The Ancient Theravāda Meditation System, Borān Kammaṭṭhāna: Ānāpānasati or ‘Mindfulness of The Breath’ in Kammatthan Majjima Baeb Lamdub
Issue: Vol 32 No. 2 (2015)
Journal: Buddhist Studies Review
Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies
Abstract:
In Thailand the pre-reform Theravāda meditation system, borān kammaṭṭhāna, is now practised only by small and isolated groups. To promote detailed comparative study of borān kammaṭṭhāna, the tradition of it taught at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi, is explored through a translation of a text on ānāpānasati attributed to Suk Kaitheun, the head of its lineage. This is followed by a detailed discussion and comparison with the description of the same technique in the Visuddhimagga. Some close connections between these two sources are identified and it is speculated that, despite features concerning nimitta, bodily location, terminology etc. that are diagnostically distinctive for borān kammaṭṭhāna, its method for ānāpānasati can be seen as a rational development of earlier techniques advocated by Buddhaghosa.
Author: Andrew Skilton, Phibul Choompolpaisal
References :
Bizot, François. 1992. Le Chemin de Laṅkā. Paris, Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh: École française d’Extrême-Orient.
Chayamangkalo, Sermchai. 1999 [2542 BE]. ตอบปัญหาธรรมปฏิบัติ [Answer the Problems of Meditation Practice]. Ratchaburi: Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram.
Chhem, Rethy K. 2007. ‘La médecine au service du pourvoir angkorien: Universités monastiques, transmission du savoir et formation médicale sous le règne de Jayavarman VII (1181–1220 A. D.)’, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies 3: 95–124.
Choompolpaisal, P. and A. Skilton. 2011. ‘Handlist of manuscripts at Wat Ratcchasittharam’. (Available for download at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/finding-resources/special/projects/hidden-collections/manuscripts-at-wat-ratchasittharam).
Choompolpaisal, P. forthcoming. ‘Borān kammaṭṭhāna meditation transmissions from late Ayutthaya to Rattanakosin’. Paper delivered at ‘Variety in Theravāda Meditation’ conference at King’s College London, 23rd November 2014.
Crosby, K. 1999. ‘Studies in the medieval Pali literature of Sri Lanka with special reference to the esoteric Yogavacara tradition’. Unpublished PhD thesis, Oxford.
———. 2013 Traditional Theravada Meditation and its Modern-Era Suppression. Hong Kong: Buddha Dharma Centre of Hong Kong.
de Bernon, Olivier. 2000. ‘Le manuel des maître de kammaṭṭhān. Étude et présentation de méditation dans la tradition du bouddhisme khmer’. Unpublished PhD thesis, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris.
Dhammajoti, K.L. 2009. ‘The Doctrine of the Six-stage Mindfulness of Breathing’. In Buddhist and Pali Studies in Honour of Venerable Professor K. Anuruddha, 639–650. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
Mettanando Bhikkhu. 1999. ‘Meditation and Healing in the Theravada Buddhist Order of Thailand and Laos’. Unpublished PhD thesis, Hamburg.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu. 1997. The Path of Discrimination (Paṭisambhidāmagga). Oxford: Pali Text Society.
———. 2010. The Path of Purification Visuddhimagga. 4th edition. Colombo: Buddhist Publication Society.
Nārada Mahā Thera. 1980. 4th ed. A Manual of Abhidhamma being Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha of Bhadanta Anuruddhācariya. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
Rhys Davids, C.A.F. 1975 (originally two volumes, 1920 and 1921). The Visuddhi-Magga of Buddhaghosa. London: Pali Text Society.
Ronruen, S., B. Evans and Phaisan Nangnoi. no date. How to Practice Calm and Insight Meditation (Samatha-Vipassanā Kammaṭṭhāna). Bangkok: Wat Rajasiddharam.
Skilling, Peter. 2014. ‘Reflections on the Pali Literature of Siam’. In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research, edited by Paul Harrison and Jens-Uwe Hartmann, 347–366. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Skilton, A. and P. Choompolpaisal. 2015. ‘The Practice of pre-reform Theravāda meditation, borān kammaṭṭhāna, from Wat Ratchasittharam: the pīti section of the kammatthana majjima baeb lamdub’, Aséanie 33 (pagination unavailable).
Thanaveero, Veera. 2007 [2550 BE]. สมถะ-วิปัสสนากรรมฐานมัชชิมา แบบลำดับ (เจโตวิมุตติ) ของสมเด็จพระสังฆราช (สุก ไก่เถื่อน) [Majjima Baeb Lamdub Samatha-Vipassana Meditation (Jeto Vimutti) by Somdet Phrasangkharat (Suk Kaitheun)] Bangkok: C&S Printing.
Thanaveero, Veera. 2013 [2556 BE]. สมถะวิปัสสนา จากพระไตรปิฎก [Samatha-Vipassana jak phra Traipidok (Samatha-vipassanā from the Tipiṭaka)] Nonthaburi: Sampachanya Press.