Buddhism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Origins==== The earliest evidence of yogis and their meditative tradition, states Karel Werner, is found in the [[Keśin]] hymn 10.136 of the [[Rigveda]].<ref name=karelwernerkesinrv>{{cite journal |first=Karel |last=Werner |date=1977 |title=Yoga and the Ṛg Veda: An Interpretation of the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136) |journal=Religious Studies |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=289–302|doi=10.1017/S0034412500010076 |s2cid=170592174 }}</ref> While evidence suggests [[meditation]] was practised in the centuries preceding the Buddha,{{sfnp|Carrithers|1986|p=30}} the meditative methodologies described in the Buddhist texts are some of the earliest among texts that have survived into the modern era.{{sfnp|Gombrich|1988|p=44}}{{sfnp|Miller|1996|p=8}} These methodologies likely incorporate what existed before the Buddha as well as those first developed within Buddhism.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|pp=1–17}}{{Refn|group=note|Many ancient [[Upanishad]]s of Hinduism describe [[yoga]] and meditation as a means to liberation.{{sfnp|Collins|2000|p=199}}<ref>Mark Singleton (2010), Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-539534-1}}, pp. 25–34</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last =White|first =David Gordon|title =Yoga, Brief History of an Idea |year =2011| publisher =Princeton University Press|pages=3–5}}</ref>}} There is no scholarly agreement on the origin and source of the practice of ''dhyāna.'' Some scholars, like Bronkhorst, see the ''four dhyānas'' as a Buddhist invention.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=99}} Alexander Wynne argues that the Buddha learned ''dhyāna'' from Brahmanical teachers.{{sfnp|Wynne|2007|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} Whatever the case, the Buddha taught meditation with a new focus and interpretation, particularly through the ''four dhyānas'' methodology,{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=Part I: page 5}} in which mindfulness is maintained.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=88}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|2007}} Further, the focus of meditation and the underlying theory of liberation guiding the meditation has been different in Buddhism.{{sfnp|Carrithers|1986|p=30}}{{sfnp|Norman|1997|p=29}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|1997|p=131}} For example, states Bronkhorst, the verse 4.4.23 of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' with its "become calm, subdued, quiet, patiently enduring, concentrated, one sees soul in oneself" is most probably a meditative state.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=Chapter 9, page 86}} The Buddhist discussion of meditation is without the concept of soul and the discussion criticises both the ascetic meditation of Jainism and the "real self, soul" meditation of Hinduism.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|pp=74 (Chapter 8); 102 (Conclusion)}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page