Lecture 4: Structures of Meditation Flashcards
Different levels of concentration, according to Keown
Dhyanas
Levels of concentration are tied to
Cosmology
The “Four Measureless States” are also called
Meditation on Loving Kindness
Insight Meditation is also called
Mindfulness
Buddhists worked out a system for guiding people of different
Capabilities, personality, and background
In what century does Stephen Beyer’s article discusses Buddhaghosa’s system of Buddhist meditation practices
the fifth century
At the time of Stephen Beyer’s article, how many years had Buddhism been a religion?
More 900 years
Who’s work systematizes all the different meditation practices and makes sense out of them?
Buddhaghosa’s work
Ancillary, or Preparation practices are divided into two major groups - Define them
- practices to overcome problems connected with greed or lust, hatred, and confusion.
- practices that develop positive qualities of faith and intellect.
What does the meditation teacher do first?
Observes the new practitioner’s behavior to determine whether the person is dominated by greed, anger, or confusion.
What does the meditation teacher do second?
He assigns appropriate practices to overcome these difficulties and turn these three negatives into the positive qualities of faith, intellect, and enthusiasm.
What are practices assigned to people based on?
On the teacher’s perception of their personality type.
Buddhists view the mind as _______ but the mind becomes weighed down by ____________.
originally pure; negative mental habits.
_____ and _____ gives a person the skill to abandon negative habits and develop positive ones.
Meditation and ethical practice
The Buddhists term kusala
Skillful
The Buddhists term akusula
Unskillful
What is meant by the term Five Hindrances?
The defilement that obstructs the mind.
What are the Five Hindrances?
- Longing or desire for objects for the five senses
- Ill-will
- Sloth and torpor
- Restlessness and worry
- Vacillating doubt
Luis Gomez explains how meditation is part of _______
A ritual framework
A ritual framework is an important part of “preparation” because _____________________________.
it helps a person prepare for the focus required in meditation.
What things in mediation help create a calm atmosphere?
Making sure the meditation place is clean, making offerings or chanting.
What is the Buddhist meditation practices on loving kindness?
Metta
What skills does Metta help develop?
Compassion for all beings.
The goal of Metta is?
A balanced mind that is calm and open.
Metta is considered to be appropriate for both ordained people and lay Buddhists and can be done?
Anywhere
What are the three steps in the mediation of loving kindness?
- Begins with a focus on oneself,
- then extends it to relatives and friends,
- then outward to all beings.
What is the meaning of Smrti?
Recollection
Luis Gomez discusses mindfulness as smrti that includes attention to what 3 things?
- behavior
- object of meditation
- keeping awareness of the body and mind
What topic is often ignored in Western teachings about mediation?
Behavior
Why is it important to follow the rules and restrain your behavior in a monastic setting?
It is important for the community and it makes a calm space for others as well as yourself.
What are the “sublime abodes”
Boundless states
what are the two main characteristics of Buddhist meditation?
Calm and insight
What is (dhyana or jhana)?
Calming practices that are a kind of preparation for insight.
In insight mediation, what is important to be?
Calm
As we saw in the story of the life of the Buddha, though, advanced calming practices themselves can lead to states of __________.
Detachment from the body and mind.
What are the first four stages of concentration as vital to the Buddha’s enlightenment?
- First level: concentrated thought, joy, happiness and one-pointedness.
- Second level: joy, happiness, and one-pointedness. Thought has dropped away.
- Third level: happiness and one-pointedness. Joy and thought have both dropped away.
- Fourth level: one pointedness and equanimity (balanced state of mind).
According to the story of the Buddha, the fourth level of _____________ was enough calming practice to have the insight into the causes of suffering and the experience of enlightenment.
Concentration
After what Dhyana did the Buddha achieve enlightenment and began to apply insight?
the fourth Dhyana
What are two high levels of concentration that the bodhisattva rejected as not leading to insight into the causes of suffering?
The “sphere of no-thing” and the “sphere of neither perception nor non-perception”.
