Meditation and Related Topics

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) – modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

Buddhism

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Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on a series of original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha.

The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in an Ubosoth in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism

Enlightenment of Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, Gandhara.

The Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. Sanskrit manuscript. Nalanda, Bihar, India.

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life with its six realms

Ramabhar Stupa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India is regionally believed to be Buddha's cremation site.

An aniconic depiction of the Buddha's spiritual liberation (moksha) or awakening (bodhi), at Sanchi. The Buddha is not depicted, only symbolized by the Bodhi tree and the empty seat.

Dharma Wheel and triratna symbols from Sanchi Stupa number 2.

Buddhist monks and nuns praying in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple of Singapore

A depiction of Siddhartha Gautama in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha Dipankara. After making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future Buddhahood, he becomes a "bodhisattva".

Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara (3rd century), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sermon in the Deer Park depicted at Wat Chedi Liam, near Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Buddhist monks collect alms in Si Phan Don, Laos. Giving is a key virtue in Buddhism.

An ordination ceremony at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. The Vinaya codes regulate the various sangha acts, including ordination.

Living at the root of a tree (trukkhamulik'anga) is one of the dhutaṅgas, a series of optional ascetic practices for Buddhist monastics.

Kōdō Sawaki practicing Zazen ("sitting dhyana")

Seated Buddha, Gal Viharaya, Polonnawura, Sri Lanka.

Kamakura Daibutsu, Kōtoku-in, Kamakura, Japan.

Statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Phitsanulok, Thailand

An 18th century Mongolian miniature which depicts the generation of the Vairocana Mandala

A section of the Northern wall mural at the Lukhang Temple depicting tummo, the three channels (nadis) and phowa

Tibetan Buddhist prostration practice at Jokhang, Tibet.

Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple. East Asian Buddhism tends to promote vegetarianism.

A depiction of the supposed First Buddhist council at Rajgir. Communal recitation was one of the original ways of transmitting and preserving Early Buddhist texts.

Gandhara birchbark scroll fragments (c. 1st century) from British Library Collection

The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan Kanjur.

Mahākāśyapa meets an Ājīvika ascetic, one of the common Śramaṇa groups in ancient India

Ajanta Caves, Cave 10, a first period type chaitya worship hall with stupa but no idols.

Sanchi Stupa No. 3, near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Map of the Buddhist missions during the reign of Ashoka according to the Edicts of Ashoka.

Extent of Buddhism and trade routes in the 1st century CE.

A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future buddha Maitreya, Gautama Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a monk. Second–third century. Guimet Museum

Site of Nalanda University, a great center of Mahāyāna thought

Vajrayana adopted deities such as Bhairava, known as Yamantaka in Tibetan Buddhism.

Angkor Thom build by Khmer King Jayavarman VII (c. 1120–1218).

Distribution of major Buddhist traditions

Buddhists of various traditions, Yeunten Ling Tibetan Institute

Monastics and white clad laypersons celebrate Vesak, Vipassakna Dhaurak, Cambodia

Chinese Buddhist monks performing a formal ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

Tibetan Buddhists practicing Chöd with various ritual implements, such as the Damaru drum, hand-bell, and Kangling (thighbone trumpet).

Ruins of a temple at the Erdene Zuu Monastery complex in Mongolia.

1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago

Interior of the Thai Buddhist wat in Nukari, Nurmijärvi, Finland

Percentage of Buddhists by country, according to the Pew Research Center, as of 2010

A painting by G. B. Hooijer (c. 1916–1919) reconstructing a scene of Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Frontispiece of the Chinese Diamond Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world

The Dharmachakra, a sacred symbol which represents Buddhism and its traditions.

An image of a lantern used in the Vesak Festival, which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of Gautama Buddha.

He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree — now called the Bodhi Tree — in the town of Bodh Gaya and attained "Awakening" (Bodhi).

Statue of Shiva meditating in the lotus position

Group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind (Chitta) and mundane suffering (Duḥkha).

