Characteristics of East Asian Meditation
Acta Orientalia 1970 DOI: 10.5617/ao.5347 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that East Asian forms of meditation, though highly varied, are often more technical and less consistently devotional than Western forms and less sound-based than Indic forms. Proposes that defining meditation as a self-administered technique for inner transformation and classifying techniques by the meditation object's location, agency, and faculty are useful for analyzing these traditions. |
Abstract
The aim of this article is threefold: It attempts to 1) identify the characteristics of East Asian forms of meditation, as compared to meditation in other parts of the Eurasian continent; 2) test the usefulness of a definition of meditation as a self-administered technique for inner transformation; and 3) test the usefulness of a classification of meditation techniques based on generic features of the meditation object, in particular location (external vs. internal), agency (spontaneous vs. produced), and faculty (cognitive vs. sensory). While the variation among East Asian forms of meditation is considerable, they (along with Indic forms) are often more technical and less consistently devotional than their Western counterparts, and less often sound-based than their Indic counterparts. In a number of ways, both the definition and classification system suggested turn out to be helpful in the analysis of East Asian forms of meditation.