how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

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dhammastudier
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how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

i know there is the ananapanisati sutta in the samyutta nikaya but where else did he explain it? and if there are more than one, how do they differ?

i've been doing mindfulness of breathing meditation for around eight years and have had much benefit and am pretty happy with it. i just have always heard about other techniques and was wondering if maybe i should be doing some of them.
Last edited by dhammastudier on Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bodom
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by bodom »

There are 40 canonical subjects of meditation

Ten Kasinas:

(1) earth, (2) water, (3) fire, (4) air, wind, (5) blue, green, (6) yellow, (7) red, (8) white, (9) enclosed space, (10) bright light.

ten are objects of repulsion:

(1) swollen corpse, (2) discolored, bluish, corpse, (3) festering corpse, (4) fissured corpse, (5) gnawed corpse, (6,7) dismembered, or hacked and scattered, corpse, (8) bleeding corpse, (9) worm-eaten corpse, (10) skeleton.

Ten are recollections:

(1) Buddha(2) Dhamma (3) Sangha (4) morality (5) liberality (6) the wholesome attributes of Devas (7) the body (8) death (9) the breath(10) peace (Nibbana).

Four Brahma-vihara:

(1) kindness (2) compassion (3) sympathetic joy (4) equanimity

Four formless states:

(1) infinite space(2) infinite consciousness(3) infinite nothingness(4) neither perception nor non-perception.

One is of perception of disgust of food.

The last is analysis of the four elements:

1) earth 2) water 3) fire 4) air

:anjali:
Last edited by bodom on Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
Kenshou
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by Kenshou »

I know that the same instructions appear in the Ananda sutta, Arittha sutta and the Dipa sutta, which are all in the Samyutta, the Majjhima's Anapanasati sutta, and the Girimananda sutta in the Anguttara. The instructions for anapanasati are pretty much universal, though looking at these different sutta you can see that there are different details and perspectives on it thrown in here and there.

As for meditation in general, there's a ton of different approaches and perspectives scattered throughout the nikayas. It would be hard to make a list.
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cooran
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

Here are a links to a few of the many ways, others have already mentioned some of these. Remember that in the Suttas the Buddha did not give minute instructions - that is a matter of discussion and teaching, and therefore, you need a teacher to progress:

Introduction to Meditation
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... #intro-med" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anapanasati
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... napanasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Satipatthana
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... tipatthana" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of the Body
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... yagatasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of Death
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... aranassati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Metta - Loving Kindness
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-subject.html#metta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

bodom wrote:There are 40 canonical subjects of meditation

Ten Kasinas:

(1) earth, (2) water, (3) fire, (4) air, wind, (5) blue, green, (6) yellow, (7) red, (8) white, (9) enclosed space, (10) bright light.

ten are objects of repulsion:

(1) swollen corpse, (2) discolored, bluish, corpse, (3) festering corpse, (4) fissured corpse, (5) gnawed corpse, (6,7) dismembered, or hacked and scattered, corpse, (8) bleeding corpse, (9) worm-eaten corpse, (10) skeleton.

Ten are recollections:

(1) Buddha(2) Dhamma (3) Sangha (4) morality (5) liberality (6) the wholesome attributes of Devas (7) the body (8) death (9) the breath(10) peace (Nibbana).

Four Brahma-vihara:

(1) kindness (2) compassion (3) sympathetic joy (4) equanimity

Four formless states:

(1) infinite space(2) infinite consciousness(3) infinite nothingness(4) neither perception nor non-perception.

One is of perception of disgust of food.

The last is analysis of the four elements:

1) earth 2) water 3) fire 4) air

:anjali:
so these are things he said to meditate on? i've never learned anything about meditating on anything but the breath... does he explain these techniques ever?
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

Kenshou wrote:I know that the same instructions appear in the Ananda sutta, Arittha sutta and the Dipa sutta, which are all in the Samyutta, the Majjhima's Anapanasati sutta, and the Girimananda sutta in the Anguttara. The instructions for anapanasati are pretty much universal, though looking at these different sutta you can see that there are different details and perspectives on it thrown in here and there.

