HKU: CBS Publication Series

BUDDHIST MEDITATIVE PRAXIS

TRADITIONAL TEACHINGS
&
MODERN APPLICATIONS

EDITOR
KL Dhammajoti

Centre of Buddhist Studies

The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
2015

Published in Hong Kong by

Centre of Buddhist Studies
The University of Hong Kong
2015

Centre of Buddhist Studies,

The University of Hong Kong
All Rights Reserved.

This publication is sponsored by

Tung Lin Kok Yuen.

ISBN: 978-988-16843-3-2

CONTENTS
Contributors
Foreword
Preface

vii
xi
xiii

PART I
BUDDHIST MEDITATIVE PRAXIS: HISTORY, DOCTRINES
AND PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS

The Sutta On Mindfulness with In and Out Breathing

L.S. Cousins
Praj-vimukta, ubhayatobhga-vimukta and vimokvaraa
The Sarvstivda perspective
KL Dhammajoti
The Sevenfold Purification (sattavisuddhi) as the
Structural Framework of the Visuddhimagga:
Some Observations
Toshiichi Endo
Jitri on Backward Causation (bhvikraavda)
Eli Franco

25

51
81

The Role of Meditation in the Threefold Scheme of Buddhist

Mental Culture
Y Karunadasa

117

Samdhi Names: The Nature of Meditative Experience

In Mahyna
Lewis Lancaster

123

A Reexamination of on Being Mindless: Possible

Meditative Implications of the Eightfold Proof of
layavijna
Nobuyoshi Yamabe

137

The Diachronic and Synchronic Relationship between

Philosophical Theory and Spiritual Praxis in Buddhism:
With Special Reference to the Case of the Four
Applications of Mindfulness (smtyupasthna: dran pa
nye bar gzhag pa) in Vajrayna
Dorji Wangchuk

177

Central Asian Meditation Manuals

Charles Willemen

203

Do Meditative Objects Exist?

Zhihua Yao

211

PART II
BUDDHIST MEDITATIVE PRAXIS: MODERN APPLICATIONS
AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

A Chinese Chan-Based Intervention: A Way to Improve

the Mind and Body
Agnes, Sui Yin Chan

221

Neurodharma: Practicing with the Brain in Mind

Rick Hanson

227

Can Meditation Change our Brain?

Tatia M.C. Lee, Natalie T.Y. Leung

245

The Importance of the Buddhist Teaching on Three Kinds of

Knowing: In a School-based Contemplative Education
Program
Hin Hung Sik, Bonnie Wai Yan Wu
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Mark Williams

253

291

CONTRIBUTORS
(In alphabetical order)

Sui Yin Agnes Chan Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Psychology,

Director, Neuropsychology Laboratory,
Director,
Chanwuyi Research Center for Neuropsychological Well-Being,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

L.S. Cousins M.A.

Wolfson College, Oxford,

Faculty of Theology and Religion,
Oxford University.
Fellow,
Oxford Centre of Buddhist Studies.

K.L. Dhammajoti Ph.D.

Glorious Sun Professor of Buddhist Studies,

Centre of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Hong Kong.
Director, The Buddha-Dharma Centre of Hong Kong.

Toshiichi Endo Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies,

The University of Hong Kong.

Eli Franco Ph.D.

Director, Institute of Indology and Central Asian Studies,

Leipzig University, Germany.
Member, Saxon Academy of Sciences.

Rick Hanson Ph.D.

Senior Fellow,
Greater Good Science Centre,
University of California, Berkeley.
Founder,
Wellspring Institute of Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom.
vii

Hin Hung Sik M.A.

Director, Centre of Buddhist Studies,

The University of Hong Kong.

Y. Karunadasa Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus,
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Lewis Lancaster Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus,
University of California, Berkeley.
Visiting Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Hong Kong.

Tatia M.C. Lee Ph.D., R. Psych.

May Professor in Neuropsychology and Chair Professor of Psychology,

Head, Department of Psychology.
Honorary Professor,
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medicine,
The University of Hong Kong.

Natalie T.Y. Leung M.Phil.

Laboratory of Neuropsychology,
The University of Hong Kong.

Dorji Wangchuk Ph.D.

Professor of Tibetan (Buddhist) Studies,

Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies,
Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universitat Hamburg.

Charles Willemen Ph.D.

Professor and Rector,

International Buddhist College.

Mark Williams Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology,

The University of Oxford.

viii