The Buddhist Path to Awakening
R. Gethin
March 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1163/9789004644724 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that the "37 dhammas that contribute to awakening" embody the Buddhist path itself, and traces how Theravadin meditation theory developed through the Abhidhamma and commentaries to explain the transformation from an ordinary unawakened mind to a transcendent awakened mind. |
Abstract
A study of a classic list of Buddhist teachings which includes such familiar items as the four establishings of mindfulness and the noble eightfold path. The complete list, already found on the Pali Nikayas and later referred to as the "37 dhammas that contribute to awakening", is seen as the embodying of Buddhist path itself. This work gives a comprehensive exposition of the treatment of the list according to the Pali sources, while also making use of Buddhist Sanskrit material. Particular attention is paid to the development of the traditional interpretations of the Abhidhamma and commentaries. The study provides an account of the evolution of the Theravadin theory of meditation, exploring how the texts understand the process whereby the "ordinary" unawakened mind transforms itself into the "transcendent" awakened mind.
Comparable studies
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| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Mindfulness‐based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology January 19, 2011
- Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology June 1, 2011
- Mindfulness in Schools: Learning Lessons from the Adults, Secular and Buddhist Buddhist Studies Review July 8, 2011
- What Mindfulness, and for Whom? And Why Might it Work? Mindfulness September 16, 2023
- Sitting with the Demons – Mindfulness, Suffering, and Existential Transformation Asian Studies August 10, 2016
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