meditation

Bhikkhu Anālayo

The practice of meditation is one of the main areas of interest of Bhikkhu Anālayo. Publications in this area began with his phd thesis on satipaṭṭhāna, completed in 2000 and published in 2003, which has by now become a bestseller, with translations into ten other languages being either completed or under way:

  • Satipaṭṭhāna, the Direct Path to Realization, Birmingham: Windhorse, 2003.  download

– Asian editions: Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2003; Selangor: Buddhist Wisdom Centre, 2006; Taipei: Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 2011; Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2012.
– Chinese trsl.: 念住: 通往證悟的直接之道, Taiwan: Luminary Institute 2013. download
– Dutch trsl.: Satipaṭṭhāna, De directe weg naar bevrijding, Asoka Publishers, 2012.
– German trsl.: Der Direkte Weg der Achtsamkeit, Satipaṭṭhāna, Herrnschrot: Beyerlein & Steinschulte, 2010.  download 
– Hungarian trsl.: Szatipatthana – A megvalositas egyenes utja, Budapest Buddhist Univer-sity, 2007.
– Indonesian trsl.: Satipatthana Jalan Langsung Ke Tujuan, Jakarta Potowa Center, 2012.
– Italian trsl.: Satipaṭṭhāna, il cammino diretto (in preparation).
– Korean trsl.: 사띠파타나, 깨달음의 길, Meditation Counselling Research Institute, forthcoming 2013.
– Russian trsl.: Svatan Research Center, Moscow (in preparation).
– Sinhala trsl. (partial): Satiya, Sri Lanka: Nissarana Vanaye, 2003.
– Thai trsl.: สติปัฏฐาน ทางตรงสู่ความรู้แจ้ง, Chiang Mai: Silkwork Books (in preparation).

This has been followed by two monographs, published in 2009 and in 2010, which collect selected entries, originally published in the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, on topics related to meditation practice.

  • From Craving to Liberation – Excursions into the Thought-world of the Pāli Discourses (1), New York: Buddhist Association of the United States, 2009.  download

– Asian edition Malaysia: Selangor Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society, 2009.

– German trsl.: Vom Verlangen zur Befreiung – Exkursionen in die Gedankenwelt der Pāli Lehrreden (1), Herrnschrot: Beyerlein & Steinschulte 2012.  download

Italian trsl.: Dalla brama alla liberazione – Escursioni nel mondo di pensiero del buddhismo antico, Raleigh (USA): LuLu 2010, revised 2012.  download

  • From Grasping to Emptiness – Excursions into the Thought-world of the Pāli Discourses (2), New York: Buddhist Association of the United States, 2010.  download

– Asian edition Malaysia: Selangor Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society, 2010.
– German trsl.: (in preparation), Herrnschrot: Beyerlein & Steinschulte.
– Italian trsl.: Dall’ attacamento al vuoto – Escursioni nel pensiero del buddhismo antico, Raleigh (USA): LuLu 2012.  download

These two monographs have been combined in a single book by Pariyatti in Washington, published 2012 under the title:

  • Excursions into the Thought-world of the Pāli Discourses, Washington: Pariyatti, 2012.

A follow up monograph on the topic of satipaṭṭhāna is at present under preparation and scheduled for publication in 2013 under the title:

  • Perspectives on Satipaṭṭhāna, Birmingham: Windhorse (forthcoming 2013).

In addition to these monographs, several articles by ven. Anālayo take up various aspects of meditation practice:

  • “The Ancient Roots of the U Ba Khin Vipassanā Meditation”, Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka 2006, vol. 4 pp. 259-269.   download
  • “The Āneñjasappāya-sutta and its Parallels on Imperturbability and on the Contribution of Insight to the Development of Tranquillity”, Buddhist Studies Review, 2009, vol. 26 no. 2 pp. 177-195. (reprinted in Madhyama-āgama Studies)
  • “The Development of Insight – A Study of the U Ba Khin Vipassanā Meditation Tradition as Taught by S.N. Goenka in Comparison with Insight Teachings in the Early Discourses”, Fuyan Buddhist Studies, 2011, vol. 6 pp 151-174.  download
  • “The Dynamics of Theravāda Insight Meditation”, in 佛教禪坐傳統國際學術研討 會論文集, [Buddhist Meditation Traditions: An International Symposium], Chuang Kuo-pin (ed.), Taiwan: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation, 2012, pp. 23–56.    download
  • “The First Absorption (Dhyāna) in Early Indian Buddhism – A Study of Source Material from the Madhyama-āgama”, in Cultural Histories of Meditation, H. Eifring (ed.), University of Oslo, (forthcoming).
  • “Mindfulness in the Pāli Nikāyas”, in Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research, K. Nauriyal (ed.), London: Routledge Curzon, 2006, pp. 229-249.
  • “Mindfulness of Breathing in the Saṃyukta-āgama”, Buddhist Studies Review, 2007, vol. 24 no. 2 pp. 137-150
  • “Perspectives on the Body in Early Buddhist Meditation”, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Buddhist Meditative Traditions, Chuang Kuo-pin (ed.), Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation (forthcoming 2014).
  • “Sati & Samādhi”, in Preserving the Dhamma, Writings in Honor of the Eightieth Birthday of Bhante Henepola Gunaratana Mahā Thera, Y. Rahula (ed.), West Virginia: Bhavana Society, 2007, pp. 89-92.

At present, a study is under preparation of the brahmavihāras and of meditation on emptiness (based on the gradual entry into emptiness described in the Smaller Discourse on Emptiness MN 121), probable title: “Compassion and Emptiness”.

Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā

Bhikkhunnī Dhammadinnā’s research focus is on the historical developments of the theory and practice of meditation from the early Buddhist texts to the Mahāyāna and contemporary traditions. She has published the following studies:

  • [under the name Giuliana Martini] “Mahāmaitrī in a Mahāyāna Sūtra in Khotanese ― Continuity and Innovation in Buddhist Meditation”, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal / 中華佛學學報 Zhonghua foxue xuebao 2011, vol. 24 pp. 121-193.    download
  • [under the name Giuliana Martini] “Transcending the Limiting Power of Karma — Early Buddhist Appamāṇas”, in Buddhist Philosophy & Praxis, Papers Contributed to the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Academic Conference 31 May-2 June, 2012, ed. Dion Peoples, Wangnoi: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Press, 2012, pp. 413-437.
  • [under the name Giuliana Martini] “The Meditative Dynamics of the Early Buddhist Appamāṇas”, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies 2011, vol. 7 pp. 137-180.   download
  • [under the name Sāmaṇerī Dhammadinnā] “Semantics of wholesomeness: purification of intention and the soteriological function of the immeasurables (appamāṇas) in Early Buddhist thought”, in Proceedings of the International conference “Buddhist meditative traditions: their origin and development”, held at Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan, October 26th and 27th, 2012, Chuang Kuo-pin (ed.), Taiwan: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation (forthcoming 2014).

At present, a number of studies tackling different aspects of the brahmavihāras are under preparation by Sāmaṇerī Dhammadinnā: an article on the development of the notion of ‘great compassion’ (mahākaruṇā) and its function in the formation of Mahāyāna soteriology and meditation; a survey of the brahmavihāras as taught and re-contextualized in modern meditative traditions; an assessment of the theoretical and methodological premises and results of psychometric and neuroscientific experiments with the brahmavihāras based on a critical survey of relevant scientific literature vis-à-vis the framework found in different Buddhist texts.