A statue of Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, meditating in the lotus position

Bas-relief in Borobudur of the Buddha becoming a wandering hermit instead of a warrior

Krishna narrating the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna

Asanga, a fourth-century scholar and co-founder of the Yogachara ("Yoga practice") school of Mahayana Buddhism

Sculpture of Gorakshanath, an 11th-century yogi of the Nath tradition and a proponent of hatha yoga

International Day of Yoga in New Delhi, 2016

Gautama Buddha in seated meditation, Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka

Raja Ravi Varma's Adi Shankara with Disciples (1904)

Viparītakaraṇī, a posture used as an asana and a mudra

The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga and a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique, consisting largely of the asanas; this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments.

The Samādhi Buddha, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Samadhi

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Bodhisattva seated in meditation. Afghanistan, 2nd century CE

A traditional Chinese Chán Buddhist master in Taiwan, sitting in meditation

Ramakrishna in samādhi at the house of Keshab Chandra Sen. He is seen supported by his nephew Hriday and surrounded by brahmo devotees.

The Samadhi of Ranjit Singh is located next to the iconic Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, Pakistan.

Samadhi (समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness.

Venerable Hsuan Hua meditating in the lotus position, Hong Kong, 1953

Zen

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School of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School , and later developed into various sub-schools and branches.

The 'meditation hall' (Jp. zendō, Ch. chántáng) of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji

Calligraphy of "Mu" by Torei Enji. It figures in the famous Zhaozhou's dog kōan

Victoria Zen Centre Jukai ceremony, January 2009

Two grandmasters of the Shaolin Temple of Chinese Chan, Shi DeRu and Shi DeYang

Bows and quivers at Engaku-ji temple, the temple also has a Dōjō for the practice of Kyūdō and the Zen priests practice this art here.

Hakuin Ekaku, Hotei in a Boat, Yale University Art Gallery

The kare-sansui (dry landscape) zen garden at Ryōan-ji

Chanting the Buddhist Scriptures, by Taiwanese painter Li Mei-shu

A Dharma talk by Seon nun Daehaeng Kun Sunim, Hanmaum Seon Center, South Korea

Japanese Buddhist monk from the Sōtō Zen sect

Archaeologist Aurel Stein's 1907 view of Mogao Cave 16, with altar and sutra scrolls

Tablets of the Tripiṭaka Koreana, an early edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, in Haeinsa Temple, South Korea

Huike Offering His Arm to Bodhidharma, Sesshū Tōyō (1496).

Bodhidharma, stone carving in Shaolin Temple.

Dahui introduced the method of kan huatou, or "inspecting the critical phrase", of a kōan story. This method was called the "Chan of kōan introspection" (Kanhua Chan).

Xuyun was one of the most influential Chán Buddhists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thích Nhất Hạnh leading a namo avalokiteshvaraya chanting session with monastics from his Order of Interbeing, Germany 2010

Jogyesa is the headquarters of the Jogye Order. The temple was first established in 1395, at the dawn of the Joseon Dynasty.

Sojiji Temple, of the Soto Zen school, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Japan

The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान dhyāna ("meditation").

Mindfulness

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Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention in the present moment without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training.

Dhyana in Hinduism

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Malvina Hoffman, Bronze figure of Kashmiri in Meditation, 1930s, Field Museum of Natural History

Swami Vivekananda in meditating yogic posture.

Dhyana in Hinduism means contemplation and meditation.

Gautama Buddha

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Ascetic and spiritual teacher of South Asia who lived during the latter half of the first millennium BCE.

Seated Buddha from Tapa Shotor monastery in Hadda, Afghanistan, 2nd century CE

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (c. 500 BCE)

Inscription "The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni" (Brahmi script: 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁄 𑀲𑀓𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀺𑀦𑁄 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑁄, Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho) on a relief showing the "empty" Illumination Throne of the Buddha in the early Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. Bharhut, c. 100 BCE.

