01 Meditation Panel Preface.indd - United Nations Day of Vesak 2013

vocabulary, the papers seem like a slice through all the variety of embodiments of modern Buddhist
debate, at many levels. Papers apply theory and practice understanding to many levels of bodily
practice, emotional expression, ritual behavior, doctrinal exegesis, textual examination, philosophical
debate and scientic discourse. Summarizing them all in a fair and appropriate way has been
a difcult task with only a few weeks to prepare the documents for publication. It is hoped, rather
in the Huayan manner, that appreciation of one aspect of one paper, will sympathetically allow some
sense of the scope of all the others too.
A number of distinctive themes and preoccupations have emerged. Growth from creative
adjustments, clashes and fertile exchanges in the evolution of Buddhist practice and theory in new
contexts are examined in many papers. Buswell gives us a lucid picture of transformation through
tracing the history of specic traditions in the ‘Great Doubt’ in Korean Chan, as does Blumenthal
in his investigation of new elements in Geluk Buddhism. Both demonstrate the integration of local
developments with traditional interpretation. The transposition and transmission of teaching has
aroused considerable interest, becoming the main focus of the discussion in Rheingans’ exploration
of the role of the teacher/student relationship in Mahmudra teachings. Another contribution on
Northern lineages and their transmission include Shankar’s study of Tantra, which she situates within
an older Buddhist theoretical perspective. Skorupski traces the transformations of understanding
pertaining to the innate luminosity of the mind, through a number of periods and locations that link
Indian to Tibetan thought.
From the point of view of adaptation to modern global articulation, Walmsley and
Greenberg address the need for an intellectually rigorous integration of Buddhist thought with Western
models, stressing also that such undertakings should not conne key notions in hermeneutic circles
or constricting world-views. From the opposite end of the spectrum and the perspective of different
kinds of practice, Siff, Lei and Lowe investigate ways Buddhist practice can adapt, help and be
transformed in modern global contexts, but as Lowe indicates, with the need for careful attention to
practitioners and their needs so that a whole path is taught. The work of particular orders or groups
in the modern world is also critically explored, with Jongmyung Kim examining the Chogye order
and Mano Laohavanich the Dhammakaya movement - placing their arguments in the historical and
doctrinal context of the respective movement. The richness of various objects for practice is explored
by Negi, who provides insight into the highly individualized practices of the eighteen schools, and
the implications of this tailoring to the individual in subsequent teachings.
Specic practices are examined in a number of papers, and their relative adaptability in
a modern setting. The way theory and practice interrelate in one context is explored by Phyo Kyaw,
with reference to meditation related to the seventh book of the Abhidhamma in Myanmar. Kawamoto
and Shaw discuss areas of practice and doctrine relating to Breathing Mindfulness meditation, with
some attention focusing on the ancient, but still live, tension and interplay between the practice of
samatha and that of vipassan. Nawaboonniyom and Apichai Puntasen examine the subtle
differentiations of each stage of development of knowledge and conduct in the light of the four
foundations of mindfulness. Martini discusses the immeasurable meditations and their shaping role
as a means of effecting as well as balancing insight, providing both the strength and joy for the path
and a way of loosening identications. A systematic exploration of the role of samatha and vipassan
in the attainment of path is discussed through detailed delineation of some descriptions of path,
by Herath. Meyers explores the nature of debates and questions concerning the dhynas/jhnas
addressed in the Abdhidharmakoa, comparing modern and traditional questions raised as to their
content and purpose.
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