Editing Theravada (section)

====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" />