One of the earliest anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha, here surrounded by Brahma (left) and Śakra (right). Bimaran Casket, mid-1st century CE, British Museum.

Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha. Sanskrit, palm-leaf manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period

The legendary Jataka collections depict the Buddha-to-be in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha Dipankara, making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future Buddhahood.

Map showing Lumbini and other major Buddhist sites in India. Lumbini (present-day Nepal), is the birthplace of the Buddha, and is a holy place also for many non-Buddhists.

The Lumbini pillar contains an inscription stating that this is the Buddha's birthplace

The "Great Departure" of Siddhartha Gautama, surrounded by a halo, he is accompanied by numerous guards and devata who have come to pay homage; Gandhara, Kushan period

Prince Siddhartha shaves his hair and becomes a sramana. Borobudur, 8th century

The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in Wat Suthat in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism

The Mahabodhi Tree at the Sri Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya

The Enlightenment Throne of the Buddha at Bodh Gaya, as recreated by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.

Miracle of the Buddha walking on the River Nairañjanā. The Buddha is not visible (aniconism), only represented by a path on the water, and his empty throne bottom right. Sanchi.

Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciples

The chief disciples of the Buddha, Mogallana (chief in psychic power) and Sariputta (chief in wisdom).

The remains of a section of Jetavana Monastery, just outside of ancient Savatthi, in Uttar Pradesh.

Mahāprajāpatī, the first bhikkuni and Buddha's stepmother, ordains

This East Javanese relief depicts the Buddha in his final days, and Ānanda, his chief attendant.

Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara, 3rd or 4th century CE, gray schist

Mahaparinibbana scene, from the Ajanta caves

Buddha's cremation stupa, Kushinagar (Kushinara).

Piprahwa vase with relics of the Buddha. The inscription reads: ...salilanidhane Budhasa Bhagavate... (Brahmi script: ...𑀲𑀮𑀺𑀮𑀦𑀺𑀥𑀸𑀦𑁂 𑀩𑀼𑀥𑀲 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁂...) "Relics of the Buddha Lord".

The Bodhisattva meets with Alara Kalama, Borobudur relief.

Gandharan Buddhist birchbark scroll fragments

Buddha meets a Brahmin, at the Indian Museum, Kolkata

Schist Buddha statue with the famed Ye Dharma Hetu dhāraṇī around the head, which was used as a common summary of Dependent Origination. It states: "Of those experiences that arise from a cause, The Tathāgata has said: 'this is their cause, And this is their cessation': This is what the Great Śramaṇa teaches."

Gandharan sculpture depicting the Buddha in the full lotus seated meditation posture, 2nd-3rd century CE

Buddha Statues from Gal Vihara. The Early Buddhist texts also mention meditation practice while standing and lying down.

The Buddha on a coin of Kushan ruler Kanishka I, c. 130 CE.

Buddhist monks from Nepal. According to the earliest sources, the Buddha looked like a typical shaved man from northeast India.

A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC.

Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree, Bharhut.

Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven, Sanchi Stupa No. 1.

The Buddha's Miracle at Kapilavastu, Sanchi Stupa 1.

Bimbisara visiting the Buddha (represented as empty throne) at the Bamboo garden in Rajagriha

The great departure with riderless horse, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.

The Assault of Mara, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.

Isapur Buddha, one of the earliest physical depictions of the Buddha, c. 15 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=199–206, 204 for the exact date |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA204}}</ref> Art of Mathura

The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.

Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven. Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2d century CE. Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Gandharan Buddha with Vajrapani-Herakles.

Birth of the Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE.

The Infant Buddha Taking A Bath, Gandhara 2nd century CE.

Sarnath standing Buddha, 5th century CE.

Chinese Stele with Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas, Wei period, 536 CE.

The Shakyamuni Daibutsu Bronze, c. 609, Nara, Japan.

Amaravati style Buddha of Srivijaya period, Palembang, Indonesia, 7th century.

