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Self and meditation in Indian Buddhism / 157
The Stage of Infinity of Space (akaśanantyayatana / akasanañcayatana), the Stage of Infinity of Perception (vijnananantyayatana / vinnanancayatana), the Stage of Nothingness (akiñoanyayatana / akiñcannayatana) and the Stage of Neither Ideation nor Non-Ideation (naivasamjñanasamjñayatana / nevasaññānāsaññāyatana) often occur together in the Buddhist Sutras, also in other contexts. They are known by the name arūpya "Formless States". Independent evidence, from early Abhidharma this time, confirms that neither these Formless States nor the Cessation of Ideations and Feelings (sar-jñavedayitanirodha / sannavedayitanirodha) were part of the Buddha's original teaching, 12) And yet they came to be looked upon as central to Buddhist meditation.
What can we conclude from the above observations? It is clear that the development of Buddhism, already in India and already in the early centuries following the death of its founder, cannot be looked upon as the simple preservation of the teachings of the historical Buddha. Elements that had not been taught by him and even some that had been explicitly rejected by him found their way into the practices and theoretical positions of Buddhism. Other important developments, such as Abhidharma and perhaps also certain philosophical developments associated with Mahāyāna, came about as a result of attempts to order and systematise the Buddhist teachings. These and other factors have to be taken into account if one wishes to understand Buddhism in its historical development.
Similar reflection can be made when it comes to self and meditation in Buddhism. It seems certain that the Buddha never preached knowledge of the self as essential for reaching liberation. Yet his followers introduced this notion, first in a roundabout way, later directly in such forms as the tathagatagarbha. With regard to meditation we can be sure that the Buddha taught some kind of
12) See my article "Dharma and Abhidharma" mentioned in note 1, above.
| SR No. | 269516 |
| Book Title | Self And Meditation In Indian Buddhism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Johannes Bronkhorst |
| Publisher | Johannes Bronkhorst |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 19 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Article |
| File Size | 2 MB |