Hindu, Buddhist And Daoist Meditation: Cultural Histories

Hindu, Buddhist and Daoist Meditation Cultural Histories Hindu, Buddhist and Daoist Meditation Cultural Histories Edited by Halvor Eifring HERMES PUBLISHING OSLO 2014 Hermes Academic Publishing and Bookshop A/S P. 0. Box 2709 Solli N0-0204 Oslo, Norway [email protected] © Halvor Eifring and Contributors, 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission in writing from Hermes Academic Publishing and Bookshop. Exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism and review. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publisher at the address stated above. Cover design by Torbj0rn Hobbel ISBN 978-82-8034-201-0 Printed in Norway Contents Acknowledgements Contributors Hindu, Buddhist and Daoist Meditation VI Vll Vlll The Uses of Attention: Elements of Meditative Practice Halvor Eifring and Are Holen Can There Be a Cultural History of Meditation? With Special Reference to India Johannes Bronkhorst 27 Words for "Meditation" in Classical Yoga and Early Buddhism Jens Braarvig 41 "Creative Contemplation" (Bhiivanii) in the Vijfiana Bhairava Tantra Bettina Baumer 'Sharada' 57 The First Absorption (Dhyiina) in Early Indian Buddhism: A Study of S ource Material from the Madhyama-agama Bhikkhu Aniilayo 69 Vipassana in Burma: Self-government and the Ledi Anapana Tradition GustaafHoutman 91 Contemplation of the Repulsive : Bones and Skulls as Obj ects of Meditation Bart Dessein 1 17 Red Snakes and Angry Queen Mothers : Hallucinations and Epiphanies in Medieval Daoist Meditation Stephen Eskildsen 149 Daoist Clepsydra-Meditation: Late Medieval Quanzhen Monasticism and Communal Meditation Louis Komjathy 1 85 B ibliography 216 Index 235 Acknowledgements The conference that was the starting point for this book was made possible by generous support from the following institutions : Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Taipei Department of Culture Studies and Oriental L