The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation

The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation PDF Author: Eric M. Greene
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824884442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book

Book Description
In the early 400s, numerous Indian and Central Asian Buddhist “meditation masters” (chanshi) traveled to China, where they established the first enduring traditions of Buddhist meditation practice in East Asia. The forms of contemplative practice that these missionaries brought with them, and which their Chinese students further developed, remained for several centuries the basic understanding of “meditation” (chan) in China. Although modern scholars and readers have long been familiar with the approaches to meditation of the Chan (Zen) School that later became so popular throughout East Asia, these earlier and in some ways more pervasive forms of practice have long been overlooked or ignored. This volume presents a comprehensive study of the content and historical formation, as well as complete English translations, of two of the most influential manuals in which these approaches to Buddhist meditation are discussed: the Scripture on the Secret Essential Methods of Chan (Chan Essentials) and the Secret Methods for Curing Chan Sickness (Methods for Curing). Translated here into English for the first time, these documents reveal a distinctly visionary form of Buddhist meditation whose goal is the acquisition of concrete, symbolic visions attesting to the practitioner’s purity and progress toward liberation. Both texts are “apocryphal” scriptures: Taking the form of Indian Buddhist sutras translated into Chinese, they were in fact new compositions, written or at least assembled in China in the first half of the fifth century. Though written in China, their historical significance extends beyond the East Asian context as they are among the earliest written sources anywhere to record certain kinds of information about Buddhist meditation that hitherto had been the preserve of oral tradition and personal initiation. To this extent they indeed divulge, as their titles claim, the “secrets” of Buddhist meditation. Through them, we witness a culture of Buddhist meditation that has remained largely unknown but which for many centuries was widely shared across North India, Central Asia, and China.

The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation

The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation PDF Author: Eric M. Greene
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824884442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book

Book Description
In the early 400s, numerous Indian and Central Asian Buddhist “meditation masters” (chanshi) traveled to China, where they established the first enduring traditions of Buddhist meditation practice in East Asia. The forms of contemplative practice that these missionaries brought with them, and which their Chinese students further developed, remained for several centuries the basic understanding of “meditation” (chan) in China. Although modern scholars and readers have long been familiar with the approaches to meditation of the Chan (Zen) School that later became so popular throughout East Asia, these earlier and in some ways more pervasive forms of practice have long been overlooked or ignored. This volume presents a comprehensive study of the content and historical formation, as well as complete English translations, of two of the most influential manuals in which these approaches to Buddhist meditation are discussed: the Scripture on the Secret Essential Methods of Chan (Chan Essentials) and the Secret Methods for Curing Chan Sickness (Methods for Curing). Translated here into English for the first time, these documents reveal a distinctly visionary form of Buddhist meditation whose goal is the acquisition of concrete, symbolic visions attesting to the practitioner’s purity and progress toward liberation. Both texts are “apocryphal” scriptures: Taking the form of Indian Buddhist sutras translated into Chinese, they were in fact new compositions, written or at least assembled in China in the first half of the fifth century. Though written in China, their historical significance extends beyond the East Asian context as they are among the earliest written sources anywhere to record certain kinds of information about Buddhist meditation that hitherto had been the preserve of oral tradition and personal initiation. To this extent they indeed divulge, as their titles claim, the “secrets” of Buddhist meditation. Through them, we witness a culture of Buddhist meditation that has remained largely unknown but which for many centuries was widely shared across North India, Central Asia, and China.

Secrets Of The Lotus

Secrets Of The Lotus PDF Author: Swearer Donald K.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description


Chan Before Chan

Chan Before Chan PDF Author: Eric M. Greene
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824886879
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book

