Editing Theravada (section)

===Meditation===
{{Main|Buddhist meditation}}
[[File:Buddhist Man Meditating.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Theravādin monks meditating in [[Bodh Gaya]] ([[Bihar]], India)]]

Meditation (Pāli: ''Bhāvanā,'' literally "causing to become" or cultivation) means the positive cultivation of one's mind.

====Forms====
Theravāda Buddhist meditation practice varies considerably in technique and objects.<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 138.</ref> Currently, there are also various traditions of Theravāda meditation practice, such as the [[Vipassana movement|Burmese Vipassana tradition]], the [[Thai Forest Tradition]], the esoteric ''[[Tantric Theravada|Borān kammaṭṭhāna]]'' ('ancient practices'), the Burmese [[Weizza|Weikza]] tradition, [[Dhammakaya meditation]] and the Western [[Insight Meditation Society|Insight Meditation]] movement.

Theravāda Buddhist meditation practices or [[Bhavana]] (mental cultivation) are categorized into two broad categories: [[Samatha]] bhavana (calming), and [[Vipassanā]] bhavana (investigation, insight).<ref group="web">{{Citation |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3558.pali |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711062331/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3558.pali |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 July 2012 |title=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary |publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu |access-date=17 August 2012 }}</ref> Originally these referred to effects or qualities of meditation, but after the time of [[Buddhaghosa]], they also referred to two distinct meditation types or paths (''yāna'').<ref>Crosby, 2013, 139–140.</ref><ref name="Vajiranāṇa-Mahathera">Vajiranāṇa Mahathera (author), Allan R. Bomhard (editor) (20100, ''Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice'', p. 270.</ref><ref group="web" name="supramundane">[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html Henepola Gunaratana, ''The Jhanas in Theravāda Buddhist Meditation''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709025909/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html |date=9 July 2018 }}.</ref>

''[[Samatha]]'' ("calm") consists of meditation techniques in which the mind is focused on a single object, thought, or gatha, leading to ''[[Samādhi]]'''. In traditional Theravāda it is considered to be the base for ''vipassanā'' ("insight"). In the Theravāda-tradition, as early as the [[Nikāya|Pāli Nikayas]], the four ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|jhānas]]'' are regarded as a ''samatha''-practice. The eighth and final step of the Eightfold Path, Right Samadhi, is often defined as the four jhanas.<ref>Henepola Gunaratana, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation, 1995.</ref> In the [[Nikāya|Pāli Nikayas]], Jhānas are described as preceding the awakening insight of the Buddha, which turned him into an awakened being.<ref group="web">{{Citation |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html|title=A Sketch of the Buddha's Life|publisher=Access to Insight|access-date=26 March 2009}}</ref> Yet the interpretation of ''jhana'' as single-pointed concentration and calm may be a later re-interpretation in which the original aim of ''jhana'' was lost.{{sfn|Polak|2011}}

''Vipassana'' ("insight", "clear seeing") refers to practices that aim to develop an inner understanding or knowledge of the nature of phenomena (''dhammas''), especially the characteristics of ''[[dukkha]]'', ''[[anatta]]'' and ''[[anicca]]'', which are seen as being universally applicable to all constructed phenomena (''sankhata-dhammas''). ''Vipassana'' is also described as insight into [[Pratītyasamutpāda|dependent origination]], the [[Skandha|five aggregates]], the [[Ayatana|sense spheres]] and the [[Four Noble Truths]].<ref name=":10">[[Nyanaponika Thera|Nyanaponika]], The Heart of Buddhist meditation, Buddhist publication Society, 2005, p. 40.</ref><ref name="Vajiranāṇa-Mahathera" /> It is the primary focus of the modernist Burmese Vipassana movement. In western countries it is complemented with the [[Brahmavihara|four divine abidings]], the development of loving-kindness and compassion.{{sfn|Fronsdal|1998}}<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 149.</ref>

