and the four foundations of mindfulness 49); vocation of meditators in 188; the word vipassanā not found in 183

  Sayadaw, Ledi 17n4; as one of the first teachers to approach insight practice as a viable option 194n64

  Sayadaw, Mahāsi 21n48, 182, 194n68

  Sayadaw, Pa-Auk Tawya 182; on access concentration and absorption concentration 20n37; on developing the jhānas before practicing vipassanā 21n48, 194n67; on meditation practice that does not lead to the jhānas 101n44

  Schmithausen, L.: on approaches taken by Buddhologists to canonical texts 22n77; on the Four Truths 163, 170n41, 170n45, 170n47, 170–1n56; on saññāvedayitanirodha 192–3n34; two “currents” of liberation of the Buddhist path 181

  Schober, Juliane 16–17n3

  second jhāna attainment: ceasing of jhānic discontent associated with 130, 151n23; and the development of non-discursive awareness 91; as a foundation for sati, upekkhā and sampajāna 120; and the non-dual ethical mode of being 159

  seven factors of awakening see bojjhaṅgas

  Shulman, Eviatar 152n52

  Shwe Zan Aung, B.A 195n77

  sīla (morality): and the four jhānas 1, 153n66 (and attainment of the first jhāna 47, 158–9; and the development of the four satipaṭṭhānas 153n66, 155; ethical development as conducive to nibbāna 157–8)

  sīla-khandha (training in morality): and the gradual training depicted in the Nikāyas 100n22; as a practice that enables practitioners to possess the qualities that comprise the Buddhist path 46

  Silk, Jonathan A. 14–15

  Skilling, Peter 16–17n3

  sleeping: as a euphemism for meditation 198n125; and the mental capacity of thinking 42n56

  smṛti 138–9, 152n55

  SN see Saṃyutta Nikāya

  Sn see Sutta Nipāta

  Solé-Leris, Amadeo, on modern Theravāda regarding the role of samatha meditation in the Buddhist path 24 />
  somanassa (gladness) and domanasssa (discontent): coupled with dukkha (pain) and sukha in the fourth jhāna in the fourth jhāna 125; perfected upekkhā (equanimity) related to the disappearance of 128, 133–5; and renunciation 128–30, 132, 147–8

  Somaratne, G.A. 35

  Southwold, Martin 198n125

  Staal, Frits 42n50, 42n63; on the absence of the term nirvāṇa from the early Upaniṣads 41n33

  Stuart, Daniel Malinkowski 82–3n132, 179–80, 193n46

  Stuart-Fox, Martin: on anomalies in three suttas in the four Nikāyas that connect the terms ekodi, ekagatta and samadāhāti with the first jhāna 97–8; on the evolution of the Buddhist saṅgha as a worldly organization 188

  Sujato, Bhikku 18–19n24

  sukha see pleasure

  sukha-vipassakas (dry insight meditators): and the attainment of the four jhānas 12, 195n77; as one of five types of paññā-vimutti (“liberated by wisdom”) arahants 4, 9, 184, 187; possession of lokuttara jhāna by 194n68

  Susīma Sutta: attainments of a group of bhikkhus who have declared Arahantship described in 185; and the Kosambī Sutta viewed as presenting debates between cognitivists and meditators 197n99; on paññā-vimutti (“liberated by wisdom”) arahants 185–6; as a product of historical change in the perception of awakening 186

  Sutta Nipāta (Sn): on the attainment of pure upekkhā and sati 137, 150n9, 162, 171n59; Buddha’s instructions to Mogharāja to destroy the view of one’s self in 99n6; first discourse of 70 (jhānic process described in 126); as part of the earliest stratum of the Buddhist tradition 6; questions posed to the Buddha by various ascetics in 78n55; samatha used as a synonym for nibbāna in 194n71; and the term jhāyin 197n113; upekkhā described as an important quality of a “true brahmin” in 169n35; on vitakka 70; on viveka 70, 77n38

  Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad (Śvet): grouped with later Upaniṣads 28, 32; influence of Buddhism evident in its connection of kleśas and the destruction of suffering with practice of dhyāna 32

  Taittirīya Upaniṣad 28, 42n51; Aum identified with Brahman in 29; grouped with the oldest group of Upaniṣads 28

  Tan, Piya 195n78

  Tattvārtha Sūtra: account of “pure dhyāna” (and the other types of the lower dhyāna s) 33–4, 43n99, 43n101 (divisions of 33, 43n99; and reference to vitarka and vicāra 34, 44n107); austerities and hardships discussed in 54; Umāsvāti’s writing of 43n95

