June 16, 2007
Coming Attractions on Nichiren, but first, Meditation
I intend to get back to Life and Legends of Nichiren soon. Part of this will involve redoing the photo albums at nichirenpix. So far, I have skipped around a lot. I shall be moving earlier Life & Legends of Nichiren blogs up to the front, so they are in sequence. I'll likely move quickly, then go back later and revise the entries. I expect to move the entries on his childhood and early schooling to the front page. Then, I will adding new entries on his training at the Kamakura Hachiman Shrine Temple from circa 1238-1242.
First, I have a few more in the hopper on meditation practices. I think a fairly detailed study of the different kinds of meditation is useful. It helps us to sort out our experiences, thus avoiding the pitfall of thinking we have attained what we have not.
The Buddha talks about two main forms of Meditation. These are the Concentration {Samatha / Samadhi / Jhana/Dhyana/ / Samapatti} Meditations and the Mindfulness {Sati/Smrti; Satipatthana} Meditations. From what I gather, later Buddhists sorted these into the Samatha and Vipassana categories. These later Buddhists may have included Buddhaghosa in the Pali-Thervadin tradition; and T'ien T'ai Chih I in the Chinese Mahayana tradition.
In terms of the Three-fold Training as Eightfold Path, as explained in the Nikaya/Agama Suttas/Sutras, it appears that both the Concentration Meditations and the Mindfulness Meditations belong to the second Training of Meditation {Samadhi-Jhana}. Insight {Vipassana} would then coincide with the third Training, that of Wisdom {Prajna}. However, for practical purpose, Mindfulness Meditation has become associated with Insight {vipassana} and the Training of Wisdom {prajna}.
That might be because mindfulness, or the Four 'Foundations" of Mindfulness, are prerequisites for Insight & Wisdom. Meanwhile, the Concentration Meditations, beyond Access Samadhi, might be considered optional, or un-required courses. Also, two of the four foundations of mindfulness are extremely useful in daily life. They might even be necessary for effective living. I do think the concentration exercises still have a place, though; they are like the magic city, a vacation from the stresses of daily life. And that thought just occurred to me.
At any rate, the two main classifications I shall use are:
{1}. The Quietude {Samatha}, Concentration {Samadhi}, and Absorption {Dhyana} Meditations.
{2}. The Mindfulness {Sati/smrti}, Wisdom {Prajna}, and Insight {Vipasyana} Meditations.
This creates the question of where to place the cultivations of the Four Immeasurables {Infinite Emotions}. or the Metta, Karuna, Muditta, and Equanimity meditations. My thinking is that they are a form of, or an approach to, the rupa-dhyanas. So that would make them part of {1} above. That makes the most sense right now. I should note that even though there are 4 Immeasurables, I do not think these coincide exactly with the 4 rupa-dhyanas or 4 main stages/levels of absorption.
Next entry: Glowing Gohonzons.
Posted by rbeck at June 16, 2007 05:08 PM