Dhammakaya meditation

Thai young woman meditating
In Dhammakaya meditation, there are several techniques which can be used in focusing the attention at the center of the body.[1]

Dhammakaya meditation is an approach to Buddhist meditation developed and taught by the Thai meditation teacher Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro in the early twentieth century. In Thailand, it is known as vijja dhammakaya, which translates as 'knowledge of the body of truth'.[2] It is the meditation tradition that is at the center of the Dhammakaya Movement. The approach has become very popular in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, and has been described as a revival of samatha (tranquility) meditation in Thailand.

The technique was developed from 1916 onward, after which Luang Pu Sodh made a discovery which followers describe as a historical breakthrough. In particular, the method that Luang Pu Sodh discovered and developed is seen as the original method the Buddha used to attain enlightenment. According to Luang Pu Sodh, the Dhammakaya, the core concept of the tradition, can be found within every human being. It has the shape of a Buddha sitting within oneself. The most important aspect of the meditation approach is the focus on the center of the body. As of 2008, there was still scholarly debate as to the origins of the method, scholars referring to the Yogavacara tradition as a possible source, but also considering the method might be new or partly new. The method is taught at several temples of the movement, and consists of a stage of samatha (tranquility) and vipassana (insight), following the scheme of the Visuddhimagga, a standard fifth-century Theravada guide about meditation. In the method, the stages are described in terms of inner bodies (Pali: kaya), but also in terms of meditative states (Pali: jhanas).

The method has been subject of considerable discussion among Buddhists as to its efficacy, and also has been subject of several scientific studies.

History

Origins

There are several biographies about Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, from temples that refer to him as their teacher. According to these biographies, the principles of Dhammakaya meditation were discovered by Luang Pu Sodh on the full-moon night of September 1916 at Wat ฺBotbon, Bangkuvieng, Nonthaburi.[3][4] Though he had practised several other forms of meditation in Thailand with well-known meditation teachers, he felt he had not yet accomplished the purpose for which he had ordained, nor discovered the core of the Buddha's teachings. That night, he decided to take a vow to give his life in meditation until he would discover that core. He then experienced what followers consider a breakthrough in meditation.[3][5]

This he would later describe as a deeper meaning to the Middle Way, about which the Buddha spoke in his first teaching. Besides the original meaning of avoiding two extreme ways of living, Luang Pu Sodh believed there was also a deeper meaning of an inner Middle Way, which could only be discovered through stilling the mind through meditation.[3][5][6] Moreover, the center of the body is essential in this process: whatever technique someone might use to meditate, the mind can only attain to a higher level through this center, which Luang Por Sodh precisely describes. This center is also believed to play a fundamental role in the birth and death of an individual.[7] Thus, followers of the Dhammakaya Movement believe that the Buddha became enlightened by using this method, and believe that knowledge of this was lost five hundred years after the Buddha passed away into Parinirvana (his physical death).[8][9] As its theoretical foundations, temples of the movement refer to the Satipatthana Sutta or the Visuddhimagga, among others.[10][11][12]

Since the 2000s, scholars have brought forward new evidence that Luang Pu Sodh's approach may have roots in the Yogavacara tradition (also known as tantric Theravada; not to be confused with the Yogacara School in Mahayana Buddhism).[4][13][14] During the revival and modernization of Thai Buddhism in the nineteenth and early twentieth century CE, Thai tempels in the Mahanikaya fraternity were forced to adjust to new reforms, including the meditation method used and taught.[15] In particular, leading monks in the Mahanikaya fraternity promoted the New Burmese method of U Narada and Mahasi Sayadaw. The Dhammakaya meditation method managed to survive despite these pressures to reform.[16] Therefore, Dhammakaya and Yogavacara meditation are both meditation forms that date back before these modernization efforts, and scholars have theorized that the two disciplines may share a common ancestry.[13][17] This ancestry would be related to Wat Rajasittharam, the temple where Luang Pu Sodh used to practice before he went on to develop Dhammakaya meditation.[18][19] An alternative theory suggests an origin in Tibetan or other forms of Mahayana Buddhism,[20][21] but scholars C.S. Newell and Phibul Choompolpaisal believe a Yogavacara origin to be more likely. Newell notes that some aspects of Dhammakaya meditation cannot be found in Yogavacara practices, and theorizes that Dhammakaya meditation could have been "grafted onto an existing, preparatory system of concentration" and further developed.[22][23] Theologist Rory Mackenzie does not draw any conclusions about the matter yet, however: he states a Tibetan origin is unlikely, a Yogavacara origin cannot yet be proven, but a new discovery by Luang Pu Sodh is also "quite possible".[24]

