The ancient Theravada meditation system, boran kammatthana:Anapanasati or 'mindfulness of the breath' in kammatthan majjima baeb lamdub

In Thailand the pre-reform Therav?da meditation system, bor?n kamma??h?na, is now practised only by small and isolated groups. To promote detailed comparative study of bor?n kamma??h?na, the tradition of it taught at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi, is explored through a translation of a text on ?n?p?nasati attributed to Suk Kaitheun, the head of its lineage. This is followed by a detailed discussion and comparison with the description of the same technique in the Visuddhimagga. Some close connections between these two sources are identified and it is speculated that, despite features concerning nimitta, bodily location, terminology etc. that are diagnostically distinctive for bor?n kamma??h?na, its method for ?n?p?nasati can be seen as a rational development of earlier techniques advocated by Buddhaghosa.</jats:p

The Old Meditation (boran kammatthan), a Pre-Reform Theravāda Meditation System from Wat Ratchasittharam. The pīti section of the Kammatthan Matchima Baep Lamdap

Meditation practices currently associated with Theravāda Buddhism are largely text-based methods stemming from nineteenth-century reforms in Burma and Thailand. Despite pioneer work by a small number of French, Thai and British scholars, there is little awareness in western scholarship of meditation as practised prior to these reforms, and no research into its lineages of transmission or internal diversity. This article attempts to remedy this by describing in detail a single meditation practice from the Old Meditation (Thai boran kammatthan) cycle as transmitted by the Supreme Patriarch (Thai Sangkharat) Suk Kaithuean and currently taught uniquely at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi. This involves invoking the eidetic ‘ signs’ (Pali nimitta) for the five ‘ delights’ (Pali pīti), and moving them in predetermined patterns around the practitioner’s body. We examine the unique and unexpected use of meditation and Abhidhamma terminology employed in this tradition, locate the pīti practice within the broader frame of the Old Meditation, and assess its probable links to Abhidhamma. The authors hope that this account will facilitate future studies which can begin to explore the diversity of the Old Meditation techniques.Les pratiques de méditation actuellement associées au bouddhisme theravāda s’appuient pour l’essentiel sur des textes issus des réformes opérées au XIXe siècle en Birmanie et en Thaïlande. En dépit de travaux pionniers menés par certains chercheurs français, thaïlandais et britanniques, la méditation telle qu’elle se pratiquait antérieurement à ces réformes reste mal connue et ses lignées de transmission comme sa diversité interne n’ont à ce jour fait l’objet d’aucune recherche spécifique. Le présent article tente de remédier en partie à cela en proposant la description détaillée d’une des formes de pratique de méditation relevant de la méditation dite «ancienne » (Th. boran kammatthan) telle que transmise par le suprême patriarche Suk Kaithuean, une pratique enseignée à l’heure actuelle uniquement au monastère Ratchasittharam de Thonburi. Cette pratique fait appel à l’invocation des signes éidétiques (P. nimitta) des cinq «ravissements » (P. pīti) et à leur déplacement selon des schémas préétablis dans le corps du méditant. Cet article met notamment en évidence un emploi inattendu et unique d’une terminologie empruntée à l’Abhidhamma, replace la pratique des «ravissements » dans le contexte plus large de la «méditation ancienne » et étudie ses liens probables avec l’Abhidhamma. Les auteurs espèrent ainsi ouvrir la voie à d’autres études destinées à explorer la diversité des techniques de «méditation ancienne ».Skilton Andrew, Choompolpaisal Phibul. The Old Meditation (boran kammatthan), a Pre-Reform Theravāda Meditation System from Wat Ratchasittharam. The pīti section of the Kammatthan Matchima Baep Lamdap. In: Aséanie 33, 2014. pp. 83-116

Political Buddhism and the Modernisation of Thai Monastic Education: From Wachirayan to Phimonlatham (1880s–1960s)

This article focuses on the transformation of monastic education in Thailand through its modernisation from the 1880s to the 1960s. During this period two of the country's most prominent monks rose to power: Wachirayan of the Thammayut (Dhammayutika) branch of the Sangha and Phimonlatham of the Mahanikay (Mahanikaya) branch. The former was at the height of power in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century and the latter in the mid twentieth century. Through my examination of monastic education during these two periods, taking the influence of these two important monks as case studies, I argue that Sangha education is not just the inherited knowledge transmitted down the generations to monastic learners for religious ends and the preservation of Buddhism. Rather I show how political discourse can transform monastic education. Temporal and ecclesiastical politics have shaped, dominated and reformed Thai monastic education. This process has altered expectations-on the part of Thai Sangha as well as the laity at elite and popular levels-of what should be learned by monks. Here we shall see how Pali, vinaya (monastic discipline), abhidhamma (Buddhist philosophy and metaphysics), meditation and modern Western-derived subjects became prominent in Thai monastic education at different periods in the broader national and international contexts. This means that both the scope and arena for critical thinking are heavily determined by factors that are not solely religious by nature. Put another way, critical thinking has not been a priority in an intellectual arena dominated by political agendas and has been strongly curtailed by those agendas.</p