The ‘Sensation of Doubt’ in East Asian Zen Buddhism and Some Parallels with Pāli Accounts of Meditation Practice
Robert E. Buswell
The Definition, Practice, and Psychology of Vedanā January 2, 2018 DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2018.1443556 (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 | Argues that the 'sensation of doubt' in kanhua Chan practice may involve physical sensations analogous to pīti/prīti, and proposes that where prīti is not a discrete dharma it might best be classified as a type of otherworldly vedanā 'free from carnality'. Suggests that the questioning dimension in Pāli commentarial satipaṭṭhāna practice parallels the Zen notion of 'doubt'. |
Abstract
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 creates an intense introspective focus that, in some strands of the practice, may be accompanied by palpable physical sensations; these sensations seem to be analogous to the experience of ‘excitation’ or ‘rapture’ (P. pīti, Skt. prīti) described in contemporary samatha/śamatha and vipassanā/vipaśyanā practice. I explore the treatment of prīti in Abhidharma theory and suggest that, where prīti is not classified as a discrete dharma, it might best be classified as a type of otherworldly vedanā that is ‘free from carnality’ (nirāmisa-vedanā/nirāmiṣa-vedanā). I conclude with a discussion of an explicit questioning dimension in commentarial discussions of satipaṭṭhāna practice in the Pāli tradition, where inquiring ‘Who goes? Whose is this going?’ helps to transform the act of walking into an act of mindfulness. This questioning dimension suggests possible parallels with the Zen notion of ‘doubt’.
Comparable studies
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| 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 |