  Thanissaro, Bhikkhu 183, 195n75

  Thapar, Romila 35–6, 44n117, 44n121

  Theravāda tradition: attainments of the ubhatobhāgavimutti arahants in 184; commentarial tradition of (arūpa samāpattis as a type of jhāna attainment in 8–9; concept of “access concentration” (upacāra samādhi) as a product of 90; correlation of the jhānas with “absorption concentration” (appaṇā samādhi) as a product of 90; and the jhānas 19n35 (as two different types of experiences brought about by two different types of practices 6–7, 18n23); and preconceptions about what is “really” Buddhist and what is not 23–4; and the term samatha-bhāvanā 12, 183; and the term vipassanā-bhāvanā 12, 100n27, 183); development of the two vocations of gantha-dhura and vipassanā-dhura 188; influence of the Visuddhimagga on 5, 194n62; pathmoment (magga) immediately followed by transcendent jhāna according to 169–70n37; and samatha-bhāvanā (Solé-Leris on modern views of the role of 24; and vipassanā-bhāvanā [“practice of insight”] 9, 183); and the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 152n63, 188; as a term 16–17n3; see also Pāli Nikāyas, and the Theravāda commentarial tradition

  third jhāna attainment: and the actualization of wisdom-awareness 120; Cūḷavedalla Sutta on abandonment of aversion and desire during 126; and the non-dual ethical mode of being 159; Paṭhamāhuneyya Sutta on forms of awareness established in 121; and sampajāna 116–17, 120–1, 167–8n6; and upekkhā and sati 105–6, 110, 114n46, 116–17, 119–20, 167–8n6

  Tibetan Buddhism: post-conceptual immediacy acquired through meditative experience 168–9n26; resemblance of aspects of Dzogchen practice with the awakened awareness of the fourth jhāna 171n65 (samatha and vipasyanā meditation 17n4, 24; Saṃyuktāgama type sutras preserved in texts of 7)

  Tieken, Herman 36

  ubhatobhāgavimutti arahants: attainments of (and the arūpa samāpattis and cessation 184, 193nn36–7; group of bhikkhus who have declared Arahantship in the Susīma Sutta distinguished from 185; and the jhānas 184, 193n36, 196n88); attainments of the jhānas viewed as not required 197n104; Buddha identified as 196n88

  Udāna: attainment of nibbāna described as a process 113n35; verse on the stilling of thought 88

  Uddaka Rāmaputta: as a historical figure 191n19; teaching and attainments of 20n42, 21–2n64, 177 (rejected by the Buddha 79n83); teaching of “neitherperception-nor-non-perception”(the fourth arūpa samapātti) 177

  Upaniṣads: four classes of 28; influence of the Buddha’s teaching on (evidenced in the use of use of mithya dṛṣṭānta to refer to the denial of the doctrine of self [nairātmyavāda] 32; evidenced in the yogic practices of 31–2); influence on the Buddha’s teaching 40n7 (references to yoga techniques in later Upaniṣads 32; term dhyāna in 26, 28–9, 32; term nirvāṇa not found in early texts of 41n33; term Prāṇa in 29–30; terms mukti and bodhi not prevalent in the older texts of 41n30; term upāsanā in 30)

  Upaniṣads-individual titles of see Bṛhadaranyaka Upaniṣad; Chāndogya Upaniṣad; Kaṭha Upaniṣad; Kausītaki Upaniṣad; Maitrī Upaniṣad; Nāradaparivrājaka Upaniṣad; Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad (Śvet); Taittirīya Upaniṣad

  Upanisā Sutta, on the process of liberation 162

  upekkhā (equanimity): based on worldly life as rooted in ignorance 134–5; described as an important quality of a “true brahmin”, 169n35; Dhātuvibaṅga Sutta on purified type of 135–6; and the disappearance of somanassa and domanasssa 128, 133–5; and the four jhanas (and the bojjhaṅga process formula 109–10; foundation for it formed in the second jhāna 120; full expression of it in third jhāna - awareness 167–8n6; nature and function of, in the fourth jhāna 136–7, 145, 162, 166, 169n36, 171n59); as one of sixteen dhammas present in the first jhāna according to the Anupada Sutta 98; Potaliya Sutta on upekkhā based on unity 131–2; purification of 135–7, 150n9, 171n59; sammā-samādhi’s containment of the fulfilment of 91; two types identified in the Saḷāyatanavibhanga Sutta 128–34

