1.5: Significance of the Concepts (of Dhyāna)

The freedom of thought allowed by the Buddha is unheard of elsewhere in the history of religions. This freedom is necessary because, according to the Buddha, man’s emancipation depends on his own realization of Truth, and not on the benevolent grace of a god or any external power as a reward for his obedient good behaviour.

It may be said that the Buddha’s teaching is meant to carry man to safety, peace, happiness, tranquility, and the attainment of Nirvāṇa. The whole doctrine taught by the Buddha leads to this end. He did not say things just to satisfy intellectual curiosity. He was a practical teacher and taught only those things which would bring peace and happiness to man.

The world today lives in constant fear, suspicion, and tension. Science has produced weapons which are capable of unimaginable destruction. Brandishing these new instruments of death, great powers threaten and challenge one another, boasting shamelessly that one could cause more destruction and misery in the world than the other. They have gone along this path of madness to such a point that, now, if they take one more step forward in that direction, the result will be nothing but mutual annihilation along with the total destruction of humanity.

As people could know, the civilization of humankind of nowadays is in crises. The developed countries have centered on developing light and heavy industries, especially the heavy ones. The developing countries are on their ways to industrialization. They are all concerned much about the development of economy, i.e., concerned much about production and advantages, and in the process almost ignoring the development of a moral and spiritual way of life. This course of development relating to the craving (tanhā) and grasping (upādāna) of human beings has brought to this world cold and hot wars, the serious pollution of the environment and ethical, spiritual, and social crises. The contemporary educators, religious leaders, ecologists etc., all over the world have warned us of the danger of mass-destruction through atomic and chemical wars, and air, land and water pollution.

A human being exits in life as a thirsty man in the open sea drinking salty water. The more he drinks, the more he becomes thirsty and wants to drink again. Drinking salty water is not the solution for the thirsty man. It is the same for a man in life: desiring for senses and things is not the solution for his suffering. This is called “desire crisis,” or the “inversion of mind.” Falling into that “inversion,” people often do not have any choice other than continuing desire: their desire becomes so strong that it is understood as the real meaning of life, therefore they see no way out.

When desire is scrutinized closely, human beings find that it is constantly shadowed by suffering. Sometimes suffering appears as pain or irritation; often it lies low as a constant strain of discontent. But the two desired and suffering are inseparable concomitants. Human beings can confirm this for us by considering the whole cycle of desire. At the moment desire springs up, it creates in us a sense of lack, the pain of want. To end this pain he struggles to fulfil the desire. If his effort fails, he experience frustration, disappointment, sometimes despairs. But even the pleasure of success is not unqualified. He worries that he might lose the ground he has gained. He feels driven to secure his position, to safeguard his territory, to gain more, to rise higher, to establish tighter controls. The demands of desire seem endless, and each desire demands the eternal: it wants the things he gets to last forever. But all the objects of desire are impermanent. Whether it is wealth, power, position, or other persons separation is inevitable, and the pain that accompanies separation is proportional to the force of attachment: strong attachment brings much suffering; little attachment brings little suffering; no attachment brings nosuffering.

If the basis of Christianity is God, the basis of Buddhism is mind. From the Buddhist viewpoint, mind or consciousness is the core of our existence. Pleasure and pain, good and evil, time and space, life and death have no meaning to us apart from our awareness of them or thoughts about them. Whether God exists or does not exist, whether existence is primarily spiritual or primarily material, whether we live for a few decades or live forever–all these matters are, in the Buddhist view, secondary to the one empirical fact of which we do have certainty: the existence of conscious experience as it proceeds through the course of daily living. Therefore Buddhism focuses on the mind; for happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain are psychological experiences. Even such notions as purpose, value, virtue, goodness, and worth have meaning only as the results of our attitudes and feelings.

Therefore, the teaching of the Buddha is essentially a path leading to the cessation of suffering. Central to this path is the practice of meditation. In the discourses the Buddha says that: “just as in the great ocean there is but one taste, the taste of salt, so in his doctrine and discipline there is but one taste, the taste of freedom (vimuttirasa).”^[1] The taste of freedom that pervades the Buddha’s teaching is the taste of spiritual freedom, which from the Buddhist perspective means freedom from suffering. In the process leading to deliverance from suffering, meditation is the means of generating the inner awakening required for liberation. The methods of meditation taught in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition are based on the Buddha’s own experience, forged by him in the course of his own quest for enlightenment. They are designed to re-create in the disciple who practices them the same essential enlightenment that the Buddha himself attained when he sat beneath the Bodhi tree, the awakening to the Four Noble Truths.

