Buddhist Meditation in Tibet
Georgios T. Halkias
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation October 4, 2019 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808640.013.52 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Key points | The chapter proposes that Tibetan Buddhist meditations are best understood through traditional emic categories, particularly the distinctions between exoteric (sutra) and esoteric (tantra) practices and between meditations with and without a "reference object" (sgom bya). It argues that these classifications reveal how Tibetan scholars and practitioners organized their inherited Buddhist heritage, and it treats rituals (cho ga) as an in-between category in which contemplation is integral to performance. |
Abstract
Abstract Tibetan Buddhism is characterized by an extensively diverse corpus of contemplative practices that draws from over one thousand years of Indian historical developments in Buddhist philosophical discourse and experimentation with contemplative techniques. Traditions of Chinese and Central Asian Buddhism also played a role in influencing some of the contents and structure of the Tibetan Buddhist canon that contains a voluminous collection of exoteric and esoteric meditations. The purpose of Tibetan Buddhist meditations (sgom pa) is to progress toward the cherished goal of Mahāyāna: to lead oneself and all others to liberation. In order to offer a general and useful overview of meditations across Indo-Tibetan lineages and schools, this chapter will resort to emic categories of classification, such as the distinction between exoteric (sutra) and esoteric (tantra), and between meditations with and without a “reference object” (sgom bya). By invoking traditional categories of distribution we will come to appreciate how Tibetan scholars and practitioners have organized and understood the rich Buddhist heritage they have inherited. At the end, we will consider rituals (cho ga), even if they are not strictly classified as meditation techniques, as an in-between category where contemplation is an integral part of the performance.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| 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 |