''Vipassana'' practice begins with the preparatory stage, the practice of ''[[Śīla|sila]]'', morality, giving up worldly thoughts and desires.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|pp=54–55}}<ref>Mahāsi Sayādaw, ''Manual of Insight'', Chapter 5.</ref> The practitioner then engages in ''[[anapanasati]]'', mindfulness of breathing, which is described in the [[Satipatthana Sutta]] as going into the forest and sitting beneath a tree and then simply to watch the breath. If the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short.<ref>Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta No. 118, Section No. 2, translated from the Pali.</ref><ref>[[Satipatthana Sutta]].</ref> In the "New Burmese Method" the practitioner [[Sati (Buddhism)|pays attention]] to any arising mental or physical phenomenon, engaging in [[vitaka]], noting or naming physical and mental phenomena ("breathing, breathing"), without engaging the phenomenon with conceptual thinking.<ref name="Practical">Mahasi Sayadaw, ''Practical Vipassana Instructions''.</ref><ref>Bhante Bodhidhamma, [https://buddhismnow.com/2013/09/12/vipassana-as-taught-by-the-mahasi-sayadaw-of-burma/ ''Vipassana as taught by The Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324061800/https://buddhismnow.com/2013/09/12/vipassana-as-taught-by-the-mahasi-sayadaw-of-burma/ |date=24 March 2019 }}.</ref> By noticing the arising of physical and mental phenomena the meditator becomes aware of how sense impressions arise from the contact between the senses and physical and mental phenomena,<ref name="Practical"/> as described in the five ''[[skandhas]]'' and ''[[paṭiccasamuppāda]]''. The practitioner also becomes aware of the perpetual changes involved in breathing, and the arising and passing away of mindfulness.<ref name="Art"/> This noticing is accompanied by reflections on [[paṭiccasamuppāda|causation]] and other Buddhist teachings, leading to insight into [[dukkha]], [[anatta]], and [[anicca]].<ref>Mahasi Sayadaw, ''Practical Vipassana Instructions'', pp. 22–27.</ref><ref name="Art">{{Citation |url=http://www.dhamma.org/en/art.shtml |title=The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation |publisher=Dhamma.org |access-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> When the three characteristics have been comprehended, reflection subdues and the process of noticing accelerates, noting phenomena in general without necessarily naming them.<ref>PVI, p. 28.</ref>{{sfn|Nyanaponika|1998}}{{sfn|Gombrich|1997|p=133}}

According to Vajiranāṇa Mahathera, writing from a traditional and text-based point of view, in the Pāli Canon whether one begins the practice by way of samatha or by way of vipassanā is generally seen as depending on one's temperament. According to Vajiranāṇa Mahathera, it is generally held that there are two kinds of individuals. Those of a passionate disposition (or those who enter the path by faith) attain Arahatship through vipassanā preceded by samatha. Those of a skeptical disposition (or those who enter by way of wisdom or the intellect) achieve it through samatha preceded by vipassanā.<ref name="Vajiranāṇa-Mahathera"/>

====Aims of meditation====
[[File:Portrait of Ajahn Mun.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ajahn Mun, a key figure in the founding of the [[Thai Forest Tradition]], is widely considered to have been an Arahant in Thailand.<ref>Gethin, Rupert, The Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, p. 234.</ref>]]

Traditionally, the ultimate goal of the practice is to achieve mundane and supramundane wisdom. Mundane wisdom is the insight in the [[three marks of existence]].<ref group="web" name="supramundane" /> The development of this insight leads to four supramundane paths and fruits, these experiences consist a direct apprehension of Nibbana.<ref name="supramundane2" group="web">{{Citation |last=Gunaratana |first=Henepola |title= The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation |url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html |website=[[Access to Insight]] |date=1995 |access-date=13 March 2020}}</ref> Supramundane (''lokuttara)'' wisdom refers to that which transcends the world of [[Saṃsāra|samsara]].<ref group="web" name="supramundane2" />

Apart from [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|nibbana]], there are various reasons why traditional Theravāda Buddhism advocates meditation, including a good [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]], [[Ṛddhi|supranormal powers]], combating fear and preventing danger. Recent modernist Theravādins have tended to focus on the [[Research on meditation|psychological benefits]] and psychological [[well-being]].<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 156.</ref>

====Historical development and sources====
The practice of Theravāda meditation can be traced back to the 5th century exegete [[Buddhaghosa]], who systematized the classic Theravāda meditation, dividing them into samatha and vipassana types and listing [[Kammaṭṭhāna|40 different forms]] (known as "''kammaṭṭhānas''", "workplaces") in his magnum opus, the [[Visuddhimagga]].<ref>Buddhaghosa & Nanamoli (1999), pp.&nbsp;90–91 (II, 27–28, "Development in Brief"), 110ff. (starting with III, 104, "enumeration"). &nbsp;It can also be found sprinkled earlier in this text as on p. 18 (I, 39, v. 2) and p. 39 (I, 107). &nbsp;Throughout Nanamoli translates this term as "meditation subject."</ref><ref>Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, p. 141.</ref> This text has remained central for the study and practice of Theravāda meditation. Buddhaghosa's commentary on the [[Satipatthana Sutta|''Satipatthana sutta'']] ("Bases of mindfulness discourse"), as well as the source text itself, are also another important source for meditation in this tradition.<ref name="crosby2013">Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, p. 145.</ref> Buddhaghosa's work drew heavily on the Pali suttas as well as the Pali [[Abhidharma|Abhidhamma]]. Kate Crosby notes that Buddhaghosa's work also "explicitly refers to the contemporaneous existence of secret meditation manuals but not to their content."<ref name="crosby2013" />