1. The Buddha and the Origin of Dhyāna

The man who was to become the Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama around 2,600 years ago as a prince of a small territory near what is now the Indian-Nepalese border. Though he was raised in a splendid comfort, enjoying aristocratic status, no amount of material pleasure could conceal life’s imperfections from the unusually inquisitive young man.

For nearly thirteen years Siddhattha led the life of a luxurious Indian prince, seeing only the beautiful and the pleasant. In his twentyninth year, however, the truth gradually dawned upon him, and he realized that all without exception were subject to birth, decay and death and that all worldly pleasures were only a prelude to pain. Comprehending thus the universality of sorrow, he had a strong desire to find the origin of it, and a panacea for this universal sickness of humanity. Accordingly he renounced the world and donned the simple garb of an ascetic.

Wandering as a seeker after peace he placed himself under the spiritual guidance of two renowned Brahman teachers, Alara and Uddaka. The former was head of a large number of followers at Vesali and was an adherent of Kapila, the reputed founder of the Sassata system of philosophy, who laid great stress on the belief in ātmā, the ego. He regarded the disbelief in the existence of a soul as not tending towards religion. Without the belief in an eternal immaterial soul he could not see any way of salvation. Like the wild bird when liberated from its trap, the soul when freed from its material limitations would attain perfect release;when the ego discerned its immaterial nature it would attain true deliverance. This teaching did not satisfy the Bodhisattva, and he quitted Alara and placed himself under the tuition of Uddaka.

The latter also expatiated on the question of ‘I,’ but laid greater stress on the effects of kamma and the transmigration of the soul. The Bodhisattva saw the truth in the doctrine of kamma, but he could not believe in the existence of a soul or its transmigration; he therefore quitted Uddaka also and went to the priests officiating in temples to see if he could learn from them the way of escape from suffering and sorrow. However, the unnecessarily cruel sacrifices performed on the altars of the gods were revolting to his gentle nature, and Gotama preached to the priests the futility of atoning for evil deeds by the destruction of life, and the impossibility of practicing religion by the neglect of the moral life.

Wandering from Vesali in search of a better system Siddattha went to many a distinguished teacher of his day, but nobody was competent to give him what he earnestly sought. All the so-called philosophers were groping in the dark; it was a matter of the blind leading the blind, for they were all enmeshed in ignorance. At last Siddattha came to a settlement of five pupils of Uddaka, headed by Kondanna, in the jungle of Uruvela near Gaya in Magadha. There he saw these five keeping their senses in check, subduing their passions and practising austere penance. He admired their zeal and earnestness, and to give a trial to the means used by them he applied himself to mortification, for it was the belief in those days that no salvation could be gained unless one led a life of strict asceticism, so he subjected himself to all forms of practicable austerities. Adding vigil to vigil, and penance to penance, he made a super-human effort for six long years until eventually his body became shrunken like a withered branch. His blood dried up, the skin shrivelled and the veins protruded, but the more he tortured his body the farther his goal receded from him.

In this period of time of practicing asceticism, there were three thoughtful images arising in His mind once. They were recorded that:

Moreover, Aggivessana, three similes occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before: It is as if there were a wet sappy stick placed in water; then a man might come along bringing any upper piece of fire stick and thinking: “I will light a fire, I will get at.” What do you think about this, Aggivessana? Could that man... light a fire, could he get heat?”–No good, Gotama.

In like manner, Aggivessana, whatever recluses or Brahmanas dwell not aloof from pleasures of the sense that are bodily, then if that which is for them, among the sense pleasure, desire for sense pleasure, infatuation with sense pleasure, fever for sense pleasure if that is not properly got rid of subjectively nor properly allayed, whether these worthy recluses and brahmans experience feelings which are acute, painful, sharp, severe, they could not become those for knowledge, for vision, for the incomparable self–awakening, and whether these worthy recluses and brahmans do not experience feelings which are acute, painful, sharp, severe, they could not become those for knowledge, for vision, for the incomparable self–awakening. This, Aggivessana, was the first parable that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before.

Then, Aggivessana, a second parable occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. It is as if, Aggivessana, a wet sappy stick were placed on dry ground, far from water.... Then, Aggivessana a third parable occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. It is as if, Aggivessana, a dry sapless stick were placed on dry ground, far from water.... This, Aggivessana, was the third parable that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before.^[2]

His strenuous and unsuccessful endeavours taught him one important lesson, though, and that was the utter futility of self-mortification.

