Religion, History, and Culture. .

Buddhism
Readings from The Encyclopedia of Religion

Mircea Eliade
and Asian
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Readings from The Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade
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22 BUDDHIST
MEDITATION
WINSTON L KING

Meditation as a means of religious discipline and spiritual attainment is not unique

to Buddhism, but in its character and in its irreplaceable centrality to the gaining of
ultimate salvation Buddhist meditation has a distinctive nature all its own. Basically,
meditation is here conceived as a regimen of carefully structured steps of concen-
tration on chosen objects, which concentration is designed to lead in the end to a
"going out" (nirudna) from the eternally recurring cycle of birth and death (sam-
sdra) in which every sentient creature is enmeshed.
The meditative quest of Gautama (Pali, Gotarna) under the Bodhi Tree, by which
he became an enlightened one, or a Buddha (from bodbi, "enlightening knowl-
edge"), remains the classic archetype of the discipline and experience. In the Ther-
avada (Pali canon) account, Gotama thereby discovered that attachment to individu-
alized existence (ta1Jhd) was the cause of rebirth; in the Mahayana account, he
discerned that the Buddha nature is inherent in all sentient beings.

ORIGINS
The precise historical origins and components of the Buddhist meditative techniques
are difficult to pin down. The Pali canon portrays Gotama as having vainly sought
deliverance from samsdra by means of then-current Indian ascetic and meditative
methods. These he ultimately rejected as wrong and insufficient in their extreme
asceticism and in their goal of distinctionless union with the absolute (brabman).
But although Buddhism denied the reality of the Upanisadic Self (iitman), and al-
though the stated purpose of the new Buddhist meditation was to gain an existential
realization of the unreality of the self (anatta) and to transcend an existence char-
acterized by impermanence (anicca) and suffering, or innate unsatisfactoriness
(dukkha), the aim of Buddhist practice remained spiritually kin to the Upanisadlc
quest of the Self: "The Self, which is free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless,
hungerless, thirstless, whose desire is the Real.... He should be searched out." [See
Upanisads.]
Substitute niroiitJa-the going out of, or from selfness and thirst for continued
being-for the Upanlsadic Self, and one has a good description of the thrust toward
the Buddhist goal, as well as an intimation of its methodology. So too, though the

331
332 Buddhism and Asian History
Yoga system developed independentlv of B6ddhism and remained within the Brah-
manic-Hindu fold, the yogic methodology that was developing during the early
Buddhist period certainly contributed techniques, and probably followers, to the
spreading Buddhist movement. [See Yoga.]
TIlERAVADA SfRUCTIJRE
Theravada Buddhism has sought to fashion its meditational theory and practice in
faithful adherence to the model provided by Gotarna in his artainrnent of Buddha-
hood. This model is set forth most extensively in the Majjhima Nikaya (Middle-
length Sayings), but owing to their analytic depth and rigor, the anonymous vimut-
timagga (The Path of Freedom) and Buddhaghosa's massive Visuddhimagga (~he
Path of Purification; both c. 500 CE) became the orthodox manuals of Theravada
meditation. [See the biography of Buddhaghosa.J
In these sources, meditation is presented as the only successful means to attain
full and final release from the endless round of birth and death. The essence of the
method is to so existentialize and internalize an awareness of the inherent nature
(impermanent, unsatisfactory, lacking a permanent self) of all existence that the
meditator becomes both intellectually and emotionally free from attachment to ex-
istence, thereby destroying the desire-driven karmic propulsion into ever new forms
of space-time being.
Meditation is envisaged as a progression through three organically interdependent
stages. Sila, or morality, is the foundation and thus is intrinsic to the whole process.
Only the morally earnest person can meditate properly. As spiritual development
takes place, the central ethical values become progressively refined, srengthened,
and internalized until they become fully dispositional. The five moral precepts
(avoiding killing, stealing, lying, illicit sex, and intoxicants) and five further abste-
mious. but not ascetic, regulations are the core of sila. The monk's life, originally
geared almost exclusively to meditation, gradually acquire an elaborate superstruc-
ture of regulations built on this base. [See Vinaya.] . _.
The second level or factor is the development of the power of attention (samadbi)
until it can attain to one-pointed concentration on a single subject (cittasya ekiigrata)
for long periods of time. The third and highest level of attainment is the fruit of the
proper use of this one-pointed concentration of mind, called pafiflii ~wisdom). ~n
this state, the fully developed understanding of the true nature of samsara results m
enlightenment, the attainment of nirvana. [See Samadi and Prajiia.]
