Meditation and the concept of insight in Kamalasila's 'Bhavanakramas' (India)

This thesis is composed of two parts, one a translation, the other a commentary on the material that has been translated—a set of three well known identically entitled works by the famous Indian Buddhist scholar, Kamalaśīla (c. 740–795 C.E.). The Bhāvanākramas are here translated from both Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. The commentary takes the form of an extended critical Prologue to the texts and is centred around an examination of the notions of meditation and insight as found therein. The first chapter of the commentary examines the various terms for meditation found in the texts and argues for a specific way of translating them that regards as normative only one of these, that is, bhāvanā . The argument is made that if one is to take the basic Buddhist distinction between intellectual and experiential wisdom seriously, no other concept of meditation will prove satisfactory. The concept of bhāvanā is contrasted with that of dhyāna, and explained in light of other important terms, notably samādhi, śamatha and vipaśyanā. Two different conceptions of samādhi are identified as existing within the texts, one corresponding with dhyāna and one with bhāvanā. The latter is identified as predominant. This conception holds that meditation is not to be principally identified as non-conceptual in nature, but rather encompasses both nonconceptual states and conceptual processes. These latter, however, are not to be identified with ordinary reasoning processes (cintāmayī prajñā) but rather with a form of experiential knowing (bhāvanāmayī prajñā, vipaśyanā) that is conceptual in nature. It is in accordance with this conception that the actual translation of the texts has been undertaken.; The second chapter of the commentary examines the concept of insight (vipaśyanā) in light of the earlier findings. Here the text is analyzed for its explanations of its insight, understood in terms of the important technical term bhūtapratyaveks&dotbelow;ā . Here an argument is made for translating this term in a particular manner consistent with the conception of meditation outlined in Chapter 1. The term is explored in light of key passages containing descriptions of the cultivation of wisdom as well as in light of other important technical terms appearing in the texts, notably dharmapravicaya, smr&dotbelow;ti and manasikāra. Chapter 2 closes with a discussion of Kamalaśīla's ideas of śrāvaka insight meditation (vipaśyanā) and how it differs from that of the Mahāyāna. Most notable in this regard is the suggestion that Kamalaśīla may have regarded śrāvaka insight practices (vipaśyanā) as instances of śamatha meditation. In the third chapter the suggestion is made that such considerations could lead to the development of an important area of future research into the differences among diverse Indian Buddhist traditions. The concluding section of Chapter 3 contains a summary of the concrete findings of this analysis.