Having this valuable experience he finally decided to follow an independent course avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and selfmortification, for, the former tends to retard one’s spiritual progress and the latter to weaken one’s intellect. The new path was the Majjhima Patipada, the Middle Path, which subsequently became one of the salient characteristics of his teaching.

Siddhattha went on to Uruvelā and stopped at a place nowadays called Bodh-Gaya in the modern Indian state of Bihar. He determined to sit under the Bodhi-tree and practised his own way of meditation until He could find the exact answer to the question of dealing with suffering in life.

Early in the morning on the full moon day of Vesakha as he was seated in deep meditation under the Bodhi Tree, unaided and unguided by any supernatural agency but solely relying on his own efforts, the consciousness of true insight possessed him. He saw the mistaken ways that all the various faiths maintained, he discerned the sources whence earthly suffering came and the way that leads to its annihilation. He saw that the cause of suffering lay in a selfish cleaving to life and that the way of escape from suffering lay in treading the Eightfold Path. The discourse of Ariyapariyesana records:

Then I, monks, a quester for whatever is good, searching for the incomparable, matchless path to peace, walking on tour through Magadha in due course arrived at Uruvelā, the camp township. There I saw a delightful stretch of land and a lovely wood land grove, and a clear flowing river with a delightful ford, and a village for support nearby. It occurred to me, monks, “Indeed it is a delightful stretch of land.... Indeed this does well for striving of a young man set on striving.” So I, monks, set down just there, thinking, “Indeed this does well for striving. ^[3]

After entering deep into meditative concentration (samādhi), He practiced insight meditation (vipassānā) and thereby attained three special kinds of knowledges (Tevijjā).

1—He remembered many former existences of Himself.

2—He gained knowledge of the workings of kamma: How those who acquire bad results of kamma by doing evil actions are born in miserable states, and how those who acquire good results of kamma by doing good actions are born in happy states.

3—He gained the third and highest knowledge of the destruction of the cankers (or taints, or defilements: āsavas). Three āsavas are often mentioned: sensual desire, desire for existence and desire for nonexistence.

These three perfect knowledges appeared in the last night when Siddhattha attained Enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree as the Bhaya bheravasyttam (Majjhima-nikāya, Vol. I.):

Thus with mind composed, quite purified, quite clarified, without blemish, without defilement, grown soft and workable, fixed, immovable, I directed my mind to the knowledge and recollection of former habitations: I remembered a variety of former habitations, thus: one birth, two births, three,... four,... a hundred,... a hundred thousand births and many an eon of integration–disintegration; such an one was I by name, having such and such a clan, such and such a colour, so was I nourished, such and such pleasant and painful experiences were mine, so did the span of life end....

This brahman, was the first knowledge attained by me in the first watch of the night; ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose, darkness was dispelled, light arose, even as I abided diligent, ardent, self-solute.

Then with mind composed quite purified.... I directed my mind to the knowledge of the passing things and the arising of beings.... I comprehend that beings are mean, excellent, comely, ugly, well-going, ill-going, according to the consequences of their deeds, and I think: Indeed these worthy beings who were possessed of wrong conduct in body, who were possessed of wrong conduct of speech, who were possessed of wrong conduct of thought, scoffers at the ariyans, holding a wrong view, incurring deeds consequent on a wrong view–these, at the breakup of the body after dying, have arisen in a sorrowful state, a bad bourn, the abyss, Niraya Hell. But those worthy beings who were possessed of good conduct in body,... of speech,... in thought, who did not scoff at the ariyans, holding a right view... at the breaking up of the body after dying, have arisen in a good bourn, a heaven world.... This, brahman, was the second knowledge attained by me in the middle watch of the night; ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose....

And:

Then with mind composed, quite purified.... I directed my mind to the destruction of the cankers. I understood as it really is: this is anguish, this is the arising, this is the stopping of anguish, this is the course leading to the stopping of anguish.

I understood as it really is: There are the cankers, this is the arising of the cankers.... this is the course leading to the stopping of the cankers. Knowing this thus, seeing thus, my mind was freed from the canker of sense pleasures... from the canker of becoming... from the canker of ignorance.... This, brahman, was the third knowledge attained by me in the last watch of the night; ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose, darkness was dispelled, light arose even as I abided diligent, ardent, self-resolute. ^[4]

The above attainment of the Noble Truth was also recorded in the discourse of Ariyapariyesana as follows:

It occurred to me, monks: This Dhamma won to by me in deep difficult to see, difficult to understand, tranquil, excellent, beyond dialectic, subtle, intelligible to the learned. But this is a creation delighting in sensual pleasure, delighted by sensual pleasure, rejoicing in sensual pleasure, this were a matter difficult to see, that is to say, causal uprising by way of condition. This too was a matter difficult to see, that is to say, the tranquillizing of all the activities, the renunciation of all attachment, the destruction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nibbāna.^[5]