Development until present

After discovering the Dhammakaya meditation approach, Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro first taught it to others at Wat Bangpla, in Nakhon Pathom Province.[25] After Luang Pu Sodh was given his first position as abbot at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Dhammakaya meditation has been associated with this temple ever since. Luang Pu Sodh devoted his time from 1916 to 1959 teaching Dhammakaya meditation. In 1935, he set up what he called a 'meditation factory' (Thai: โรงงานทำวิชชา) with meditation practitioners meditating in shifts for the entire day. According to a textbook of one temple, this was reserved for gifted practitioners able to practice Dhammakaya meditation on a higher level. The brief was to use the meditation to research the underlying nature of reality.[25][26][27] Since 1959, Dhammakaya meditation has been taught by Luang Pu Sodh's students at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Wat Luang Por Sod Dhammakayaram in Damnoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi Province, as well as at Wat Rajorasaram in Bang Khun Thian District, Bangkok. Of these, Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Wat Luang Por Sod Dhammakayaram have published instructive books on Dhammakaya meditation in English. Both also offer training retreats for the public.[28] Dhammakaya meditation is also taught in branch centers of the temples mentioned, outside of Thailand.[29][30] The approach has become very popular in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia,[31] and has been described as a revival of samatha (tranquility) meditation in Thailand.[32].

Technique

The samatha stage

A topview of the Buddha, as visualized in Dhammakaya meditation

As with many forms of Buddhist meditation, Dhammakaya meditation has both samatha and vipassana stages.[33][34] As is common with traditional samatha practice, the goal of Dhammakaya meditation at the samatha level is to overcome the five hindrances.[35] When the mind becomes peaceful and stable as the result of successful practice for tranquility, the mind will overcome the five hindrances and reach a state of one-pointedness (ekaggata). This is also known in Dhammakaya Meditation as the standstill of the mind (i.e. to a state where it is free of thought). The indication of reaching this stage is that a bright clear sphere will arise spontaneously at the center of the body. The mind should then be directed continuously at the center of this sphere helping to transport the mind towards an inner path, for which Luang Pu Sodh used the word ekayanamagga ('the sole path'), a term found in the Satipatthana Sutta and the Dhammapada.[4][27][33]

There are several techniques which can be used by practitioners in focusing the attention at the center of the body,[7][36][37] namely:

The eighteen bodies (kayas) of Vijja Dhammakaya.

According to Theravada text interpretation, as described in the Visuddhimagga, samatha meditation then proceeds according to the following steps:[35]

During the process of going through these signs, the practitioner may experience goose bumps or other physical responses. Known as piti, this phenomenon is understood to be temporary.[45]

The process of concentration in Dhammakaya meditation correlates with the description of samatha meditation in the Visuddhimagga, specifically kasina meditation.[46][47][48] Although the practitioner may start out with different types of practice, once the mental hindrances are overcome, all methods converge into a single inner path, which ultimately leads to meditation at the vipassana level. The first stage of this path Luang Pu Sodh called simply the 'First Path' (Thai: ปฐมมรรค).[48][49][50] After that, Luang Pu Sodh would speak about meditation in terms of jhanas (states of absorption), as is common for Buddhist meditation.[33] However, he would more often describe the level of attainment in terms of inner bodies (Pali: kaya) within every human being,[4] which are successively more subtle, and come in pairs. Each of these bodies is preceded by several spheres of light.[51][52] The final four of these inner pairs are called the Dhammakayas and correspond with the four stages of enlightenment, leading to enlightenment (arahat). In total, every human being consists of eighteen bodies.[36][53][52]

