Self And Meditation In Indian Buddhism

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

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Self and meditation in Indian Buddhism / 141
Self and meditation in Indian Buddhisml)
Johannes Bronkhorst Section de langues et civilisations orientales
Université de Lausanne
In order to understand the ideas on the self and on meditation in early Buddhism and in some other contemporary Indian religions, one has to take into consideration the doctrine of karma as it existed at that time. This doctrine is older than Buddhism, and constitutes the background for other religious movements of ancient India besides Buddhism. There are few records describing the doctrine of karma in its earliest form, but the evidence we have supports the following presentation.
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This article draws heavily on my earlier publications, esp. The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India (2nd edition, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1993); The Two Sources of Indian Asceticism (Peter Lang, Bern, 1993: 2nd edition, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1998, forthcoming): "The Buddha and the Jainas reconsidered" (AS 49(2), 1995, 333-350): "Dharma and Abhidharma" (BSOAS 48 (1985), pp. 305-320): "Remarks on the history of Jaina meditation" (Jain Studies in Honour of Jozef Deleu, ed. Rudy Smet and Kenji Watanabe, Tokyo: Hon-no-Tomosha, 1993, pp. 151-162); "Die Buddhistische Lehre" (Der indische Buddhismus und seine Verzweigungen, Die Religionen der Menschheit, vol. 24, 1. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, forthcoming); "Did the Buddha believe in karma and rebirth?" (JIABS 21(1), 1998, forthcoming); "Zur Genese des Buddhismus in seinem geschichtlichen Kontext. Proprium - Abgrenzung gegenüber hinduistischen Traditionen und Jinismus" (Der Buddhismus als Anfrage an christliche Theologie und Philosophie, ed. Andreas Bsteh, Mödling: St. Gabriel, forthcoming). These publications contain full references to the original texts.