BASIC TIlERAVADA TECHNIQUES
Solitude-that is, freedom from disturbance by distracting sounds and sights-is
essential for the beginner. TIle classic "lotus" posture is standard: legs folded be-
neath the torso, with each foot, sole upward, resting on the inner thigh of the op-
posite leg. The hands rest in the lap, palms upward, left hand underneath ..~he spine
and neck are to be kept in a straight, but not strained, almost erect position. TIllS
mode of Sitting provides a solid position that can be mainetained without undue
fatigue for extended periods. The lower centers of sensation, sphincteral and sexual,
are thereby quieted and neutralized. The eyes are either half or totally closed:
There are some forty traditional subjects for meditation. They are classified III two
ways: in terms of the types of persons for whom they are suitable, and in terms of
Buddhist Meditation 333
the kind and level of meditative attainment their use can produce. Five types of
personal character are recognized: devotional, intellectual, sensual, cholerlc, and
dull. Meditation on the Buddha, the sangba (the Buddhist order), peace, and benev-
olence fit the devotional type; repulsiveness-of-food themes fit the intellectual type;
cemetery meditations fit the sensual type; attention to breathing is recommended
for the angry (choleric) type; and the dull type should meditate on the four "illirn-
itables": loving kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), joy in others' joy (mudita),
and equanimity (upekkba). Meditation on specified shapes and colors (kasinas) suits
all types.
In terms of level of attainment, there are two types of results. jhanic and vipas-
sanie. The jhanic (trance) states, representing the Yoglc-Upanisadlc lnheritancce of
Buddhism, are eight in number (or by some counts nine): the four fbanas (Skt.,
dbyanas), through which the Buddha is portrayed as passing to gain enlightenment;
and four succesive states based on contemplation of formless subjecrs.--infinity of
space, infinity of consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor nonper-
ception, All of these, according to the Pali cannon, Gotarna rejected in his search for
the right method. Typically, these are to be produced on a kast'tJa-type base that is
progressively refined and dematerialized in its perception until the meditator
reaches the attenuated eighth stage, in which "subject" and "object" are barely dis-
tinguishable. Theravada holds that such attainments per se do not constitute nirvanic
experience however; that is reserved for the vipassanic type of technique. [See also
Cosmology, article on Buddhist Cosmology.)
vipassana (insight) meditation is the quintessentially Buddhist element in the
meditational structure. It is devoted exclusively to the intensification of the aware-
ness of all visible-tangible realities, including the totality of the meditator himself, as
intrinsically impermanent (anicca), unreal (anatta), and painful (dukkha), the es-
sence of samsdra. Certain of the forty subjects of meditation seem especially suited
to vipassanic concentration. Meditation on the repulsiveness of food (the digestive
process), the decaying states of a dead body, the analysis of the body into its thirty-
two components, and on the sensations, emotions, and thought process of one's own
body-mind lend themselves naturally to the anicca, anattd, dukkha analysis. All
these component elements and processes are perceived to be atomistic aggregates
dependent on each other for achieving existent form, a prime example of dependent
origination (patieca samuppada), with no real or permanently self-identical "self'
or "soul" present in any part or in the whole. [See Pratlrya-samurpada and Soul,
article on Buddhist Concepts.]
The tnpassana level of concentration scarcely rises above the jhanic preliminary
access concentration. (Access concentration is an "approach road" to the truly jhanic
[ranee] depths; it is a lightly concentrated state in which ordinary sounds can still be
heard but are no longer at the center of attention or distractive to it.) But by itS
nature, uipassana insight is the sine qua non of deliverance from samsara, whether
formalized as a method or not-although in the end uipassana did become an in-
dependent method. Classically, it WdS used in conjunction with thejhanic type,
whosejhanas-"peaceful abidings," Buddhaghosa calls them-must be subjected to
vipassanic scrutiny lest the meditator become attached to them and consider them
nirvanic attainment. But they too are still within the samsaric domain.
The experiential quality of uipassana is not, however, purely negative or neutral;
at its higher levels it too produces a jhanic-like result: path awareness, or the direct
 334 Bl'clclbfam and A8Jao History
awareness of the unconditioned nirodna. When this path awareness is first experi-
enced it comes as a fleeting, flashing moment of sensing the nirvanic essence di-
rectly, brief but Unmistakable. The meditator then knows he has reached the level
of "stream enterer" (sotiipanna), with only seven more rebirths awaiting him. Then
in succession come the stages of "once returner to rebirth" (sakadagiimin), "non-
returner to human birth" (anagamm), and "nirudna attainer" (arabaru). The mere
flashes of path awareness have now been developed until they come more fre-
quently and sustainedly. (See Arhat.]