The attainment of the Dhammakaya (or Dhammakayas) is thus described as the result of a many steps of practice, culminating in the cessation of the defilements in the mind, or, in positive terms, as the highest happiness. The Dhammakaya is considered the "purest element" within every human being, which is permanent and essential.[54]

The vipassana stage

Dhammakaya meditation begins with the vipassana level at a later stage than some other meditation schools in Thailand.[55] In Dhammakaya meditation, insight relies on stability of mind: only a mind that is stable can develop penetrative insight into the reality of life and the world. After practitioners have attained the Dhammakaya, it is believed they can understand birth, death and suffering at a deeper level, when they see the literal essence of these phenomena through meditative attainment. The practitioner can accomplish a sequential shedding of the mental defilements until an end can be reached, that is Nibbana.[33][56] Dhammakaya meditation at the higher levels is believed to bring forth abhiñña, mental powers that can be used for the benefit of society at large.[4][57] The technique is believed by some practitioners to have been used during the Second World War to prevent Thailand from being bombed,[58][12] and used to extinguish the negative forces in the cosmos (Mara).[59][60] This final aspect has strongly affected the attitudes of practitioners at Dhammakaya movement temples, who therefore hold that Dhammakaya meditation is not only important for the individual, but also for the cosmos at large.[11][61]

Discussion and research

Thai school children meditating as part of organized activities at the school.
Thai school children meditating as part of organized activities at school.

Scientific research done on Dhammakaya meditation on the samatha level has shown that it reduced serum cortisol level and blood pressure,[62][63] while increasing serum protein level. Systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and pulse rate were also reduced, as well as tidal capacity, tidal volume and maximal voluntary ventilation. Finally, reaction time was reduced.[63] Psychologically, Dhammakaya meditation reduced clinical depression[64] while stimulating several aspects of self-development.[65]

In the time of Luang Pu Sodh the method was criticized by some for being extra-canonical,[66] although Asian Studies scholar Edwin Zehner downplays this, stating there was no widespread criticism.[67] Discussion within the Thai Sangha led to an inspection at Wat Paknam, but it was concluded that Luang Pu Sodh's method was correct.[68] More recently, Dhammakaya meditation has been criticized as being a simplistic meditation method for busy working-people with little time.[19][69] Some scholars object to this, saying that the appeal of this meditation type is rather that its benefits can be more readily experienced than more orthodox models, and noticing that it is a method with increasing levels of difficulty.[19][70] As is common with all meditation techniques that emphasize samatha, the technique has been commented on mostly from a modernist standpoint, criticizing an emphasis on pleasant feelings as opposed to insight. Such critics argue against the mystical dimension of meditation practice, saying that bliss in meditation is a hindrance to insight. On the other hand, practitioners of the technique often argue how the technique is capable of changing people for the better, and has positive effects in all aspects of the practitioner's daily life.[71]