Book Description
What is Buddhist meditation? What is going on—and what should be going on—behind the closed or lowered eyelids of the Buddha or Buddhist adept seated in meditation? And in what ways and to what ends have the answers to these questions mattered for Buddhists themselves? Focusing on early medieval China, this book takes up these questions through a cultural history of the earliest traditions of Buddhist meditation (chan), before the rise of the Chan (Zen) School in the eighth century. In sharp contrast to what would become typical in the later Chan School, early Chinese Buddhists approached the ancient Buddhist practice of meditation primarily as a way of gaining access to a world of enigmatic but potentially meaningful visionary experiences. In Chan Before Chan, Eric Greene brings this approach to meditation to life with a focus on how medieval Chinese Buddhists interpreted their own and others’ visionary experiences and the nature of the authority they ascribed to them. Drawing from hagiography, ritual manuals, material culture, and the many hitherto rarely studied meditation manuals translated from Indic sources into Chinese or composed in China in the 400s, Greene argues that during this era meditation and the mastery of meditation came for the first time to occupy a real place in the Chinese Buddhist social world. Heirs to wider traditions that had been shared across India and Central Asia, early medieval Chinese Buddhists conceived of “chan” as something that would produce a special state of visionary sensitivity. The concrete visionary experiences that resulted from meditation were understood as things that could then be interpreted, by a qualified master, as indicative of the mediator’s purity or impurity. Buddhist meditation, though an elite discipline that only a small number of Chinese Buddhists themselves undertook, was thus in practice and in theory constitutively integrated into the cultic worlds of divination and “repentance” (chanhui) that were so important within the medieval Chinese religious world as a whole.

The No-Nonsense Meditation Book

The No-Nonsense Meditation Book PDF Author: Steven Laureys
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472980506
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book

Book Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER As featured in New Scientist: 'Meditation could retune our brains and help us cope with the long-term effects of the pandemic' 'Readers in search of an introduction to mindfulness that's free of woo-woo promises should look no further.' Publishers Weekly 'For a boost to your wellbeing don't miss the brilliant The No-Nonsense Meditation Book, which unites brain science with practical tips' – Stylist Rigorously researched and deeply illuminating, world-leading neurologist Dr Steven Laureys works with celebrated meditators to scientifically prove the positive impact meditation has on our brains. Dr Steven Laureys has conducted ground-breaking research into human consciousness for more than 20 years. For this bestselling book, translated into seven languages worldwide, Steven explores the effect of meditation on the brain, using hard science to explain the benefits of a practice that was once thought of as purely spiritual. The result is a highly accessible, scientifically questioning guide to meditation, designed to open the practice to a broader audience. A mix of fascinating science, inspiring anecdote and practical exercises, this accessible book offers thoroughly researched evidence that meditation can have a positive impact on all our lives.

The Buddhism Secrets of Cats

The Buddhism Secrets of Cats PDF Author: Alan Peto
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781735400303
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description
What if cats are secretly Buddhist monks?The journey into the secret lives of Buddhist cats started with a mysterious note that led the author on a journey halfway around the world. He discovered a hidden Buddhist temple in the mountains that was the center of a secret society of Buddhist cat monastics.Revealed to humans for the first time in this book will be their ancient Buddhist teachings of the "Kitten Eightfold Path", the "Purring Sutra", the "Ten Kitten Herding Pictures", the real reason why cats knock drinking glasses off tables, and much more.As you will soon learn, the "typical house cat" is anything but typical?they are Buddhist masters! Passed down for generations, the Buddhism Secrets of Cats is a highly skilled practice that cats are taught when they are kittens and practice for a lifetime. You will never look at your kitty the same way after learning their behaviors are actually Buddhist techniques!

The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation

The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation PDF Author: Eric M. Greene
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824886860
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book

Book Description
In the early 400s, numerous Indian and Central Asian Buddhist “meditation masters” (chanshi) traveled to China, where they established the first enduring traditions of Buddhist meditation practice in East Asia. The forms of contemplative practice that these missionaries brought with them, and which their Chinese students further developed, remained for several centuries the basic understanding of “meditation” (chan) in China. Although modern scholars and readers have long been familiar with the approaches to meditation of the Chan (Zen) School that later became so popular throughout East Asia, these earlier and in some ways more pervasive forms of practice have long been overlooked or ignored. This volume presents a comprehensive study of the content and historical formation, as well as complete English translations, of two of the most influential manuals in which these approaches to Buddhist meditation are discussed: the Scripture on the Secret Essential Methods of Chan (Chan Essentials) and the Secret Methods for Curing Chan Sickness (Methods for Curing). Translated here into English for the first time, these documents reveal a distinctly visionary form of Buddhist meditation whose goal is the acquisition of concrete, symbolic visions attesting to the practitioner’s purity and progress toward liberation. Both texts are “apocryphal” scriptures: Taking the form of Indian Buddhist sutras translated into Chinese, they were in fact new compositions, written or at least assembled in China in the first half of the fifth century. Though written in China, their historical significance extends beyond the East Asian context as they are among the earliest written sources anywhere to record certain kinds of information about Buddhist meditation that hitherto had been the preserve of oral tradition and personal initiation. To this extent they indeed divulge, as their titles claim, the “secrets” of Buddhist meditation. Through them, we witness a culture of Buddhist meditation that has remained largely unknown but which for many centuries was widely shared across North India, Central Asia, and China.