The Truth of Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppāda) was described in Kindred Sayings, Vol. II (Samyuttanikāya, Vol. II) as follows:

Then to me, brethren, came this thought: “What now being present, does decay–and–death come to be? What conditions decay–and–death? Then to me thinking according to law came to pass comprehension of insight: let there be birth, then there is decay–and–death. Decay–and–death is conditioned by birth... let there be ignorance, then activities come to be, activities are conditioned by ignorance. Such verily is this “activities are conditioned by ignorance,” and the rest. Even so is the coming to be of this entire mass of ill....

And thus also came to me comprehension of insight into the like concerning birth, becoming, grasping, craving, feeling, contact, sense, name–and–form, consciousness, activities, ignorance. Such verily is this “ceasing of activities because ceasing of ignorance, and the rest. Even so is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill.^[6]

With discernment of these grand truths and their realization in life, the Bodhisattva eradicated all passions and attained enlightenment–he thus became a Buddha.

His Enlightenment consisted of the most profound and all embracing insight into the nature of mind and all phenomena. This Enlightenment was not a revelation from some divine being, but a discovery made by him based on the deepest levels of meditation and the clearest experience of mind. It meant that he was free from the shackles of craving, all-will and delusion, that all forms of inner suffering had been eliminated and that he had acquired unshakable peace.

Thus, from the very beginning the practice of meditation has been at the very heart of Buddhist way. Today, meditation grows increasingly popular as its proven benefits to both mental and physical well-being are becoming more widely known. When stress is shown to be such a major cause of human suffering, the quieting practice of meditation becomes ever more valued.

Today’s world is too small and vulnerable for us to live angrily and alone, and thus tolerance, love and compassion are very important. These qualities of mind, essential for happiness, are formally developed in Buddhist meditation and then diligently put into practice in everyday life.

2. The Basic Concepts of Dhyāna

The Buddha’s teaching, particularly his way of ‘meditation,’ aims at producing a state of perfect mental health, equilibrium and tranquility. It is unfortunate that hardly any other section of the Buddha’s teaching is so much misunderstood as ‘meditation,’ both by Buddhists and nonBuddhists. The moment the word ‘meditation’ is mentioned, one thinks of an escape from the daily activities of life; assuming a particular posture, like a statue in some cave or cell in a monastery, in some remote place cut off from society; and musing on, or being absorbed in, some kind of mystic or mysterious thought or trance. True Buddhist ‘meditation’ does not mean this kind of escape at all. The Buddha’s teaching on this subject was so wrongly, or so little understood, that in later times the way of ‘meditation’ deteriorated and degenerated into a kind of ritual or ceremony almost technical in its routine.^[7]

Mistakenly, Buddhist meditation is frequently confused with yogic meditation, which often includes physical contortions, autohypnosis, quests for occult powers, and an attempted union with God. None of these are concerns or practices of the Eightfold Path. There are in Buddhism no drugs or stimulants, no secret teachings, and no mystical formulae. Buddhist meditation deals exclusively with the everyday phenomena of human consciousness.

In the words of the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera, a renowned Buddhist scholar and monk:

In its spirit of self-reliance, Satipatthana does not require any elaborate technique or external devices. The daily life is its working material. It has nothing to do with any exotic cults or rites nor does it confer “initiations” or “esoteric knowledge” in any way other than by self-enlightenment.

Using just the conditions of life it finds, Satipatthana, does not require complete seclusion or monastic life, though in some who undertake the practice, the desire and need for these may grow.^[8]

The various subjects and methods of meditation expounded in the Theravāda Buddhist scriptures–the Pāli Canon and its commentaries–divide into two inter-related systems. One is called the development of serenity (samatha-bhāvanā), the other the development of insight (vipassanā-bhāvanā) . The former also goes under the name of development of concentration (samadhi-bhāvanā) , the latter the development of wisdom (paññabhāvanā) . The practice of serenity meditation aims at developing a calm, concentrated, unified mind as a means of experiencing inner peace and as a basis for wisdom. The practice of insight meditation aims at gaining a direct understanding of the real nature of phenomena. Of the two, the development of insight is regarded by Buddhism as the essential key to liberation, the direct antidote to the ignorance underlying bondage and suffering. Whereas serenity meditation is recognized as common to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist contemplative disciplines, insight meditation is held to be the unique discovery of the Buddha and an unparalleled feature of his path. However, because the growth of insight presupposes a certain degree of concentration, and serenity meditation helps to achieve this, the development of serenity also claims an incontestable place in the Buddhist meditative process. Together the two types of meditation work to make the mind a fit instrument for enlightenment. With his mind unified by means of the development of serenity, made sharp and bright by the development of insight, the meditator can proceed unobstructed to reach the end of suffering, Nibbāna.

