Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga

Conclusion

REDEFINING THE STUDY OF MEDITATION Over the preceding pages two principal aims have been accomplished. The first was the development of a more satisfactory methodology for the study of meditation, and the second was the demonstration of the utility of such a methodology in concrete cases. The methodology developed in this study has been described as a new approach to phenomenology and has been applied at length to the practices of dhya\na and sama\dhi developed in the context of the Classical Yoga and Buddhist meditation systems. The concept of sama\dhi has been delineated as the conjunction of the meditative modalities of sama\patti and nirodha, paralleling our notions of numinous versus cessative religious phenomena in the broader context of yoga. The insights into the concept of sama\dhi obtained through this analysis demonstrate the validity and usefulness of integrating the psychological-phenomenological and the sociological approaches to the study of religious practice and experience. This development has had concrete ramifications in our understanding of the relationship between the Classical Yoga system of Patañjali and Indian Buddhism. This was demonstrated most notably through identifying common conceptions of the connection between meditation, cosmology, and divinity that have not been recognized previously—in particular, the relationship between the Brahma\ divinities and meditative attainment found in both the Hindu and Buddhist contexts. We also have deepened our understanding of the manner in which meditation theory exists in a continuum between scholastic and yogic application and the manner in which text and tradition are adapted to suit a changing social and cultural context. A further element of significance 127 CONCLUSION Meditation, Phenomenology, and the Concept of Sama\dhi that has emerged is the relationship between numinous and cessative conceptions of liberation in the meditative context and their formalization in religious ideals such as kaivalya and buddhahood. We have noted at length the manner in which the numinous dimensions of both Buddhism and Classical Yoga have played a significant, if not crucial, role in the development of meditative praxis, a reality that has been largely overlooked by scholarship in this area and that has great potential for future study. It also has been noted that the role of meditation in both Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as in Jainism and in other óraman≥a-based traditions, is a complex one, a point that becomes clear in examining the dynamics of the role that meditation plays in both premodern and contemporary religious practice. As an extension of the early Indian religious context, in which the range of óraman≥a movements that yielded ideas of yoga in the Hindu, Buddhist , and Jaina traditions developed, the role and import of meditation have seen significant variations over time. The relationship between the larger traditions has not been a static one; rather, it demonstrates a continuity of influence , dialogue, and polemic over time. This book has helped weaken the notion that the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina traditions are autonomous and selfsufficient entities, an issue that has been addressed through the application of the idea of “tradition texts” to the development of meditative traditions. This has been further demonstrated through the examination of the boundary crossing and reinterpretation of yoga in light of the development of tantra, where sectarian autonomy can be said to give way to pan-Indian influences. As we have shown, in the context of Indian religion, meditation theory exists on a spectrum between pragmatic and scholastic interests, and as such, it demonstrates the tension between meditation as a central versus a peripheral phenomenon with the large religious and social order in which it exists. We have defined dhya\na and sama\dhi as relating to the concepts of “meditation” and “absorption,” respectively. Through an examination of the manner in which these terms play out in the path texts of the Yogasu\tras and the Bha\vana\krama, we have sought to bring further subtlety to our understanding of the linguistic frame in which these terms operate. Noting the question of to what degree these texts are composite or syncretic in nature, it has been demonstrated how conceptions of dhya\na and sama\dhi show a tension between numinous and cessative qualities. These numinous and cessative qualities, termed sama\patti and nirodha in the context of Classical Yoga and óamatha and vipaóyana\ in the Maha\ya\na context, reflect a conception of the complementary operation of mental functions in the process of developing sama\dhi. As has been demonstrated, the numinous aspect of sama...