There is a crowning experience that Buddhaghosa says is possible only for am-
hants and aniigiimins who have also perfected the mastery of the eight jhanic
trances. It is called nirodba-samapam ("complete cessation of thought and percep-
tion") and is the fullest, most intense, and longest (up to seven days) maintainable
experience of nirvanic bliss that can be attained in this life. It is not, however, essen-
tial to after-death niroiitJa, which may be achieved by oipassana alone.
MAHAYANA DEVELOPMENTS
That vast and varied development of Buddhist doctrine and institutions known as
Mahayana, beginning late in the pre-Christian era, inevitably resulted in significant
changes in the goals and methods of meditation. The basic techniques of posture
and of breath, body, and thought control were retained, as were many of the rnedi-
tational terms. But the inner meaning of the latter was radically changed, and the
whole disdpline was restructured in the light of new Mahayana doctrines. [See Bud-
dhism, Schools of, article on Mahayana Budhism.]
Relevant Doctrinal Changes, Four overlapping and interacting developments of
doctrine and practice in Mahayana tended to modify the meditational pattern as well.
First Was the transformation and extention of the Buddha ideal from that of an ex-
alted human who sought and gained immortality in the fifth century DeE to a tran-
scendent being, exemplified variously by the Eternal Buddha of the Saddbarmapun.
rjarika Stara (Lotus Surra), the eternally saving Buddha of Limitless Life (Amitayus)
of the Pure Land scriptures, the absolute Buddha essence (dbarmaeaya), or the
impersonal "emptiness" (sunyatii) of the Prajfiiipiiramita and other Mahayana scrip-
tures. [See SOnyam and Sunyata.] Second, the Lotus Sutra also taught that the ultimate
goal of all human beings was to become Buddhas-implying the later doctrine of
the Buddha nature impliit in all beings. Thus the ideal of bodhisattvahood, the self-
less serving of others by repeated voluntary rebirths in order to serve and save them,
replaced that of the arabant seeking release in nirudna. The great bodbisattoas of
compassion and power, absorbing the characteristics of indigenous deities along the
way, became prime objects of popular devotion in many Mahayana cultures. [See
Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.)
Third, the consequence of all this was the laicizing of Buddhist values. Thus the
Vimalakirti Siura relates how a piOUSlayman of that name, fully involved in secular
activity, surpasses all the heavenly bodhisattuas in spiritual attainments. But though
these doctrines and ideals would seem to guarantee the genuine and effective open-
ing up of the heights of spiritual realization (Buddhahood) to all people, this de-
mocratizing tendency was almost completely undercut by the Simultaneous multipli-
cation and complication of ritual and meditative techniques in some traditions. Ch'an
(Ipn., Zen), with its demeaning of scripturalism and tradition, was one attempt to
Buddhist Meditation 335
break through to greater simplicity; Chinese and Japanese Pure Land, with its repe-
tition of the name of the Buddha Amitayus (jpn., Amida), was another.
Fourth, the Confucian-Taoist influence fundamentally altered East Asian Mahayana.
The concept of Heaven, which embraaced man in an organic relation, and the notion
of the Tao as that infinite primordial formlessness out of which flows all tile forms
of the universe, both fused in many instances with such central Buddhist concepts
as the dbarmaeaya (absolute Buddha essence) and sunyata (emptines). Function-
ally, these became the Buddhist forms of the Tao.
Variant Fonns of Mahayana Meditation. These Taoist characteristics were espe-
cially influential in the formation of Ch 'an/Zen meditational patterns. The Taoist lan-
guage of intuitive as opposed to rationalistic awareness, its viscerally sensed oneness
with reality, its assertion of vacuity as true fullness, of silence as eloquence, of deep-
est truth as verbally unstatable, and of conceptual absurdities as revelatory of highest
Wisdom, were all adopted by Ch'an/Zen and made the basis of its meditational
methcxl and philosophy. The silent sitting and formless, objectless meditation (lpn.,
shikantaza) of Japanese Soto, and Rinzai's use of the absurd, nonsensical, paradoxi-
cal kaan are thoroughly Taoist in nature.
