The Definition, Practice, and Psychology of Vedanā

The ‘Sensation of Doubt’ in East Asian Zen Buddhism and Some Parallels with Pāli Accounts of Meditation Practice

The Definition, Practice, and Psychology of Vedanā January 2, 2018 Robert E. Buswell

Abstract The technique of ‘examining meditative topics’ (Chinese kanhua Chan) is one of the emblematic practices of the ‘Zen’ traditions of East Asia. (We in the West know this technique better as kōan practice, after its later Japanese analogues.) An emblematic feature of this technique is the generation of a sense of inquiry, or more literally a ‘feeling’ or ‘sensation of doubt’. This inquiry...