Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras

Deleanu, Florin
Waseda University

35^th Meeting of the PIAC, Taipei 1992

The paper examines mindfulness of breathing (入出息念 or 安般念) as it appears in the so-called Dhyāna Sūtras (禪經), by which I understand meditation treatises such as ānāpānasvadi (安般守意經), the first 27 chapters of Saṃgharakṣa’s jogacārabhūmi (修行道地經), Kūmarajīva’s translations of compilations as Dhyānasamadhi-sutra (坐禪三昧經), Chanmi yaofa jīng (禪祕要法經), Buddhabhadra’s translation of the Dharmataradhyāna-sūtra (達摩多羅禪經), etc., which represent, in their main lines, the meditation system of the Sarvastivāda Yogacārins.

I first analyze the compilation and translation process of the above sūtras, which is essential in understanding the historical background of their meditative practices and theories. I then discuss the earliest form of the mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasah) as it appears in such Pali texts as Majjhima Nikāya 118, Saṃyuta Nikāya 54, etc., which represent one of the two practice methods to be found with modifications in all later Dhyāna sūtras. The other method is called the ‘six causes’ (六因) or “six aspects” (六相), and it is a later product of the Abhidharma epoch (the earliest texts mentioning it belong to the 1st — 2nd century A.D.). The paper shows that although these methods were originally independent (not necessarily contradictory), they came to be regarded as part of the same system with different patterns of assimilation. The paper also shows the differences between the Dhyāna Sūtras and Abhidharma texts in their treatment of the mindfulness of breathing.