Zen. The styles and methods of meditation in Soto and Rinzai monasteries vary
considerably despite their common heritage. The koan plays only a limited role in
SOto, even though it has not been totally absent from its tradition. Dogen, the great
thlrteenth-cenrurv master and founder of the Soro sect in Japan, allowed that some
persons have gai~ed enlightenment while using kaan, but that tile true agent of that
enlightenment had been their silent sitting in meditation (zazen). [See the biography .
oj Dagen.] He asserted that this was indeed the teaching of the Buddha himself.
Hence the role of the meditation master (rosbi) in SOto is minimal. Sudden, flashing
enlightenment experiences are not deliberately sought; in their placce, a quieter and
more natural inner-outer harmony of thought, feeling, and action is observed. To sit
is to be a Buddha; continued and faithful Sitting gradually transforms one's life,
enabling one to find and develop one's innate Buddhahood and to encounter one's
kaan in life situations.
For Rinzai, the kOan replaces the Theravada kasina, so to speak. Rinzai meditation
does not seek to create either an attenuated luminous form before the eyes of the
state of cessation. Rather, it has as its goal a state of full, visceral oneness with the
dbannakiiya, an awareness that one's own mind is the Buddha mind and a sense of
unity, although not blank undifferentiated oneness, with the universe and others,
which Rinzai calls enlightenment (Ipn., satori). In this sense of "unity-With," one
lives and does all one's work. This transition is seen as the great death of the con-
cept-bound, self-bound, habit-bound individual and the transformation of that indi-
vidual into a full. spontaneously free self in which the inner-outer, conscious-sub-
conscious, self-other, holy-profane dichotomies are organically unified.
To achieve this transformation, Rinzai utilizes the koan. Originally stemming from
informal repartee, the interchanges between famous masters and their disciples
were called eoan (public records or cases), and finally were collected into tile Rin-
zai texts. There are some 1,700 in one famous collection. Joshij's mu ("Nol"-that
is, there is no Buddha nature in a dog) and Hakuin's "the sound of one hand clap-
ping" are famous ones, often used for beginners in meditation. Each student-monk
is given a eoan by his master after some preliminary training. Once or twice a day
 Buddhist Meditation 337
he must present himself to his roshi with his kOOn and his "answer." The answer
and the Pure Land glories as described in the sutra, climaxing in a vision of Ami-
may be a word or phrase, a look, a gesture, an action. On the basis of that, the tabha himself and his two flanking bodbisattuas. In Japan, success in this was some-
master judges the meditator's progress toward true understanding of the Buddha
times linked with the number of invocations of Arruda's name. No doubt T'ien-t'ai's
mind. When the answer shows such intuitive insight that the master is convinced of second method was influenced by these Pure Land practices.
its authenticity, he pronounces the kaan solved. (The meditator's own subjective
Still another type of meditative visualization is set forth in the Pratyutpanna-bud-
sense that he has had a satori experience will not suffice; the master may judge it to
dba-sammuebaoastbita-samadbi Sutra, an early Mahayana work possibly intended
be delusive.) The meditator is then encouraged to expand and deepen this aware-
for the laity. The meditator who would achieve this samddbi must prepare for it by
ness through other koons, which still further break down the person's sense of
scrupulous adherence to the precepts, the study of scripture, and a continual effort
dualistic separation from his world or division within himself, and to apply this new
to see the Buddhas everywhere and in everything. This is to be capped by a period
"Buddha-mindedness" to wider areas of his life. [See also Ch'an.]
of intensive meditation. The sutra promises that if one meditates continuously for
seven days and nights he will assuredly see the Pure Land and Amitabha. Other
T''ten-t'at: Of course, other forms of meditation, basing themselves on various su-
possible objects of concentration are also mentioned, On meditates on some panic-
tras a,nd adopted by various sects, developed in the Chinese and Japanese contexts.
ular Buddha, or perhaps on the Buddhas as a whole, and in the ensuing samadbi
The Suramgama Sutra, for example, sets forth a method of concentrating on the
all the Buddhas and their attendants will present themselves before him. One inter-
various basic sense data and their related sense organs in turn, several types of
pretation of this language is that the meditator travels, by visualization, to the lands
consciousness, and the component elements of existence.
of the Buddhas and hears them expound the Dharma directly. The sutra promises
The sect known as T'len-t'ai (Ipn. Tendai), being highly inclusive in its doctrinal
that these visualizations will be "as in a dream." In the samadbi that ensues, the
and practice structures, also developed various meditative techniques. Its basic scrip.