As for meditation in general, there's a ton of different approaches and perspectives scattered throughout the nikayas. It would be hard to make a list.
thanx,
that's kind of what i thought. hopefully someone could give at least a brief summary...
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

cooran wrote:Hello all,

Here are a links to a few of the many ways, others have already mentioned some of these. Remember that in the Suttas the Buddha did not give minute instructions - that is a matter of discussion and teaching, and therefore, you need a teacher to progress:

Introduction to Meditation
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... #intro-med" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anapanasati
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... napanasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Satipatthana
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... tipatthana" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of the Body
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... yagatasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of Death
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... aranassati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Metta - Loving Kindness
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-subject.html#metta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
thanx chris, i'll look into those.
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

i've also heard it claimed that the buddha taught only one type of meditation... would this mean that all the other things are more contemplative practices than meditations? or would this just mean people disagree on things...?
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

cooran wrote:Hello all,

Here are a links to a few of the many ways, others have already mentioned some of these. Remember that in the Suttas the Buddha did not give minute instructions - that is a matter of discussion and teaching, and therefore, you need a teacher to progress:

Introduction to Meditation
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... #intro-med" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anapanasati
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... napanasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Satipatthana
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... tipatthana" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of the Body
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... yagatasati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mindfulness of Death
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-su ... aranassati" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Metta - Loving Kindness
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-subject.html#metta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
gah! so frustrating because i'm learning from a chan monk who says that there is just the one type of meditation. so who do i see to teach me the other types??? recommend any books on the topics?
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Zac,
zac wrote:i've also heard it claimed that the buddha taught only one type of meditation...
What kind is that? That's the first I've ever heard of such a claim.

Metta,
Retro. :)
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Ben
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by Ben »

Zac, you need to have a look at the Tipitaka and the evidence seems to suggest that he taught different meditation subjects to different people.
kind regards

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bodom
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by bodom »

zac wrote:so these are things he said to meditate on? i've never learned anything about meditating on anything but the breath... does he explain these techniques ever?
You will need to read the Visuddhimagga for an explanation of how these 40 subjects are to be used as meditation subjects.

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Zac,
zac wrote:i've also heard it claimed that the buddha taught only one type of meditation...
What kind is that? That's the first I've ever heard of such a claim.

Metta,
Retro. :)

lol, i know right? i read it in a few different books. didn't make much sense to me either. the author of one book was claiming the anapanisati sutta is the only type he taught... not sure how they came to this conclusion though as it's pretty clear he taught more than this.
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dhammastudier
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by dhammastudier »

bodom wrote:
zac wrote:so these are things he said to meditate on? i've never learned anything about meditating on anything but the breath... does he explain these techniques ever?
You will need to read the Visuddhimagga for an explanation of how these 40 subjects are to be used as meditation subjects.

:anjali:
ARRRG! CAN'T BUY MORE DHARMA BOOKS!!!

we'll see how long this decision lasts :lol:
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Re: how many different ways did the buddha explain meditation?

Post by Kenshou »

zac wrote: that's kind of what i thought. hopefully someone could give at least a brief summary...
Well they all come down to the end purpose of allowing the mind to understand clearly the fact that all phenomena are dependently originated, unreliable and impermanent, unsatisfactory, and selfless, so that everything can be let go, unclung from, and so dukkha can be ended.

Every meditation or contemplation comes down to either developing wholesome mental qualities for the sake of a lucid mind (jhana, metta, other brahmaviharas), preventing unwholesome qualities detrimental to mental development (parts of the body, corpse contemplation), or, a scheme for dividing up one's experience to provide a systematic framework for analysis. (five aggregates, satipatthana, four elements)

Every meditation practice is directly linked to the realizing of the same final goal, or complementary to it's realization. There's a pretty big toolbox given to us, but with these things in mind it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what is meant for what.
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