Pivotal to both systems of meditation, though belonging inherently to the side of serenity is a set of meditative attainments called the jhānas. Though translators have offered various renderings of this word, ranging from the feeble “musing” to the misleading “trance” and the ambiguous “meditation,” we prefer to leave the word untranslated and to let its meaning emerge from its contextual usages. From these it is clear that the jhānas are states of deep mental unification which result from the centering of the mind upon a single object with such power of attention that a total immersion in the object takes place. The early suttas speak of four jhānas, named simply after their numerical position in the series: the first jhāna, the second jhāna, the third jhāna and the forth jhāna. In the suttas the four repeatedly appear each described by a standard formula which we will examine later in detail.

3. The Fundamental Principles of the Dhyāna School

According to the Transmission of Enlightenment in China, the Dhyāna School was established in China by Bodhidharma. It believed in direct enlightenment, disregarding ritual and canons and depending upon the inner light.

The successors of Bodhidharma were Hui-k’o, Sengt’san, Tao-hsin, Hung-jan and Hui-neng who had been recognized as the Sixth Patriarch of the Dhyāna School. Since then the Dhyāna School has been divided into the Southern and Northern Sects, the former led by Hui-neng and the latter by Sheng-hui who was a staunch advocate of the doctrine of “watching over the heart.”

The Southern Sect of the Dhyāna School became prominent later, producing the Nan-yueh and the Ch’ing-yuan schools; the former came to be led by Ma-tsu and the latter Shih-t’ou. Ma-tsu was followed by Hūeihai from whom arose the two later sects; the Lin-chi and the Kuei-yang. From Shih-t’ou’s school arose the three later sects: the Ts’ao-t’ung, the Yun-men and the Fa-yen. Each sect has got its own methods of initiation and teachings, but their fundamental principles are not so different from each other. The three important principles as follow:

Emphasis on Self-dependence rather than another’s strength

Bodhidharma, the father of Dhyāna Buddhism in China, had not made the long journey to involve himself in academic discussion, nor to carry favor among the famous. His teaching is enlightenment of the heart and beholding Buddha-nature within oneself. It goes straight the Ocean of Sarvajna (Ocean of Buddha-wisdom). It is quite clear that the Dhyāna School does not depend on anything and it will not take assistance either from Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha for attainment of Buddha–hood. Because this is a matter of revealing your own Buddha-nature, it was ready made originally. No one can give you and no one can take away from you. From ancient patriarchs up-to-date, and in the Twelve Division of the Tripiṭaka, never spoke a single word about it. Vimalakīrti in Nirdeśa Sūtra states: “The Norm has no analogy, since it is not a relative term.” The Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng also said: “Within yourself you can see Buddha, which is the manifestation of the essence of mind, is not to be sought from without; know your own heart by yourself, see your own inner nature by yourself, ignorance is living being and enlightenment is Buddha; if you say you take refuge in Buddha do you know where He is? Hereafter let the Enlightened One be our teacher.” The Dhyāna Master Hsūan-an said: “This gate is beyond the Vairocana Stately World, and much superior on the convenient gate leading into truth by Śākyamuni. From this very moment to the future, it would not allow you to have a sight-perception on a single thing.” There is a Kun an, ^[9] showing the idea that we must depend on ourselves and renounce another’s strength.^[10]

Emphasis on Practice rather than Knowledge

The doctrine of Dhyāna Buddhism came down to the present time in a direct line, generation after generation. Although it is transmitted directly, it has nothing to do with “teaching and learning.” Therefore, when Bodhidharma came from India, he simply declared, “Directly pointing to one’s own soul, my doctrine is unique, and is not hampered by the canonical teachings; it is the absolute transmission of the ‘seal of Buddha Heart.’ The great–truth of Dhyāna Buddhism has nothing to do with letters, words or sūtras. It only asks you to grasp the point directly and therein to find your peaceful abode.

There is a Kun-an mentioned in our Dhyāna Buddhist records which shares such an idea: Shen-chen saw his fellow-student reading Sūtra while a bee was creeping over the paper-window. Thereupon Shen-chen said: “The world is so vast, don’t like to creep there but want to study the writings of the ancients;I don’t think there would be a date for him to enlighten?”^[11] His fellow-student therefore requested Shen-chen to preach Buddha-dharma and he then obtained a place of entrance for enlightenment.

