Buddhist Meditation An Anthology Of Texts

256 Pages·2006·0.98 MB·English

by  Sarah Shaw

BUDDHIST MEDITATION
Meditative practice lies at the heart of the Buddhist tradition. This introductory
anthology gives a representative sample of the various kinds of meditations
described in the earliest body of Buddhist scripture, the Pali canon. It provides a
broad introduction to their traditional context and practice and supplies explanation,
context and doctrinal background to the subject of meditation. The main themes
of the book are the diversity and flexibility of the way that the Buddha teaches
meditation from the evidence of the canon. Covering fundamental features of
Buddhist practice such as posture, lay meditation and meditative technique it
provides comments both from the principal early commentators on Buddhist
practice, Upatissa and Buddhaghosa, as well as from reputable modern meditation
teachers in a number of Theravadin traditions. This is the first general book on
Pali Buddhism which introduces the reader to the wide range of meditative advice
in the canon. It demonstrates that the Buddha’s meditative tradition still offers a
path of practice as mysterious, awe-inspiring yet as freshly accessible as it was
centuries ago and should be of interest to students and scholars of Buddhism as
well as Buddhist practitioners.
Sarah Shawread Greek and English at Manchester University, where she took a
doctorate in English. She studied Pali at Oxford and is on the steering committee
of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. She is a mother, teacher and writer.
She practises with the Samatha Association of Britain.
ROUTLEDGE CRITICAL STUDIES
IN BUDDHISM
General Editors: Charles S. Prebish and
Damien Keown
Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhismis a comprehensive study of the Buddhist
tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety
of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies.
The series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies, textual translations
and commentaries, sociological investigations, bibliographic studies, and consid-
erations of religious practice as an expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity.
It also presents materials on modern intellectual historical studies, including the
role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and
in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in
scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is
receptive to all research works that inform and advance our knowledge and
understanding of the Buddhist tradition.
A SURVEY OF VINAYA THE RESONANCE OF
LITERATURE EMPTINESS
Charles S. Prebish Gay Watson
THE REFLEXIVE NATURE AMERICAN BUDDHISM
OF AWARENESS Edited by Duncan Ryuken
Paul Williams Williamsand
Christopher Queen
ALTRUISM AND REALITY
Paul Williams
IMAGING WISDOM
Jacob N. Kinnard
BUDDHISM AND HUMAN
RIGHTS
Edited by Damien Keown, PAIN AND ITS
Charles S. Prebish and Wayne Husted ENDING
Carol S. Anderson
WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF THE BUDDHA EMPTINESS APPRAISED
Kathryn R. Blackstone David F. Burton
THE SOUND OF LIBERATING RELIGIOUS MOTIVATION
TRUTH AND THE ORIGINS OF
Edited by Sallie B. King and BUDDHISM
Paul O.Ingram Torkel Brekke
BUDDHIST THEOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS IN
Edited by Roger R. Jackson and AUSTRALIAN BUDDHISM
JohnJ.Makransky Michelle Spuler
THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF ZEN WAR STORIES
PURNA Brian Victoria
Joel Tatelman
THE BUDDHIST
UNCONSCIOUS
EARLY BUDDHISM – A NEW
William S. Waldron
APPROACH
Sue Hamilton
INDIAN BUDDHIST
THEORIES OF PERSONS
CONTEMPORARY BUDDHIST
James Duerlinger
ETHICS
Edited by Damien Keown
ACTION DHARMA
Edited by Christopher Queen,
INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST
CharlesS. Prebish and
WOMEN
Damien Keown
Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo
TIBETAN AND ZEN
TEACHING BUDDHISM IN BUDDHISM IN BRITAIN
THE WEST David N. Kay
Edited by V.S. Hori, R.P. Hayes
andJ.M. Shields THE CONCEPT OF THE
BUDDHA
EMPTY VISION Guang Xing
David L. McMahan
THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE
SELF, REALITY AND IN THE BUDDHIST PALI
REASON IN TIBETAN CANON
PHILOSOPHY David Webster
Thupten Jinpa
THE NOTION OF DITTHI IN
IN DEFENSE OF DHARMA THERAVADA BUDDHISM
Tessa J. Bartholomeusz Paul Fuller
BUDDHIST THE BUDDHIST THEORY OF
PHENOMENOLOGY SELF-COGNITION
Dan Lusthaus Zhihua Yao
MORAL THEORY IN BUDDHISM IN CANADA
FANTIDEVA’S FIKSASAMUCCAYA Edited by Bruce Matthews
Barbra R. Clayton
BUDDHISM, CONFLICT AND
BUDDHIST STUDIES FROM VIOLENCE IN MODERN
INDIA TO AMERICA SRI LANKA
Edited by Damien Keown Edited by Mahinda Deegalle
DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY THERAVADA BUDDHISM
IN MEDIEVAL JAPANESE AND THE BRITISH
BUDDHISM ENCOUNTER
Edited by Richard K. Payne and Religious, missionary and
Taigen Dan Leighton colonialexperience in
nineteenth century
BUDDHIST THOUGHT AND SriLanka
APPLIED PSYCHOLOGICAL Elizabeth Harris
RESEARCH
Edited by D.K. Nauriyal, BEYOND ENLIGHTENMENT
Michael S.Drummond and Buddhism, religion, modernity
Y.B. Lal Richard Cohen
The following titles are published in association with the Oxford Centre for
Buddhist Studies
TheOxford Centre for Buddhist Studiesconducts and promotes rigorous teaching
and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition.
EARLY BUDDHIST METAPHYSICS
Noa Ronkin
MIPHAM’S DIALECTICS AND THE DEBATES
ON EMPTINESS
Karma Phuntsho
HOW BUDDHISM BEGAN
The conditioned genesis of the early teachings
Richard F. Gombrich
BUDDHIST MEDITATION
An anthology of texts from the Pali canon
Sarah Shaw
BUDDHIST MEDITATION
a
An anthology of texts from the P li canon
Sarah Shaw
First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 2006 Sarah Shaw
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Tipiòtaka. English. Selections.
Buddhist meditation: an anthology of texts from the Pali Canon /
[selected and translated by] Sarah Shaw.
p. cm. – (Routledge critical studies in Buddhism)
Includes translations from Pali.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Meditation – Buddhism. I. Shaw, Sarah, Dr. II. Title. III. Series.
BQ1172.E5S43 2005
294.3'4435–dc22 2005018530
ISBN10: 0–415–35918–X
ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–35918–4
FOR CHARLES