Korean Seokguram Cave Buddha, c. 774 CE.

Seated Buddha Vairocana flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani of Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia, early 9th century.

Buddha in the exposed stupa of Borobudur mandala, Central Java, Indonesia, c. 825.

Vairocana Buddha of Srivijaya style, Southern Thailand, 9th century.

Seated Buddha, Japan, Heian period, 9th－10th century.

Cambodian Buddha with Mucalinda Nāga, c. 1100 CE, Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia

Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius, c. from 1368 until 1644.

Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes, Tibetan, 19th century

Gautama statue, Shanyuan Temple, Liaoning Province, China.

Burmese style Buddha, Shwedagon pagoda, Yangon.

Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla.

He taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, a training of the mind that included ethical training and meditative practices such as effort, mindfulness, and jhana.

Anapanasati

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Form of Buddhist meditation originally taught by Gautama Buddha in several suttas including the Ānāpānasati Sutta.

Buddhacinga, a monk who came to China and widely propagated ānāpānasmṛti methods.

One may decide to either practice anapanasati while seated or standing or lying down or walking, or to alternate seated, standing, lying down and walking meditation.

Mantra

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Sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers.

Om Mani Padme Hum, a Buddhist Mantra written in Tibetan Script with Mandala Style

Mantras written on a rock near Namche Bazaar Nepal

Mantra of the Hare Krishna bhakti school of Hinduism

Om mani padme hum on the Gangpori (photo 1938–1939 German expedition to Tibet.

Hare Krishna devotees in Amsterdam carrying a poster with the Hare Krishna Mantra

Japanese Mandala of the Mantra of Light, an important mantra of the Shingon and Kegon sects

A Japanese depiction of the Amida Triad as Seed Syllables (in Siddham Script). Visualizing deities in the form of seed mantras is a common Vajrayana meditation. In Shingon, one of the most common practices is Ajikan (阿字觀), meditating on the mantric syllable A.

The mantra of Padmasambhava (Om Āḥ Hūṁ Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hūṁ), in Lanydza (Ranjana) and Tibetan script.

The letter a is both visualised in the Siddham script and pronounced in rituals and meditation practices.

Asana

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Body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose, and later extended in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, to any type of position, adding reclining, standing, inverted, twisting, and balancing poses.

Mould of Pashupati seal from the Indus Valley Civilization, c. 2500 BC, its central figure in a pose resembling Mulabandhasana.

A page from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and Bhasya commentary (c. 2nd to 4th century CE), which placed the practice of asanas as one of the eight limbs of classical yoga

Relief statue in Achyutaraya temple, Hampi, Karnataka showing an unidentified hand-balancing asana, 16th century

Postures in Niels Bukh's 1924 Primary Gymnastics resembling Parighasana, Parsvottanasana, and Navasana, supporting the suggestion that Krishnamacharya derived some of his asanas from the gymnastics culture of his time

Headstand (Kapala Asana) from 1830 manuscript of Joga Pradipika

"Seal" posture from Mary Bagot Stack's Building the Body Beautiful, 1931. It closely resembles Salabhasana, locust pose; she had learnt some asanas in India in 1912.

The Indian Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, joining a programme of yoga for pregnant women in 2018

The Yoga Sutras 2:46 state that asanas, here Natarajasana, should be "steady and comfortable".

Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward-facing dog pose, is performed at least once and often twice in Surya Namaskar, the Salute to the Sun.

Utthitha Trikonasana, an important pose in Iyengar Yoga, using a prop, a yoga brick. The pose requires the practitioner to work different parts of the body in different directions.

Eka Pada Bakasana (One-legged Crane), an asana in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga's Advanced series

Jambhala, the Buddhist god of riches, seated in Lalitasana. Nepal, 1643

Patanjali describes asanas as a "steady and comfortable posture", referring to the seated postures used for pranayama and for meditation, where meditation is the path to samadhi, transpersonal self-realization.

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