This shows that if we want to find out the truth of Dhyāna Buddhism, we shall never achieve it, because the truth is not in the book. We should emphasize on practical rather than on theoretical surces. The Dhyāna Master Yi-chung also said: “If you constant by seek an interpretation of sentences, it is like your looking towards your native place from far away.” So we shall have to find out some other way to achieve Buddha-fruits.

The following Kun-an has given the answer to it:

A monk was asked by the Dhyāna Master Chao-chow:

‘How many volumes of Sūtra you could read in a day?’ Monk answered: “Some time I could read seven or eight volumes, some time I could read sūtras covering ten volumes.” Chao-chow said: “You, Acharya, you don’t know how to read sūtras.”

Monk said: “How many volumes of sūtras you could read in a day.”

Chao-chow said: “I only read one word in a day.” ^[12]

What Chao-chow said about his daily reading of one word which did not mean the word in the canon but reading your original nature in the words of Hsin ‘essence of mind.’ Therefore there is a method of attainment of enlightenment by meditating the wordlessness in the Dhyāna School. It is recognized as a path for seeking the great truth of Dhyāna Buddhism. In short, the great truth of Dhyāna Buddhism can be attained only by those who have fulfilled the conditions for its reception. A teacher may point the way or help to guide a pupil, but the work, like the accomplishment, is the pupil’s.

Emphasis on Surpassing the Sagehood rather than on Dwelling in It

The enlightened person in the Dhyāna School himself knows that he is enlightened but he will not go away from this world and he will live in this world to do the service for the improvement and welfare of living beings and make great contribution to human society.

One who has attained a perfect enlightenment will understand that he and all living beings are one. He cannot remain aloof and see others suffering in life. Therefore they have to surpass from their sage hood and again fall to the lay manhood to save mankind from this world.

The layman remains in the layman’s region due to his delusion; later on due to his wisdom he enters the sagehood from the layman’s life; and now he again enters the layman–hood from the sagehood due to his compassion and fellow-feeling. At the time of delusion he who is turned by desires will not be turned by desires at the time of awakening and when he enters to the time of compassion, he will turn himself to the ultimate; to attain the ultimate is to attain the truth of Dhyāna.

4. Two main Schools of Buddhism

A few hundred years after the Buddha’s passing away, there arose eighteen different schools or sects all of which claimed to represent the original Teachings of the Buddha. The differences between these schools were basically due to various interpretations of the Teachings of the Buddha. Over a period of time, these schools gradually merged into two main schools: Theravāda and Mahāyāna. Today, a majority of the followers of Buddhism are divided into these two schools.

The first one is called Hīnayāna school including two primary periods: from Buddha’s Enlightenment to His Mahāparinirvāṇa, known as Theravāda or Early Buddhism; and after Mahāparinirvāṇa and before the advent of Mahāyāna Buddhism, known as Sectarian Buddhism. And, the second is Mahāyāna school or Developing Buddhism. In Hīnayāna Buddhism only there are many sub Sects which have been basically mentioned in Nalinaksha Dutt’s book: “Buddhist Sects in India.” ^[13] Thus, a comprehensive inquiry into the theory and practice of Buddhist meditation in such a quite complex and divided Buddhism should be carried out basically on the one hand, and an accurate discussion in details of what Buddhist meditation has rejected, accepted or qualified from non-Buddhist meditation must be done on the other, which, I hope, may show more clearly to us a system of how and what Buddhist meditation was as a whole at that time.

And when Mahāyāna Buddhism appeared in India, to certain extent, have been more developed and qualified at large, and a new theory and practice in Buddhist meditation have also been established firmly. In this very system of meditation the so-called Patriarchal meditation (a quite new notion) denoting Mahāyāna Buddhist meditation which, to some extent, is completely different from the so-called Tathāgata meditation referring to Theravāda or Hīnayāna meditation, has appeared in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Hence, a very important question of what similarity and difference between Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna thoughts is should be studied in general, especially;the Mahāyāna Buddhist meditation in theory and practice must be discussed comprehensively. And to my knowledge, there are many totally new concepts that were just introduced in Mahāyāna meditation, which has never been mentioned before at all. The so-called line of transmission from one to another appears not only in India, but also in China and some other Asian countries from such, the system of the meditation have been mentioned specially in Chinese Buddhist texts. All new aspects of the Mahāyāna Buddhist meditation will be considered carefully and systematically as far as this concept is concerned. One more vital issue regarding what similarity and difference are there between the two systems of Buddhist meditation (Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna) should be compared and shown comprehensively and clearly. Such a study would be carried out with the hope of finding out the reasons or causes which could make a movement of that meditation to appear in Buddhist thoughts as well and finally a whole picture of Buddhist meditation in India might be completely understood at large.

