Samadhi (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, samādhi (Pali / Sanskrit: समाधि) is mental concentration or composing the mind.
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[edit] In the early Suttas
In the Pāli canon of the Theravada tradition and the related Āgamas of other early Buddhist schools, samādhi is found in the following contexts:
- In the noble eightfold path, "right concentration" (samma-samādhi, S. samyak-samādhi) is the eighth path factor.
- Similarly, samādhi is the second part of the Buddha's threefold training: sīla (morality or virtue), samādhi, and pañña (wisdom; S. prajña).
- In the development of the four jhānas, the second jhāna (S. dhyāna) is "born" from samādhi (samādhija).
In Buddhism, samādhi is traditionally developed by contemplating one of 40 different objects (mentioned in the Pali canon, explicitly enumerated in the Visuddhimagga), such as mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati) and loving kindness (metta).
Upon development of samādhi, one's mind becomes purified of defilements, calm, tranquil, and luminous. Once the meditator achieves a strong and powerful concentration, his mind is ready to penetrate and see into the ultimate nature of reality, eventually obtaining release from all suffering.
Table: Uses of samādhi (based on AN IV.41) |
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|---|---|
| object of concentration |
development |
| four jhānas | pleasant abiding (sukha-vihārāya) in this life (diţţhadhamma) |
| perception (sañña) of light (āloka) |
knowing (ñāṇa) and seeing (dassana) |
| arising, passing, fading of feelings (vedanā), perceptions (saññā) and thoughts (vitakkā) |
mindfulness (sati) and clear comprehension (sampajaññā) |
| arising and fading of the five aggregates of clinging (pañc'upādāna-khandha) |
extinction (khaya) of the taints (āsava) [Arahantship] |
In AN IV.41,[1] the Buddha identifies four types of concentration development, each with a different goal:
- a pleasant abiding in this current life - achieved through concentrative development of the four jhānas
- knowledge and the divine eye - achieved by concentration on light
- mindfulness and clear comprehension - achieved through concentrative mindfulness of the rise and fall of feelings, perceptions and thoughts.[2]
- the destruction of the taints - achieved through concentrative mindfulness of the rise and fall of the five aggregates.[3]
The Buddhist suttas mention that samādhi practitioners may develop supernormal powers (abhijna, cf. siddhis), and list several that the Buddha developed, but warn that these should not be allowed to distract the practitioner from the larger goal of complete freedom from suffering.
[edit] Right concentration
Table: Jhāna-related factors. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| first jhāna |
second jhāna |
third jhāna |
fourth jhāna |
|
| sensuality (kāma), unskillful qualities (akusala dhamma) |
secluded from, withdrawn |
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| applied thought (vitakka) |
accom- panies jhāna |
stilled | ||
| sustained thought (vicāra) |
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| rapture (pīti) |
seclusion- born; pervades body |
samādhi- born; pervades body |
fades away (as does distress) |
|
| pleasure (sukha) |
pervades physical body |
aban- doned (as is pain) |
||
| pure, mindful equanimity (upekkhā- sati- pārisuddhi) |
[internal confidence, mental unification] |
equani- mous, mindful |
neither pleasure nor pain; permeates body with pure mind |
|
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Table's sources:
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In the Buddhist noble eightfold path, the Buddha explains that right concentration (Pāli: sammā-samādhi; Skt.: samyak-samādhi) involves attainment of the successively higher meditative states known as the four jhānas.[4]
[edit] In the Theravada commentarial tradition
According to the Visuddhimagga, samādhi is the "proximate cause" to the obtainment of wisdom.[5]
[edit] Samādhi in Mahāyāna traditions
[edit] Indian Mahāyāna
In the Indian Mahāyāna traditions samādhi is used in the earlier sense, but "there also appear in Mahayana literature references to a number of specific samadhi, each with a name and associated benefits, and a number of which are associated with specific sutras. . . one notes the appearance of lengthy lists of samadhi names, which one suspects have acquired their own aura of magical potency. Thus we can find samadhi-name lists, some of considerable length, in the Aksṣayavamatinirdeśa, Bodhisattvapiṭaka, Daśabhhūmīśvara, Gaṇḍavyūha, Kāraṇḍavyūha, Mahāvyutpatti, and various Prajñāpāramitā texts. Section 21 of the Mahāvyutpatti records some 118 samādhi.[6]
This is reflected in the Heart Sutra, a famous Mahāyāna discourse, in which Avalokiteśvara gives a teaching in the presence of the Buddha after the Buddha enters "the samādhi which expresses the dharma called Profound Illumination," which provides the context for the teaching.
