Nikāya Buddhism and Early Chan
A Different Meditative Paradigm
Grzegorz Polak [+–]
Maria Curie Skłodowska University
Grzegorz Polak is an associate professor in the Institute of Philosophy at the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin. His research interests include philosophical and meditative ideas of Nikaya Buddhism, early Chan, and comparative study of Buddhism and Western philosophy. He is the author of Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology and several articles.
While it has long been acknowledged that Chan differs in many ways from more mainstream forms of Buddhism, recent scholarship has also resulted in an increasing awareness of the originality of early Buddhist teachings found in the Nikāyas and their distinctiveness from the later doctrine of classical Theravāda. This book is inspired by passages in Nikāya and early Chan texts that can be read as expressing surprisingly similar and at the same time very unconventional ideas about meditation, consciousness, and reality. While due to their unorthodox character, these passages have often been ignored or explained away when studied in the context of just one tradition, the new perspective provided by their comparative analysis allows a more direct reading to be considered, thereby drawing out their radical implications.
This book argues that the unconventional concepts found in Nikāya and early Chan texts are part of a unique and coherent meditative paradigm that is very different from the one commonly associated with Buddhism and dominant in its history. One of its central ideas is that certain crucial meditative states cannot be directly attained through methods involving acts of will and mental effort such as active concentration, but their occurrence is dependent on a specific way of life, state of mind and existential condition. To make better sense of Nikāya and early Chan views that are often at odds with commonly held beliefs about mental functioning and the structure of reality, and to assess their plausibility, they are compared with relevant developments in Western philosophy and cognitive science.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction [+–] 1-27
The first part of the book serves an introduction to the idea of a comparative study of Nikāya Buddhism and early Chan, explains its aims and rationale. It discusses the scope of the book and the methodological issues that are connected with it. It also contains a brief outline of the contents of the book.
Chapter 1
The Wrong and the Right Forms of Meditation [+–] 28-84
Chapter 1 takes as its starting point the juxtaposition of wrong and right forms of meditation present in Nikāya and early Chan texts. This juxtaposition is problematic in that both criticized and praised forms of meditation are states of mental calm and absence of thought, which raises the issue of the exact nature of their difference. It is argued that the criticized practices share a common denominator: their cultivation involves various forms of deliberate mental effort and active implementation of a meditative method. It is pointed out that such practices were prevalent in the history of Buddhism and the chapter introduces a notion of the mainstream paradigm of meditation.
Chapter 2
Calm and Insight, Concentration and Wisdom [+–] 85-131
Chapter 2 focuses on the early Chan and Nikāya passages which suggest that insight or wisdom may occur naturally in the meditative state of concentration or unification characterized by mental calm and the absence of thoughts. The chapter attempts to reconstruct the concept of mind implied by these accounts and discusses the issue of psychological plausibility of the notion of insight described in the texts of both traditions. The final part of the chapter reconsiders various Nikāya formulas of insight.
Chapter 3
The World of Experience [+–] 132-167
Chapter 3 attempts to reconstruct specific views about the nature of reality, experience and language present in Nikāya and early Chan texts. It argues that many of these texts imply an anti-realist view that the world, as we experience it, does not exist independently of our cognitive activities. The character of some of its supposedly most fundamental and objective elements and features is in fact a reflection of our cognitive structure and mental processes. The final part of the chapter considers the relation of phenomenal consciousness to noumenal reality. It argues that the former is heavily interpreted and constructed by various processes and thus its content is not a faithful reflection of the latter. It also argues that some of the constitutive features of saṃsāra responsible for suffering are only relevant within the sphere of phenomenal consciousness.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 focuses on the philosophical implications of the idea of an apophatically described meditative state in the texts of both traditions in which the most basic elements constituting the world of our experience are absent or cease. It argues that the said state of cessation need not be understood as a form of insentience but rather as a cognitive deconstruction of our ordinary consciousness through suspending various mental processes which mediate and shape our experience. Thus, such a meditative cessation may be paradoxically considered to be a form of direct cognition. The final part of the chapter explores the question of what it is like to be in such a state and the issue of its linguistic expressibility.
Chapter 5
Can there be Methodless Meditation? [+–] 228-264
Chapter 5 focuses on the problem of the absence of detailed instructions regarding the methods needed for the attainment of altered states of mind in early Chan and Nikāya texts. It discusses the possibility of methodless forms of meditation and considers the psychological plausibility of such a hypothesis. It argues that in such a case, the emphasis would need to shift from the method in the strict sense to some other crucial elements of the Buddhist path. It points out the existence of fundamental differences between the Visuddhimagga and the Nikāyas regarding the mechanism of attainment of the jhānas. The final part of the chapter offers a hypothesis regarding the roles of pleasure, relaxation and motionlessness in attaining states of concentration.
Chapter 6
Meditation as an Extension of a Specific Way of Life [+–] 265-296
Chapter 6 considers the possibility that mental calm and intense spiritual feelings characterizing altered meditative states arise as a result of a specific lifestyle and mindset and are not produced by meditation itself. It points out that various forms of mental movement are a result of psychological adaptive mechanisms which drive human behaviour. The chapter argues that the Buddhist renunciate way of life can lead to the attenuation of these mechanisms, thus removing important sources of mental movement. The final part of the chapter focuses on the significance of renunciate livelihood and right speech for removing the psychological roots of verbal thinking and mental monologue.
Chapter 7
Calming the Mind through Awareness [+–] 297-318
Chapter 7 discusses the role played by awareness as a means of pacifying the mind. The first part of the chapter presents various forms of meditative awareness of mental processes described in Nikāya and early Chan texts. It considers whether meditative awareness can be conceptualized as an active form of meditation which involves the implementation of some method. The final part of the chapter offers a hypothesis regarding the mechanism by which awareness of mental activities may lead to their pacification.
Chapter 8
Beyond Method [+–] 319-355
Chapter 8 argues that in the paradigm present in Nikāya and early Chan texts there are crucial meditative factors which cannot be developed by directly practising them. Rather, they must naturally occur to an individual. It is claimed in the chapter that their occurrence is not a chance event, but follows its own specific but implicit logic and is dependent on a set of various conditions, including being in a particular existential situation. The chapter discusses the significance of various paradoxes connected with meditation, such as the fact that the search for spiritual achievement can be detrimental to meditative success. The final part of the chapter analyses some differences in approach between Nikāya and early Chan texts.
Chapter 9
Conclusions [+–] 356-367
The final part of this book contains a brief recapitulation of the findings of the preceding chapters together with some final remarks and conclusions.
