Skip to content

On the Personality Training through Satipattana Meditation in Burma, Thailand, and Ceylon

K. Sato

Japanese Journal of Southeast Asian Studies June 30, 1965 DOI: 10.20495/tak.3.1_15 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Intervention Satipatthana meditation
Topics Meditation
Key findings The account reports that Mahasi Sayadaw's mindfulness method had been developed in Thailand and Ceylon, and that two other methods existed in Rangoon: U Ba Khin's simplified mindfulness of the touch of breath, already visited by some Westerners, and the Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw method. The author argues the latter, which starts from concentrating on pain from hard breathing without changing posture and aims at samadhi and enlightenment through penetrating that pain, is the most interesting and comparable to Master Ishiguro's intensive Zen training.

Abstract

Stimulated by the report of Prof. Dumoulin of Sophia University in Tokyo, the researcher visited Rangoon, Bangkok and Ceylon in the summer of 1964, and studied the satipatthana meditation there. It was confirmed that the method of mindfulness devised by Mahasi Sayadaw has been developed in Thailand and Ceylon, and two other methods were also found in Rangoon : the one, devised by U Ba Khin, and the other, developed by Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw. U Ba Khin's method is a simplified method to the mindfulness of touch of breath, and some Western people already visited him in Rangoon. The Sunlum way of mindfulness, however, is almost unknown to the external world, and it is the most interesting method which may be compared with the intensive Zen training method devised by Master Ishiguro in Japan. This starts from the concentration to the sensation of unpleasantness or pain which comes from the continuation of hard breathing without the change of posture, and by penetrating through the pain sensation it aims to attain samadhi and enlightenment. It should be also noticed that many parents in Rangoon are sending their children to this training center for the purpose of character education.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation Buddhism