meditator will not be sensible of day or night, inner or outer, or of any distinction
tural warrant was the twenty-fourth chapter of the Lotus Sun-a, the sect's main scrip-
of any son, "not seeing anything." Some see this as an effort to bridge the gap
ture, in which sixteen types of samadbi (meditation-induced mental concentration)
are mentioned. between the burgeoning Pure Land cult of seeing the Buddha Arnitayus and the
Prajfiaparamita "emptiness" (sunyatii) philosophy. [See Amitabha. Pure and Impure
In T'ien-t'ai, four ways of attaining samddbi were recognized: (1) a ninety-day
Lands; and Nien-fo.]
period of exclusive meditation on any proper subject; (2) exclusive invocation of
Amirabha's name for ninety days; (3) a seated and walking meditation directed ESOTERIC BUDDmSM
against bad karman; (4) a concentration on seeing ultimate reality as (a) empty
TIle so-called Mantrayana and Vajrayana methods that developed in Tibet and that
substantive actuality (chi-k'ungJ, (b) having immediate but provisional existence for
have taken a somewhat similar form in Japanese Shingon are considered to be gen-
thought and action (cbi-cbia), (c) climactically being both empty and existent (chi-
erally Mahayana, yet they have distinctive freatures. Tibetan practice, which includes
ch'ung}--again a Taoist-influenced awareness.
Tantric and pre-Buddhist Bon elements, strongly emphasizes visualizations and
Especially important for T'ien-t'ai was the direction given to it by Chih-i (538-
mantra repetition. Although these induced visualizations-in which mandalas are
597), the school's third patriarch. [See the biography of Chih-i.] He emphasized the
used as a base and mantras as a ritual aid-are ostensibly visual representations of
necessity for balance in meditation and taught the fourth of the methods described
various demons, gods, Buddhas, and bodbisattuas, they are in fact only visualized
above. Chih-i spoke constantly of the necessary presence of two factors at all times:
froms of the basic psychic forces, good and bad, within the meditator himself. These
chih (Skt., Samatha) and kuan (Skt., vipasyana). Chih is the stopping and calming of
the meditator must project into full consciousness, in pan by the use of those man-
thought. This meditative mode produces an awareness of sheer emptiness (sunyata),
tras containing divine-name power, and then overcome or appropriate them. Con-
the realization of the great void in an inner stillness, but by itself too nirvanic-p'assive
siderable attention and effort are expended on the control of the flow of vital energy
and withdrawn. Kuan, or introspective attention to the workings of one's own mind
into the various cakras (psychosomatic centers) in the body, and on the transmuta-
(not unlike Teravada vipassana), leads to the awareness of illusory quality of mind,
tion of the lower forms of energy into the higher. A very important pan of the
a sense of its relativistic dependence on exterior objects, and embodied bodhisattva
various Tibetan methods, often combined with other visualizations, is the strength-
compassion. The proper combination of the two at all stages of meditation gives rise
ening of the meditator's Buddha awareness by consciously visualizing the inclusion
to a compassionate wisdom in which all things and situations are seen as neither
of the Buddha's characteristics into himself, so that in the end he himself is in some
totally real nor unreal. Japanese Tendai, introduced to Japan by Saicho in the ninth
measure a Buddha, and of visualizing the whole world as Buddha-filled and offering
century, soon adopted Esoteric techniques in competition with Shingon, and was
it to the Buddha in its mandala form. But again, the crowning realization is that of
also modified by Zen. [See Tten-t'ai.]
the ultimate emptiness [See also Buddhism, Schools of, article on Esoteric Bud-
dhism; Mandalas, article on Buddhist Mandalas, article on Buddhist Mandalas: Man-
Pure Land. The Pure Land schools also had their forms of meditation, and for some tra; and Cakras. J
devotees, a system of Visualization based on the Kuan tou-ttang-sbou cbing (Amita-
Japanese Shingon has an elaborate, esoteric ritual structure for its adepts in which
yus Meditation Surra). Beginning with the attention focused on the setting sun (in
various deities are invoked and their power solicited. Visualization here begins at
the direction of the Western Paradise), the meditator successively visualized sun
least with the visualization of a luminous disk (reminding one of the Iiminous cir-
(With both open and shut eyes), water, ice, lapis lazuli (fundament of the Pure Land),
cular kasina form of Theravada meditation) into which, one by one, are projected
 Buddhist Meditation 339
338 BuddbJsm and AsJan History
Kornfield, Jack. Living Buddhist Masters. Santa Cruz, Calif., 1977. The best overall exposition of
various sacred Devanagari (Hindu script) characters, whose power the meditator this a wide variety of contemporary forms of Theravada meditation in Southeast Asia.