Basically Mahāyāna Buddhism grew out of the Buddha’s teaching that each individual carries within himself the potential for Buddhahood. Theravādins say that this potential can be realized through individual effort. Mahāyānists, on the other hand, believe that they can seek salvation through the intervention of other superior beings called Bodhisattvas. According to them, Bodhisattvas are future Buddhas who, out of compassion for their fellow human beings, have delayed their own attainment of Buddhahood until they have helped others towards liberation. In spite of this basic difference, however, it must be stressed that doctrinally there is absolutely no disagreement concerning the Dhamma as contained in the sacred Tripiṭaka texts. Because Buddhists have been encouraged by the Master to carefully inquire after the truth, they have been free to interpret the scriptures according to their understanding. But above all, both Mahāyāna and Theravāda are one in their reverence for the Buddha. ^[14]

The areas of agreement between the two schools are as follows:

-Both accept Śākyamuni Buddha as the Teacher.

-The Four Noble Truths are exactly the same in both schools.

-The Eightfold Path is exactly the same in both schools.

-The Paṭica-Samupāda or teaching on Dependent Origination is the same in both schools.

-Both reject the idea of a supreme being who created and governed this world.

-Both accept Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta and Śīla, Samādhi, Paññā without any difference.

Some people are of the view that Theravāda is selfish because it teaches that people should seek their own salvation. But how can a selfish person gain Enlightenment? Both schools accept the three Yāna or Bodhi and consider the Bodhisattva Ideal as the highest. The Mahāyāna has created many mystical Bodhisattvas, while the Theravāda believes that a Bodhisattva is a man amongst us who devotes his entire life for the attainment of perfection, and ultimately becomes a fully Enlightened Buddha for the well-being and happiness of the world.

It is universally accepted by scholars that the terms Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna are later invention. Historically speaking, the Theravāda already existed long before these terms came into being. That Theravāda, considered to be the original teaching of the Buddha, was introduced to Sri Lanka and established there in the 3^rd century B.C., during the time of Emperor Aśoka of India. At that time there was nothing called Mahāyāna. Mahāyāna as such appeared much later, about the beginning of the Christian era. Buddhism that went to Sri-Lanka, with its Tripiṭaka and Commentaries, in the 3^rd Century B.C., remained there intact as Theravāda, and did not come into the scene of the Hīnayāna-Mahāyāna dispute that developed later in India. It seems therefore not legitimate to include Theravāda in either of these two categories. However, after the inauguration of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in 1950, well-informed people, both in the East and in the West, use the term Theravāda, and not the term Hīnayāna, with reference to Buddhism prevalent in South-east Asian countries. There are still outmoded people who use the term “Hīnayāna.”

In fact, the Samdhi Nirmorcana Sūtra (a Mahāyāna Sūtra) clearly says that the Srāvakayāna -Theravāda, and the Mahāyāna constitute one Yāna (ekayāna) and that they are not two different and distinct ‘vehicles.’ Although different schools of Buddhism held different opinions on the teaching of the Buddha, they never had any violence or bloodshed for more than two thousand years. This is the uniqueness of Buddhist tolerance.