Regarding post Visuddhimagga Theravāda meditation, according to Kate Crosby, <blockquote>In the period between the Visuddhimagga and the present, there have been numerous meditation texts, both manuals and descriptive treatises. Many of the texts found in manuscript collections relate to meditation, some on a single, simple subject such as the recollection of the qualities of the Buddha, others more complex. Little research has been done to assess their variety. One difficulty is that meditation manuals as such are often in a mixture of a classical language, that is, Pali, and a vernacular that may or may not be a currently used language. Also, actual manuals often contain prompts or reminders rather than an in-depth explanation. In recent years it has emerged that there is still extant a relatively high number of manuals and related texts pertaining to a system of meditation called – among other things – borān kammaṭṭhāna or yogāvacara. Its core text, the Mūla-kammaṭṭhāna "original, fundamental or basic meditation practice," circulated under a number of different titles, or without a title, throughout the Tai–Lao–Khmer and Sri Lankan Buddhist worlds. Some versions of this text are simple lists of kammaṭṭhāna and from that perspective look entirely in accord with the Visuddhimagga or Theravada Abhidhamma texts. Other versions contain extensive narratives, explanations of symbolism, and of the somatic locations involved in the practice that make it clear that we are dealing with techniques of practice not described in the Canon or Visuddhimagga.<ref name="crosby2013"/></blockquote>According to Crosby, the esoteric borān kammaṭṭhāna or yogāvacara meditation tradition was the dominant form of meditation in the Theravāda world during the 18th century, and may date as far back as the 16th century. Crosby notes that this tradition of meditation involved a rich collection of symbols, somatic methods and visualizations which included "the physical internalisation or manifestation of aspects of the Theravada path by incorporating them at points in the body between the nostril and navel."<ref>Crosby et al. ''The Sutta on Understanding Death in the Transmission of Bora ̄n Meditation From Siam to the Kandyan Court.'' J Indian Philos (2012) 40:177–198 {{doi|10.1007/s10781-011-9151-y}}</ref> In spite of the novel elements in this meditation tradition, close study of borān kammaṭṭhāna texts reveals that they are closely connected to Theravada Abhidhamma and the works of Buddhaghosa.<ref>Andrew Skilton; Phibul ChoomPolPaisal. ''The Ancient Theravāda Meditation System, Borān Kammaṭṭhāna: Ānāpānasati or 'Mindfulness of The Breath' in Kammatthan Majjima Baeb Lamdub.'' Buddhist Studies Review 0256-2897.</ref> Modernist reforms which emphasized Pali Canon study, a shift in state support to other traditions and modern wars in Indochina led to this tradition's decline, and it now only survives in a few Cambodian and Thai temples.<ref name=":7">Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, p. 157.</ref> 
[[File:Mahasi Sayadaw.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Mahasi Sayadaw]]]]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Theravāda world saw a modernist revival and reinvention of meditation practice, as exemplified by the Burmese Vipassana movement.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=890}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008|p=189}} According to Buswell ''vipassana,'' "appears to have fallen out of practice" by the 10th century, due to the belief that Buddhism had degenerated, and that liberation was no longer attainable until the coming of ''Maitreya''.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=889}} The practice was revived in Myanmar (Burma) in the 18th century by [[Medawi]] (1728–1816) and by later figures such as [[Ledi Sayadaw]] and [[Mahasi Sayadaw|Mahāsī Sayadaw]] during the 19th and 20th centuries. These Burmese figures re-invented ''vipassana''-meditation and developed simplified meditation techniques, based on the ''[[Satipatthana sutta]]'', the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'', and other texts, emphasizing ''[[satipatthana]]'' and bare insight.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=890}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008|p=189}} These techniques were globally popularized by the [[Vipassana movement]] in the second half of the 20th century.

Similar revival movements developed in [[Thailand]], such as the Thai forest tradition and Dhammakaya meditation. These traditions are influenced by the older borān kammaṭṭhāna forms.<ref>Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, pp. 160, 166.</ref> Thailand and Cambodia also saw attempts to preserve and revive the ancient "borān kammaṭṭhāna" tradition of meditation.<ref>Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, p. 146.</ref> In Sri Lanka, the new Buddhist traditions of the [[Amarapura Nikaya|Amarapura]] and [[Ramanna Nikaya|Rāmañña Nikāyas]] developed their own meditation forms based on the Pali Suttas, the Visuddhimagga, and other manuals, while borān kammaṭṭhāna mostly disappeared by the end of the 19th century.<ref>Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity,'' John Wiley & Sons, p. 164.</ref>

Though the ''Vipassana movement'' has popularised meditation both in traditional Theravāda countries among the laity, and in western countries, "meditation plays a minor if not negligible role in the lives of the majority of Theravāda monks."{{sfn|Sharf|1995|p=242}}{{sfn|Crosby|2013|p=147}}<ref name="Braun2014" group="web" /> Meditation is especially popular laypersons,{{sfn|Sharf|1995}} especially during special religious holidays or in their old age, when they have more free time to spend at the temple.{{sfn|Crosby|2013|p=147}} Buddhist modernists tend to present Buddhism as rational and scientific, and this has also affected how Vipassana meditation has been taught and presented. This has led in some quarters to a playing down of older non-empirical elements of Theravāda, associated with '[[superstition]]'.<ref>Crosby, 2013, 142.</ref> Strains of older, traditional Theravāda meditation known as "borān kammaṭṭhāna" still exist, but this tradition has mostly been eclipsed by the [[Buddhist modernism|Buddhist modernist]] meditation movements.<ref name=":7" />