The Old Meditation (boran kammatthan), a Pre-Reform Theravāda Meditation System from Wat Ratchasittharam. The pīti section of the Kammatthan Matchima Baep Lamdap

Bibliographic Data

ID19686916
AuthorsAndrew Skilton (Institute of Religious Studies), Phibul Choompolpaisal (0009-0005-0844-2772, Institute of Religious Studies)
Year2014
Volume33
Issue1
Pages83-116
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAséanie (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0859-9009
PublisherÉcole française d'Extrême-Orient (PUBLISHER • FR)
DOI10.3406/asean.2014.2320
OpenAlexW2912636765
LanguageEN
Citations received7

Meditation practices currently associated with Theravāda Buddhism are largely text-based methods stemming from nineteenth-century reforms in Burma and Thailand. Despite pioneer work by a small number of French, Thai and British scholars, there is little awareness in western scholarship of meditation as practised prior to these reforms, and no research into its lineages of transmission or internal diversity. This article attempts to remedy this by describing in detail a single meditation practice from the Old Meditation (Thai boran kammatthan) cycle as transmitted by the Supreme Patriarch (Thai Sangkharat) Suk Kaithuean and currently taught uniquely at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi. This involves invoking the eidetic ‘ signs’ (Pali nimitta) for the five ‘ delights’ (Pali pīti), and moving them in predetermined patterns around the practitioner’s body. We examine the unique and unexpected use of meditation and Abhidhamma terminology employed in this tradition, locate the pīti practice within the broader frame of the Old Meditation, and assess its probable links to Abhidhamma. The authors hope that this account will facilitate future studies which can begin to explore the diversity of the Old Meditation techniques

Buddhism · Linguistics · Meditation · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Terminology · Theology · Anthropology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Computer Science · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access