This class is a survey of the doctrinal contexts, theoretical frameworks, and the practice of and approaches to early Buddhist meditation. The course will contain both the emic/practitioner’s perspective as well as the study of meditation as an academic discipline.
Topics to be covered and discussed in this course include (primarily presented in this order): The etymology of meditation; the soteriology of Buddhist meditation; The dynamics of Calm and Insight (śamatha-vipaśyanā); the role of concentration and the nature of attention; mindfulness, clear comprehension, ardency, and other requisites in the culture of Buddhist mental development; meditative absorption/immersion/composure (jhāna); the controversies over jhāna and other aspects of meditation; stages of insight and the supramundane fruitions; eidetic and “antidotal” meditations; and new horizons in the study of meditation and consciousness.
- مدرس: William Chu
