Can there be Methodless Meditation?
Nikāya Buddhism and Early Chan - A Different Meditative Paradigm - Grzegorz Polak
Grzegorz Polak [+]
Maria Curie Skłodowska University
Grzegorz Polak is Associate Professor in the Institute of Philosophy at the Maria Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin.
Description
Chapter five focuses on the issue of the absence of detailed instructions regarding the methods needed for the attainment of altered psychosomatic meditative states in early Chan and Nikāya texts. It discusses the possibility of methodless forms of meditation and considers the psychological plausibility of such an 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 jhāna. The final part of the chapter offers a hypothesis regarding the role of pleasure in attaining states of concentration.