CONTENTS
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiv
Translator’s note xv
List of abbreviations xvi
1 Introduction 1
What is meditation? 1
The early manuals 4
The classification of meditation objects 6
Different temperaments 8
Finding a teacher or good friend 10
Laypeople and the practice of meditation 12
Sitting posture 15
Samathaandvipassana 18
2 Meditation:introductory texts 21
Enlightenment (1) 21
Enlightenment (2) 21
Enlightenment (3) 22
Seclusion 22
Meditation 23
Starting meditation 24
The good friend 28
The simile of the sun 29
Companionship 30
The mind 31
The skilful mind and body 33
Dispositions 35
Two elephant kings 36
ix
CONTENTS
3 The five hindrances 39
Definition of each hindrance 40
The world of the senses 41
Dealing with the hindrances in practice 43
Vijitasena 44
Purification 45
Six hindrances 46
Abandoning the hindrances (nivarajappahana) 48
Asking for help 49
Assessing one’s own mind 51
Particular hindrances 53
4 Longer texts:I.Concentration and the fruits of
recluseship – the Samaññaphala-Sutta 59
The background story 59
The fruits of the recluse 61
The hindrances 61
Thejhanas 62
5 Longer texts:II.The four foundations of
mindfulness – the Satipatthana-Sutta 76
6 1–10.The ten kasijapractices 86
Instructions concerning the device 87
Elements 99
7 11–20.The ten foulness (asubha) 101
Ugliness 105
Kulla 106
An emergency 106
8 The recollections:the first six 109
The recollections (Anussati): (21–26) The six recollections 109
21–23. The Triple Gem 110
21. Recollection of the Buddha (Buddhanussati) 113
22. Recollection of the dhamma(dhammanussati) 119
23. Recollection of the saπgha(sakghanussati) 122
24. Recollection of virtue (silanussati) 123
x