Secrets of Meditation Revised Edition

Secrets of Meditation Revised Edition PDF Author: Davidji
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 1401954111
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
For thousands of years, people have tried to tap into the stillness and silence that rests within to discover their deeper selves. In Secrets of Meditation, davidji takes you there, demystifying the practice along the way and guiding you on an epic journey into your own consciousness. Whether you are new to meditation, a “crisis meditator”, or someone who has been meditating for years, this book will take your practice, and your life, to the next level. In this insightful book, davidji shares his own journey along his path to awakening and examines the positive impact that meditation can have on your physical health, relationships, emotional well-being, and spiritual life. As the secrets to an effortless meditation practice are revealed, you will unlock the door to your own personal journey and discover what is actually supposed to happen when you close your eyes. davidji shares the wisdom of the ages in an accessible and entertaining style —loosening rigid commandments, revealing the five greatest myths of meditation, and illuminating the most powerful rituals to weave a regular practice into your day. Secrets of Meditation will have you meditating in minutes and living a happier, easier, and more fulfilling life.

Secret Drugs of Buddhism

Secret Drugs of Buddhism PDF Author: Michael Crowley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780907791744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Get Book

Book Description
Secret Drugs of Buddhism explores the historical evidence for the use of entheogenic plants within the Buddhist tradition and calls attention to the central role which psychedelics played in Indian religions.

The Secrets of Tantric Buddhism

The Secrets of Tantric Buddhism PDF Author:
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1609259637
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book

Book Description
Unlocking the secrets of Tantra—one of the most alluring forms of Buddhism Often misunderstood, Tantrism focuses on a particular style of meditation and ritual. Having far more to do with the sacred than the sexual, Tantric Buddhism is believed to have originated around the 5th Century AD in the rich cultural basin of Bengal and spread throughout the Asian world. Today it is widely practiced in Tibet, Japan, and the West. The Secrets of Tantric Buddhism presents accessible translations of 46 classic texts found in the Carya-Giti, a collection of teachings by more than twenty famous Siddhas, or Tantric adepts, who lived during the illustrious Pala dynasty of the 10th and 11th centuries. Renowned translator and scholar Thomas Cleary unlocks the mysteries of these texts and provides commentary for each that explains the ancient teachings in a way that makes them seem fresh and contemporary. These teachings emanate from one of the most dynamic sources of Buddhism, at the height of its religious development. They are completely nonsectarian and will be greeted enthusiastically by those interested in spirituality, world religions, and classic Buddhism.

The Secret fire of Meditation

The Secret fire of Meditation PDF Author: Leonardo Anfolsi Reiyo Ekai
Publisher: Fontana Editore
ISBN: 8898750730
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Get Book

Book Description
There is a spirit winging over the new times of this tormented West, the spirit that always comes into play when dealing with the New Age, or when the devotees of different religions meet and are able to stop inventing proclamations for themselves, preferring to remain silent, absorbed in that Truth that underlies all dogma. Would you like to become better at sales, become a great mystic, enjoy great success, or learn to speak with the angels? First learn to meditate. Do you want to become a healer, of yourself and others? First learn to meditate. Do you want to become an inspiring speaker, but also be happy and free of stress? First learn to meditate. Do you want to develop your powers of seduction and excel at cutting deals? First learn to meditate. Meditation always welcomes us, heals us, and shows us the way: this is our TRUE INNER GURU. And it isn’t just to become better than we are, but to be, right now, WHO we really are. If you haven’t understood this yet, keep reading; if you have, keep reading anyway.