Samoumartwianie czy zaawansowana praktyka medytacyjna? Krytyczna analiza opisu wysiłków (padhāna) bodhisatty zawartego w Suttapitace = Self-mortification or an advanced meditative technique? A critical analysis of the account of the bodhisatta’s strivings (padhāna) contained in the Suttapiṭaka
Three suttas from the Majjhima Nikāya: the Mahāsaccaka-sutta (MN 36/i 237), the Bodhirājakumāra-sutta (MN 85/ii 91), and the Saṅgārava-sutta (MN 100/ii 209) contain an almost identical, detailed account of several predominantly bodily practices undertaken by the bodhisatta prior to his awakening. Fo...
| Subtitles: | Self-mortification or an advanced meditative technique? A critical analysis of the account of the bodhisatta’s strivings (padhāna) contained in the Suttapiṭaka |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Polskie Towarzyrtwo Religioznawcze
2017
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| In: |
Przegla̜d religioznawczy
Year: 2017, Issue: 3/265, Pages: 133-151 |
| Further subjects: | B
Buddhism
B self-mortification B meditiative |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Three suttas from the Majjhima Nikāya: the Mahāsaccaka-sutta (MN 36/i 237), the Bodhirājakumāra-sutta (MN 85/ii 91), and the Saṅgārava-sutta (MN 100/ii 209) contain an almost identical, detailed account of several predominantly bodily practices undertaken by the bodhisatta prior to his awakening. For a long time these practices were considered to be merely forms of painful self-mortification. Johannes Bronkhorst was the first scholar to point out their similarity to the techniques known among the non-Buddhists of the ancient India, which he labeled "the main stream of meditation". Bronkhorst, how-ever, thought that the account of strivings does not belong to the earliest stratum of the Buddhist texts, and that is was meant to serve mainly polemic purposes. He also considered them to be ascetic in nature. In this paper, taking Bronkhorst’s results as a starting point, I focus in particular on the descriptions of drastic bodily experiences connected with the practice of "strivings". By comparing them in detail with the recent accounts of side-effects of advanced prāṇāyāma techniques based on the experience of masters of yoga, I point out that these descriptions appear to be very authentic. I argue that the account is early and that it is unlikely that the account of strivings was created for polemic purposes. Then, I try to show, that "strivings" do not deserve the label of asceticism. This is supported by the analysis of their nature, the goal to which they were supposed to lead, and the terms being used to describe them. |
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| ISSN: | 2658-1531 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Przegla̜d religioznawczy
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