禪

To level a place for an altar, to sacrifice to the hills and fountains; to abdicate. Adopted by Buddhists for (sa) dhyāna, 禪 or 禪那, i.e. meditation, abstraction, trance. (sa) dhyāna is 'meditation, thought, reflection, especially profound and abstract religious contemplation'. M.W. It was intp. as 'getting rid of evil', etc., later as 靜慮 quiet meditation. It is a form of 定, but that word is more closely allied with (sa) samādhi, cf. 禪定. The term also connotes Buddhism and Buddhist things in general, but has special application to the 禪宗 q.v. It is one of the six (sa) pāramitās, cf. 波. There are numerous methods and subjects of meditation. The eighteen (sa) brahmalokas are divided into four (sa) dhyāna regions 'corresponding to certain frames of mind where individuals might be reborn in strict accordance with their spiritual state'. The first three are the first (sa) dhyāna, the second three the second (sa) dhyāna, the third three the third (sa) dhyāna, and the remaining nine the fourth (sa) dhyāna. See Eitel. According to Childers' <Pali Dictionary>, 'The four (pi) jhānas are four stages of mystic meditation, whereby the believer's mind is purged from all earthly emotions, and detached as it were from his body, which remains plunged in a profound trance.' Seated cross-legged, the practiser 'concentrates his mind upon a single thought. Gradually his soul becomes filled with a supernatural ecstasy and serenity', his mind still reasoning: this is the first (pi) jhāna. Concentrating his mind on the same subject, he frees it from reasoning, the ecstasy and serenity remaining, which is the second (pi) jhāna. Then he divests himself of ecstasy, reaching the third stage of serenity. Lastly, in the fourth stage the mind becomes indifferent to all emotions, being exalted above them and purified. There are differences in the Mahāyāna methods, but similarity of aim.