  vedanā (feeling): as citta-saṅkhāra 113n36; in the four jhānas 147, 175 (of the fourth jhāna 125, 145–6, 149, 169n36; of the second jhāna 96–7; of the third jhāna 80n99); impermanent and conditioined nature of 146; and kāya-passaddhi 114n43; as one of sixteen dhammas present in the first jhāna according to the Anupada Sutta 98; origination of 153n89 (discerned by purified consciousness 136); sampajāna as the ability to know the arising, presence and passing away of 122n11; types of (physical and mental [dve vedanā vediyati kāyikañca cetasikañca] as the two types of 149n3; pleasure [sukha] as a type of 79n94, 109, 113n41; upekkhindriya as a type of 150n12)

  Velkar, Neela 42n60

  Vetter, Tilmann 25; on the four arūpa samāpattis as not taught by the Buddha 179, 193n44, 282; on perfection of sammā-sati before entering the jhānas 93

  Vibhaṅgaṭṭhakathā 112n19

  vipassanā-bhāvanā (“practice of insight”): and the attainment of the fourth jhāna 90–2, 116, 183; and the practice of observing the four satipaṭṭhānas 90–1; as a quality of mind rather than a meditation technique 183, 195n75; and samatha-bhāvanā (and the four jhāna s’ liberating role 1, 9, 17n10, 90–2, 181–3; lack of textual basis for dichotomy of 92; in the study of early Buddhism 1–2; in the Theravāda commentarial tradition 9, 183); and the sixteen vipassanā-ñāṇas 17–18n10

  vipassanā-dhura (“the burden of [practicing] insight meditation”) 188, 198n120

  Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa 194n68; on the attainment of the jhānas 20–1n46, 21n48 (Nikāyas’ experiences of distinguished from 5–6, 8–10; and the sixteen vipassanā-ñāṇas 17–18n10; and vitakka and vicāra 19n36); on bodily and mental tranquil
ity 113n39; Buddhist meditation theory of 9 (seven purifications as the basis of 20n44); on the development samādhi 9, 90 (“access concentration” [upacāra samādhi] and “absorption concentration” [appaṇā samādhi] 8, 21n47, 80n96, 90; and “momentary concentration” [khaṇikasamādhi] 9, 80n96); on the difference between access concentration and jhānas 20n37; on disturbances in the monastery 198n122; five kinds of pīti enumerated 80n96; influence on Theravāda views 5, 194n62; on kinds of upekkhā 150n12; meditators not allowed to use different objects in their practice 101n44; on the sixteen vipassanā-ñāṇas 17–18n10; sukha as a physical pleasure while pīti is a mental pleasure in 59

  vitakka and vicāra: in the Abhidhamma 83n139; analysis of 68–71; in the first jhāna 71–4 (according to Buddhaghosa 19n36; as the proximate cause for entering into the second jhāna 70, 89, 91; as two of sixteen dhammas according to the Anupada Sutta 98); mindfulness of body resulting from the quieting of 113n36; in the Nikāyas (as problematic 68; and tranquility of both body and mind 113n36; verbalization associated with 68); papañca distinguished from vitakka 70–2; as unproblematic in Buddhist psychology 69–70

  viveka: associated with various qualities in the Sutta Nipāta 77n38; defined 50; types of (listed in the Paṭisambhidāmagga 76n35; listed in the Visuddhimagga 76n35)

  Warder, A.K. 66, 82n129

  Werner, Karel 28

  Williams, Paul with Anthony Tribe 170n38

  Winternitz, Maurice 40–1n26, 41n48

  “wisdom-awareness”: actualization of (in the third jhāna 120; and upekkhā and sati 137, 162); and the fourth jhāna 161, 200; as the ideal mind in the Nikāyas’ theory of development 157

  Wynne, Alexander 26; on Āḷāra Kālāma 79n83 (as a historical figure 41n27, 191n19); on the dating of Pāli texts 18–19n24; on the identification of the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination with liberating insight 164, 170n50; kaṣinā practice linked with the arūpa samāpattis and not with the jhānas 11, 179; on the subjective aspect of selfconsciousness in the Saṃyutta Nikāya (SN) 84n151; on Uddaka Rāmaputta, as a historical figure 41n27, 191n19