Swearer calls the meditation form "a unique method of meditation which involves a visualization technique not unlike that associated with certain yogic or tantric forms of meditation, and is easily taught to large groups of people".[72] Meditation in large groups as is common in the activities of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, contrasts with the emphasis of most Thai temples on meditation in solitude. The temple stresses the importance of meditating as a group, because this is believed to produce a more positive force to deal with the negativity in the world.[73]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Newell 2008, pp. 238–9.
  2. ↑ Rhys Davids & Stede 1921, entries on Dhamma, Vijjā and Kāya.
  3. 1 2 3 Dhammakāya Foundation 1996.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Newell 2008.
  5. 1 2 Dhammakaya Open University 2010, p. 154.
  6. ↑ Taylor 2008, p. 52.
  7. 1 2 3 Fuengfusakul 1998, pp. 82–4.
  8. ↑ Newell 2008, p. 82.
  9. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, p. 76.
  10. ↑ Schedneck, Brooke (2015-05-15). "The Field of international Engagement With Thai Meditation Centers". Thailand's International Meditation Centers: Tourism and the Global Commodification of Religious Practices. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-44938-6.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Hutter, Manfred; Loseries, Andrea; Linder, Julia; Frasch, Tilman; Schicklgruber, Christian (2016). Theravāda-Buddhismus und Tibetischer Buddhismus [Theravāda Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism]. Buddhism (in German). II. Kohlhammer. ISBN 3-17-028499-1.
  12. 1 2 Cheng & Brown 2015.
  13. 1 2 Williams 2005.
  14. ↑ Crosby 2000, p. 160.
  15. ↑ Newell 2008, p. 268.
  16. ↑ Newell 2008, pp. 268-70.
  17. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, p. 95.
  18. ↑ Newell 2008, p. 263.
  19. 1 2 3 Crosby, Skilton & Gunasena 2012.
  20. ↑ Bowers 1996.
  21. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998, pp. 90–1.
  22. ↑ Newell 2008, p. 256–7.
  23. ↑ Skilton & Choompolpaisal 2017, p. 87 n.10.
  24. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, pp. 113, 224n15.
  25. 1 2 Dhammakaya Open University 2010.
  26. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998.
  27. 1 2 Mackenzie 2007.
  28. ↑ Snodgrass 2003.
  29. ↑ "Worldwide Coordination centers". Dhammakaya Foundation. 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  30. ↑ Newell 2008, pp. 117–9.
  31. ↑ McDaniel 2010, p. 661.
  32. ↑ Bechert 1994, p. 259.
  33. 1 2 3 4 Wat Paknam 2008.
  34. ↑ Tanabe 2016.
  35. 1 2 Harvey 2013, p. 390.
  36. 1 2 Zehner 2005.
  37. ↑ Harvey 2013, p. 389.
  38. 1 2 Newell 2008, p. 238.
  39. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, p. 14.
  40. 1 2 Chattinawat 2009, p. 57.
  41. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998, p. 82.
  42. ↑ Rhys Davids & Stede 1921.
  43. ↑ Desaransi, Phra Ajaan Thate (2 November 2013). "Buddho". Access to Insight (Legacy Edition). Translated by Thanissaro, Bhikkhu.
  44. ↑ Dhammakaya Foundation 2001.
  45. ↑ Skilton & Choompolpaisal 2017, p. 94 n.21.
  46. ↑ Newell 2008, p. 256.
  47. ↑ Scott 2009, p. 80.
  48. 1 2 Fuengfusakul 1998, p. 84.
  49. ↑ Zehner 2005, p. 2325.
  50. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, p. 102.
  51. ↑ Gabaude, Louis (2000). "Bouddhismes en contact" [Buddhist encounters]. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient (in French). 87 (2): 394. doi:10.3406/befeo.2000.3486.
  52. 1 2 Mackenzie 2007, p. 103.
  53. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1993.
  54. ↑ Scott 2009, pp. 79–80.
  55. ↑ Cousins 1996, pp. 38–9.
  56. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998, pp. 84–7.
  57. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998, p. 88.
  58. ↑ Scott, Rachelle M. (2016). "Contemporary Thai Buddhism". In Jerryson, Michael. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism. Oxford University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-19-936238-7.
  59. ↑ Falk, Monica Lindberg (2007). Making fields of merit: Buddhist female ascetics and gendered orders in Thailand (1st ed.). Copenhagen: NIAS Press. ISBN 978-87-7694-019-5.
  60. ↑ Litalien 2010, p. 130.
  61. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, pp. 32–3.
  62. ↑ Khobragade, Yadneshwar; Khobragade, Sujata; Abbas, Adinegara (2016). "Hypertension and meditation: can meditation be useful in preventing hypertension?". International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health: 1691. doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20162030.
  63. 1 2 Sudsuang, Chentanez & Veluvan 1991.
  64. ↑ Kasantikul; Suttipan; Worakul (1986). "Title unknown". Journal of the Psychiatric Association of Thailand. 31: 177–90.
  65. ↑ Pupatana; Sribundith (1996). "Under test: The Dhammadayada Training Scheme". 3: 8–10 – via The Light of Peace.
  66. ↑ Scott 2009, p. 82.
  67. ↑ Zehner 2005, p. 234.
  68. ↑ Fuengfusakul 1998, p. 24.
  69. ↑ Litalien 2010, p. 119.
  70. ↑ Mackenzie 2007, p. 65.
  71. ↑ Scott 2009, p. 81–2.
  72. ↑ Swearer 1991, p. 660.
  73. ↑ Litalien 2010, p. 159.

References

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.