OUTLINE OF BUDDHIST MEDITATION SYSTEMS

 Enormous number of distinct sects within Buddhism.

o Two broad streams of thought:
 Mahayana
 Theravada.
 Mahayana Buddhism
o East Asia: China, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, and Vietnam.
o Most famous Mahayana system is Zen
 Practiced mainly in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the US.
 Theravada Buddhism
o South and Southeast Asia: Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and
Cambodia
o Theravada Buddhism presents an effective system for exploring the
deeper levels of the mind, down to the very root of consciousness itself.
o Buddhism addresses two major types of meditation; they are different
mental skills or modes of functioning, different qualities of consciousness.
In Pali, the original language of Theravada literature, they are called
Vipassana and Samatha.
 Vipassana (“Insight”) Meditation
 Practiced in South and Southeast Asian Buddhism
 Purpose of this system is to give the meditator insight into
the nature of reality and accurate understanding of how
everything works.
 Buddhist practice is an ongoing investigation of reality, a
microscopic examination of the very process of perception.
Its intention is to pick apart the screen of lies and delusions
through which we normally view the world, and thus to reveal
the face of ultimate reality. Vipassana meditation is an
ancient and elegant technique for doing just that.
 Mindfulness is the center of vipassana meditation and the
key to the whole process.1
 Samatha can be translated as “concentration” or “tranquillity,” and
is a state in which the mind is focused only on one item, brought to
rest, and not allowed to wander. When this is done, a deep calm
pervades body and mind, a state of tranquillity that must be
experienced to be understood. Most systems of meditation
emphasize the samatha component. The meditator focuses his or
her mind on a certain item, such as a prayer, a chant, a candle
flame, or a religious image, and excludes all other thoughts and
perceptions from his or her consciousness. The result is a state of
rapture, which lasts until the meditator ends the session of sitting. It
is beautiful, delightful, meaningful, and alluring, but only temporary.

1
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English, pg 115.
 Tipitaka, three-section compendium of the Buddha’s original teachings.
o Vinaya, the code of discipline for monks, nuns, and lay people;
o Suttas, public discourses attributed to the Buddha;
o Abhidhamma, a set of deep psycho-philosophical teachings.

 Upatissa (1st century Buddhist scholar) wrote the Vimuttimagga (The Path of
Freedom), in which he summarized the Buddha’s teachings on meditation.
 Buddhaghosa (5th century Buddhist scholar) covered the same ground in a
second scholastic thesis, the Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification), which
remains the standard text on meditation today.