Bhavana
Encyclopedia
Bhāvanā literally means "development" or "cultivating" or "producing" in the sense of "calling into existence." It is an important concept in Buddhist praxis (Patipatti). The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or metta-bhavana (the development/cultivation of lovingkindness). When used on its own bhavana signifies 'spiritual cultivation' generally.
meaning becoming or the subjective process of arousing mental states.
"I imagine that when Gotama, the Buddha, chose this word to talk about meditation, he had in mind the ubiquitous farms and fields of his native India. Unlike our words 'meditation' or 'contemplation,' Gotama’s term is musty, rich, and verdant. It smells of the earth. The commonness of his chosen term suggests naturalness, everydayness, ordinariness. The term also suggests hope: no matter how fallow it has become, or damaged it may be, a field can always be cultivated — endlessly enhanced, enriched, developed — to produce a favorable and nourishing harvest."
bhāvanā is often found in a compound phrase indicating personal, intentional effort over time with respect to the development of that particular faculty. For instance, in the Pali Canon
and post-canonical literature one can find the following compounds:
In addition, in the Canon, the development (bhāvanā) of samatha
-vipassana
is lauded. Subsequently, Theravada
teachers have made use of the following compounds:
The word bhavana is sometimes translated into English as 'meditation
' so that, for example, metta-bhavana may be translated as 'the meditation on loving-kindness'. Meditation as a state of absorbed concentration on the reality of the present moment is properly called dhyana
(Sanskrit; Pali: jhana) or samadhi
.
Etymology
Bhavana derives from the word BhavaBhava
The term bhāva is often translated as feeling, emotion, mood, devotional state of mind. In Buddhist thought, bhāva denotes the continuity of life and death, including reincarnation, and the maturation arising therefrom...
meaning becoming or the subjective process of arousing mental states.
- To explain the cultural context of the historical Buddha's employment of the term, Glenn Wallis emphasizes bhavana's sense of cultivation. He writes that a farmer performs bhavana when he or she prepares soil and plants a seed. Wallis infers the Buddha's intention with this term by emphasizing the terrain and focus on farming in northern India at the time in the following passage.
"I imagine that when Gotama, the Buddha, chose this word to talk about meditation, he had in mind the ubiquitous farms and fields of his native India. Unlike our words 'meditation' or 'contemplation,' Gotama’s term is musty, rich, and verdant. It smells of the earth. The commonness of his chosen term suggests naturalness, everydayness, ordinariness. The term also suggests hope: no matter how fallow it has become, or damaged it may be, a field can always be cultivated — endlessly enhanced, enriched, developed — to produce a favorable and nourishing harvest."
Buddhism
In the Pali CanonPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
bhāvanā is often found in a compound phrase indicating personal, intentional effort over time with respect to the development of that particular faculty. For instance, in the Pali Canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
and post-canonical literature one can find the following compounds:
- cittaCittaCitta was one of the chief lay disciples of the Buddha. He was a wealthy merchant from Savatthi. His life and character were so pure that near his death, had he wished to be a chakravartin, it would've been granted. However, he turned down this wish as it was temporal...
-bhāvanā, translated as "development of mind" or "development of consciousness." - kāya-bhāvanā, translated as "development of body."
- mettāMettaMettā or maitrī is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, close mental union , and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states...
-bhāvanā, translated as the "cultivation" or "development of loving-kindness." - paññāPannaPanna can refer to:* Aam panna, an Indian drink made from mangoes* Panna, Madhya Pradesh, a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India* Panna district, a district in Sagar Division of Madhya Pradesh, India* Panna National Park, in Madhya Pradesh, India...
-bhāvanā, translated as "development of wisdom" or "development of understanding." - samādhiSamadhiSamadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
-bhāvanā, translated as "development of tranquil-wisdom." It means the cultivation (bhavana) of a broad range of skills, covering everything from worldview, to ethics, livelihood and mindfulness.
In addition, in the Canon, the development (bhāvanā) of samatha
Samatha
Samatha , śamatha "calm abiding," comprises a suite, type or style of Buddhist meditation or concentration practices designed to enhance sustained voluntary attention, and culminates in an attention that can be sustained effortlessly for hours on end...
-vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
is lauded. Subsequently, Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
teachers have made use of the following compounds:
- samatha-bhāvanā, meaning the development of tranquility.
- vipassanā-bhāvanā, meaning the development of insight.
The word bhavana is sometimes translated into English as 'meditation
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
' so that, for example, metta-bhavana may be translated as 'the meditation on loving-kindness'. Meditation as a state of absorbed concentration on the reality of the present moment is properly called dhyana
Dhyāna in Buddhism
Dhyāna in Sanskrit or jhāna in Pāli can refer to either meditation or meditative states. Equivalent terms are "Chán" in modern Chinese, "Zen" in Japanese, "Seon" in Korean, "Thien" in Vietnamese, and "Samten" in Tibetan....
(Sanskrit; Pali: jhana) or samadhi
Samadhi (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, samādhi is mental concentration or composing the mind.-In the early Suttas:In the Pāli canon of the Theravada tradition and the related Āgamas of other early Buddhist schools, samādhi is found in the following contexts:* In the noble eightfold path, "right concentration" In Buddhism,...
.
In Jainism
In Jain texts, bhāvana refers to "right conception or notion" or "the moral of a fable."Sources
- Ireland, John D. (trans.) (1997). The Udāna & the Itivuttaka. Kandy: Buddhist Publication SocietyBuddhist Publication SocietyThe Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
. ISBN 955-24-0164-X. Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" (1999, excerpts) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.intro.irel.html.
- Monier-Williams, MonierMonier Monier-WilliamsSir Monier Monier-Williams, KCIE was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England...
(1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-12-09 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
- Ñāamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bodhi, BhikkhuBhikkhu BodhiBhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...
(ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
- NyanatilokaNyanatilokaNyanatiloka Mahathera , born as Anton Gueth, was one of the earliest westerners in modern times to become a Bhikkhu, a fully ordained Buddhist monk.-Early life and education:...
Mahathera, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms And Doctrines, Buddhist Publication SocietyBuddhist Publication SocietyThe Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
, Kandy, Sri Lanka, Fourth Edition, 1980
- Nyanaponika Thera (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans., ed.) (1999). Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Aguttara Nikāya. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7425-0405-0.
- Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
. Retrieved 2008-12-09 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
- Thanissaro BhikkhuThanissaro BhikkhuṬhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...
(trans.) (1995). Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
1.49-52). Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an01/an01.049.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Samadhi Sutta: Concentration (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
4.41). Retrieved 11 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.041.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998a). Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers (MNMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
44). Retrieved 11 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.044.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998b). Yuganaddha Sutta: In Tandem (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
4.170). Retrieved 11 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.170.than.html.
- Thanissaro, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2004). Karaniya Metta Sutta: Good Will (SnSutta NipataThe Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections:...
1.8). Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.08.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006). Ekadhamma Suttas: A Single Thing (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
1.21-24). Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an01/an01.021-040.than.html.
- Walshe, Maurice (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.