More crucial than what have been mentioned above is a very basic issue concerning the ultimate purpose or primary role played by the Buddha’s teachings in general and by the Buddhist meditation in particular, which is extremely significant so far as the present research is concerned. As the Buddha has obviously declared in Buddhist Canons (Pāli and Sanskrit) that He has only preached the suffering (dukkha) and the way leading to complete cessation of suffering (dukhanirodha),^[15] or that His Dharma is of quality or taste only, that is emancipation or salvation.^[16] Especially in Nikāyas as well as in Āgamas, He has emphasized that the goal of meditation or practicing it: “is the one way for purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrows and grieves, for the going down of suffering and miseries, for winning the right path, and for realizing Nirvāṇa.” To Buddhism, meditation is the only solution for both escaping from suffering and attaining the ultimate Truth, Nirvāṇa. And according to the Buddha, the purpose may be achieved in the very world by anyone who really wants to practice the meditation continuously in daily life of his/her own. With that purpose and meaning of Buddhist meditation as mentioned above, an inquiry into them must be implemented as much as possible, which may offer some solutions in dealing with some burning crises we are seriously facing in our modern society such as violence, environment, disharmony, imbalances, etc., Specially, the Buddhist meditation, I do think so, can be an extremely necessary and sufficient means in treating effectively the so-called stress, a very popular “disease” in the modern times, which may be caused by so many different factors in our daily life, ranging from material to spiritual. One more thing is that practicing Buddhist meditation could also attain the state of balance between our body and mind, which is extremely important to mankind.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Richard Morris and E. Hardy, eds. The Anguttara-Nikāya. [Pt. 1: Ekanipāta, Dukanipāta, and Tikanipāta, edited by Richard Morris. 2d ed. Revised by Aṅguttara-Nikāya K. Warder; pt. 2: CatukkaNipata, edited by Richard Morris; pt. 3: Pañcaka-Nipata and Chakka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 4: Sattaka-Nipata, Ahaka-Nipata, and Navaka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 5: Dasaka-Nipata and Ekadasaka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 6: Indexes by Mabel Hunt; Revised and edited by C. Aṅguttara-Nikāya F. Rhys Davids]. (Pali Text Society [Publications], vols. 10, 20, 35, 44, 46, 66. 6 vols. 1885-1910; reprint ed., London: Luzac & Co., 1956-67), 4:203 (hereafter cited as AN.).

[2]:

“Mahāsaccaka-suttam,” Majjhima-Nikāya, Vol. I, Pāli Text Society, London, 1979, pp. 240-241.

[3]:

“Ariyapariyesana-sutta,” Majjhima-Nikāya, Vol. I, Pāli Text Society, London, 1979, pp.166-167.

[4]:

“Bhayabherava-sutta,” Majjhima-Nikāya, Pāli Text Society, London, 1979, pp. 22-23.

[5]:

“Ariyapariyesana-sutta,” Majjhima-Nikāya, Vol. I, Pāli Text Society, London, 1979, p.167.

[6]:

Samyutta-Nikāya, Vol. II, Pāli Text Society, London, 1989, pp. 10-11.

[7]:

T.W. Rhys Davids. (ed.) The Yogāvacara’s Manual, (London, 1896), a text on meditation written in Ceylon probably about the 18^th century, shows how meditation at the time had generated into a ritual of reciting formulas, burning candles, etc. See also Chapter VII on the Ascetic Ideal, History of Buddhism in Ceylon by Walpola Rahula, (Colombo, 1956), pp. 199 ff

[8]:

Nyanaponika Thera. The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, London: Rider & Co. 1962, p. 82.

[9]:

A problem given to a Dhyāna student for solution.

[10]:

Chou Hsiang-Kuang. Dhyana Buddhism in China: Its History and Teaching, Allahabab: Indo-Chinese Literature Publications, 1960, p. 8.

[11]:

Ibid. 9.

[12]:

Ibid.

[13]:

N. Dutt. Buddhist Sects in India, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1978, p. 90.

[14]:

For a short, excellent exposition on this topic, read Dr. W. Rahula, ‘Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism,’ Published by The Buddhist Missionary Society.

[15]:

“Pubbe caha bhikkhave etarahi ca dukkhañceva paññapemi dukkhassa ca nirodha.” V. Trenckner and Robert Chalmers, eds., The Majjhima-Nikaya. [Vol. 1: edited by V. Trenckner;vols. 2-3: edited by Robert Chalmers; vol. 4: Index of Words, edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids]. (Pali Text Society [Publications], vols. 17, 39, 45, 47, 51, 99. 6 vols in 4, 1888-1925; reprint, 4 vols.; London: Luzac & Co., 1960-64) 1:140 (hereafter cited as MN.).

[16]:

Richard Morris and E. Hardy, eds. The Anguttara-Nikaya. [Pt. 1: Ekanipata, Dukanipata, and Tikanipata, edited by Richard Morris. 2d ed. Revised by Aṅguttara-Nikāya K. Warder; pt. 2: CatukkaNipata, edited by Richard Morris; pt. 3: Pañcaka-Nipata and Chakka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 4: Sattaka-Nipata, Ahaka-Nipata, and Navaka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 5: Dasaka-Nipata and Ekadasaka-Nipata, edited by E. Hardy; pt. 6: Indexes by Mabel Hunt; Revised and edited by C. Aṅguttara-Nikāya F. Rhys Davids]. (Pali Text Society [Publications], vols. 10, 20, 35, 44, 46, 66. 6 vols. 1885-1910; reprint ed., London: Luzac &Co., 1956-67), 4:203 (hereafter cited as AN.)