gains. The final goal is to become Buddha in this very body and this very life. [See Luk, Charles (K'uan Yil Lu), Tbe Secrets of Chinese Meditation. London, 1964. Detailed descrlp-
Chen-yen and Shlngonshu.] non of several lesser-known meditational techniques, based in pan on the author's own
In few of these forms did Mahayana fulfull the apparent potential of its bodhisattva experiences.
ideal of "every being a Buddha," and of a meditative disclpllne within the range of Nyanaponika Thera, trans. The Hearl of Buddhist Meditation. New York, 1975 A clear, authentic
the ordinary person's capacities, permeating everyday life and work. Zen has offered discussion and exposition of contemporary Theravada Buddhist meditation theory and prac-
meditation to the laity, but real progress toward enlightenment has usually been tice. Centered on the vipassanic "bare-attention" type.
understood to necessitate a monastic life. The popular recitation of the Nembutsu Suzuki, D. T., Erich Fromm. and Richard De Martino. Zen, Buddhism and Psychoanalysis. New
("Namu Amida Butsu," "Reverence to Amida Buddha") of the Japanese Pure Land York, 1960. An interesting and penetrating discussion of the Zen and psychological interpre-
sects was the nearest approach to a daily lay meditative technique. Sometimes tations of Zen meditation.
among the Japanese my6kOnin (Nembutsu pietists), Amida-consciousness reached a Tucci, Giuseppe. Tbe Theory and Practice of tbe Mandala. Translated by Alan Houghton Brod-
nearly mystical sense of oneness with Amida. And perhaps the Nichiren repetition erick. London, 1969. Illuminating discussion of the Indo-Tibetan mandala as a "psychocos-
"Namu Myohorengekyo" ("Adoration to the Lotus Surra") as a mantric chant has mogram."
become something of a popular meditative practice. Vajirafiana Mahathera, Parahavahera, Buddhism Meditation in Theory and Practice. Colombo,
1%2. Clear, systematic exposition of the classic orthodox Theravada system and theory of
meditation in the traditional terminology of the Pali canon.
MODERN TENDENCIES
In general, and especially in Zen and Theravada, the trend in modern meditational
teaching has been one of simplification and adaptation of techniques to contempo-
rary conditions and to wider lay practice. In Theravada, this has taken the form of
an almost exclusive emphasis on the less technically demanding oipassana tech-
nique. In particular, attention is given to breath and to body-mind processes, as well
as to oipassana's practicality for daily life in the world. Efforts are being made to
bring Zen out of the monastery and into lay life by modifying the strictness of its
regimen and relating its orientation to the "ordinary mind," which after all is the
Buddha mind. And in both traditions there was been a notable missionary penetra-
tion of Europe and America in the form of meditation centers and temporary short-
term meditation sessions. Some have also incorporated Zen elements into various
psychosomatically oriented self-development and self-realization techniques.
[See also Soteriology, article on Buddhist Soteriology, Nirvana; and Buddhism,
article on Buddhism in India. J

BmuOGRAPHY
Buddhaghosa, Badantacariya. The Path of PurificatiOn. 2d ed. Translated by Bhikkhu Nyiir:ta.
moli. Colombo, 1964. The comprehensive manual of Theravada meditation, considered au-
thoritative by Theravadins,
Chang, Garma C. C. The Practice of Tibetan Meditation. New York, 1%3. One of the few
reliable and specific treatments, including text and methodological sections.
Chang, Garma C C, trans. and ed. The Teachings of Tibetan Yoga. New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1963.
Chang, Garma C C The Practice of Zen. New York, 1970. A clear and knowledgeable exposition
of Zen practice for Western readers.
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Meditation (1956). Reprint, New York, 1969. A collection of Buddhist
meditation texts from The Path of Purification and various Sanskrit and Tibetan sources,
with a brief introduction.
King, Winston L. Tberauada Meditation: The Buddhist Transformation of Yoga. University Park,
Pa., 1980. A systematic analysis of The Patb of Purification pattern, the Indian-Yogic origins,
and the dynamic structure of Theravada meditation, with a chapter on contemporary Bur-
mese forms.