Likewise, the Samādhirāja Sūtra "declares its main theme to be a particular samādhi that is supposed to be the key to all elements in the path and to all the virtues and merits of buddhas and bodhisattvas. This state of mind, or spiritual practice, is called 'the samādhi that is manifested as the sameness of the essential nature of all dharmas' (sarva-dharma-svabhavā-samatā-vipañcita-samādhi). One may be tempted to assume that this refers to one particular form or state of contemplation; however, here the term 'samādhi' is understood in its broadest signification. This samādhi is at the same time the cognitive experience of emptiness, the attainment of the attributes of buddhahood, and the performance of a variety of practices or daily activities of a bodhisattva—including service and adoration at the feet of all buddhas. The word samādhi is also used to mean the sūtra itself. Consequently, we can speak of an equation, sūtra = samādhi = śūnyatā, underlying the text. In this sense the title Samādhirāja expresses accurately the content of the sūtra."[7]
[edit] Zen
| The Five Houses |
| Caodong / Sōtō Linji / Rinzai Fayan / Hōgen Guiyang / Igyō Yunmen / Unmon |
| Doctrine and practice |
| Buddha-nature Dharma transmission Emptiness Enlightenment Group meditation Kōan practice Samādhi Sitting meditation |
| Principal texts |
| Diamond Sūtra Heart Sūtra Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra Platform Sūtra Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Kōan collections) |
| Mahāyāna Buddhism Outline of Buddhism (Category) |
 |
In Zen, the three trainings (or threefold learning) are presented in the Parable of the Lamp using the ancient form of a lamp made up of a dish of oil with a lighted wick. The table (or floor) is the body, the dish is the conscious mind, the oil is moral conduct (sīla), the wick is unperturbed contemplation (samādhi), and the flame is intuitive wisdom (prajñā). That which is a "lamp" does not exist without all of the parts present and functioning. If there is no oil then the wick is dry and the flame won't stay lit. If there is no wick then there is nothing for the flame to be centered upon and anchored to. If there is no flame then it is not actually a lamp but just a bowl of oil with a piece of string in it. The wick does not become a true wick until it is lit, and the flame has no place to light until it has a wick.[citation needed]
Because of this mutual identity of wick and flame, Huineng, the renowned Sixth Ancestor of Chinese Chan (Zen), taught in Chapter 4 of the Platform Sutra that samādhi and prajñā are not different:
Learned Audience, in my system Samadhi and Prajna are fundamental. But do not be under the wrong impression that these two are independent of each other, for they are inseparably united and are not two entities. Samadhi is the quintessence of Prajna, while Prajna is the activity of Samadhi. At the very moment that we attain Prajna, Samadhi is therewith; and vice versa. If you understand this principle, you understand the equilibrium of Samadhi and Prajna. A disciple should not think that there is a distinction between 'Samadhi begets Prajna' and 'Prajna begets Samadhi'. To hold such an opinion would imply that there are two characteristics in the Dharma.[8]
In Zen, samādhi is the unified state of steady or unperturbed awareness. In Chapter 5 of the Platform Sutra, Huineng described the role of samādhi in meditation practice as follows:
When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained Samadhi. To be free from attachment to all outer objects is Dhyana, and to attain inner peace is Samadhi. When we are in a position to deal with Dhyana and to keep our inner mind in Samadhi, then we are said to have attained Dhyana and Samadhi.[9]
[edit] Intelligence
According to B. Alan Wallace, samādhi is also viewed as serving as the basis for increasing intelligence.[10] Wallace also maintains that Buddhist psychology suggests that concentration may be a factor in the emergence of extraordinary intelligence.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Nyanaponika & Bodhi, 1999, pp. 88-89.
- ^ These appear to refer to three of the five aggregates.
- ^ This is similar to the instructions for mindfulness of the aggregates in the Satipatthana Sutta.
- ^ Brasington, 1997; and, Thanissaro, 1997.
- ^ Buddhaghosa & Ñāṇamoli (1999), p. 437.
- ^ "State or Statement?: Samādhi in Some Early Mahāyāna Sūtras." The Eastern Buddhist. 34-2. 2002 pg 56
- ^ Luis O. Gomez and Jonathan A. Silk, Studies in the Literature of the Great Vehicle: Three Mahayana Buddhist Texts. Ann Arbor 1989 pgs 15-16
- ^ On the High Seat of "The Treasure of the Law" The Sutra of the 6th Patriarch, Hui Neng Translated by A.F.Price and Wong Mou-Lam [1]
- ^ On the High Seat of "The Treasure of the Law" The Sutra of the 6th Patriarch, Hui Neng Translated by A.F.Price and Wong Mou-Lam [2]
- ^ B. Alan Wallace, The bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus Publishing Company, 1998, page 81.
- ^ B. Alan Wallace, The bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus Publishing Company, 1998, page 82.
[edit] Bibliography
- Brasington, Leigh (1997). Sharpening Manjushri's Sword: The Jhanas in Theravadan Buddhist Meditation. Retrieved 2007-10-04 from "Leigh Brasington's Web Site" at http://www.leighb.com/jhana2.htm.
- Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya and Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
- Nyanaponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.) (1999). Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 0-7425-0405-0.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997). One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice. Retrieved 2007-10-04 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html.
[edit] External links
- Samma Samadhi - by Ajahn Chah
- Samadhi for Liberation - by Ajahn Anand Akincano
- Wisdom Develops Samadhi - by Maha Boowa
- Developing Samadhi - by Lama Gelek Rinpoche
- Lessons in Samadhi by Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo
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