Robin Beck

Two Kinds of Chanting Meditation

Chanting Meditation
Three-Fold Training

Samatha {Concentration} & Vipassana {Insight}

To review, Buddhist practice can be divided into three main categories. The first is receiving the Precept. Then there are two main kinds of Meditation:

1. The Calming and Concentration vCultivations. These deal with conventional, dualistic reality; where self & others or subject & object are real. In terms of the three Realities, this is the Reality of Form & Substance. The goals of Mindfulness Cultivation, as I do it, are:

* Become a better person, acquire merit.
* Increase Intellectual Understanding, or Factual Knowlege
* Overcome the Five Hindrances.
* Cultivate the Four Divine Attributes.
* Enter the deep concentration of Samadhi.
* Enter The "Form Realm" Absorptions.

2. The Insight & Wisdom Practices. These deal with the ultimate, non-dual reality; where self & others or subject & object do not have an abiding existence. In terms of the three Realities, this is the Reality of Emptiness. The goals are:

* Cultivate Mindfulness; that is calm alertness, attentiveness, sensitivity, etc.
* Increase Innate or Intuitive Understanding; that is Wisdom or Discernment.
* Overcome the Five Main Emotional Afflictions.
* Cultivate Direct Insight into The Three Signs and Emptiness.
* Enter The "Formless Realm" Absorptions.
* Awaken into the Timeless & Deathless State of Nirvana.

The practices I do are almost all mantra chanting meditation; combined with Mandala Contemplation, and the Prayer Gesture. There are two types of this, the faster, more prayerful chanting, and a slower, more contemplative type. A silent meditation, using the Meditation Gesture, and involving visualizations, mental imagery, and/or visionary experience, flows naturally from the latter.

Meditation Terms:

*Samatha {Chih, Shi}= Calming, Quietude, Tranquility, Serenity. These are Methods to overcome the Five 5 Hindrances and Acquire Merit {Punya}.

*Smrti/Sati {?, Nen [as in Ichinen]} = Mindfulness, Attention, Alertness.

*Bhavana = {?} Cultivation, Training; an active, energetic process. This can be mental, emotive, intellectual, physical, sensory, extra-sensory, etc.

*Samadhi {sanmei, sanmai} = deep Concentration, Focus, or Alertness to the point that all sensory input extraneous to the pursuit at hand is more or less 'tuned out'. Like a fisher-person watching a line.

*Dhyana/Jhana {chan, zen}# = Absorption. Similar to Samadhi, except there is a loss of temporal & spatial awareness. A rapt day dream is an example.

*Vipassana {Kuan, Kan} = Spiritual Insight, Objectivity, Observation, Intuition, Contemplation; a condition in which the Klesha {Bonno] are overcome; one's inherent or innate discernmemt or wisdom is tapped. Insight is not acquired, we always have it, but have forgetten.

Shodai {Zhou} = Mantra Chanting

#The Pali word Jhana is best translated as "meditative absorption state." It is the same as the Sanskrit Dhyana, which derives from Dhayati, meaning to think or meditate. You know what an "absorption state" is -- it's when you get so involved in a TV show or video game or mystery novel that you are surprised when the phone rings and brings you back to reality. The Jhanas are eight altered states of consciousness which can arise during periods of strong concentration. The Jhanas are naturally occurring states of mind, but learning how to enter them at will and how to stay in them takes practice -- www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/janas.html

Posted by rbeck at October 11, 2005 03:46 PM