Ten meditations
ten meditations
[十乗観法] (Jpn jujo-kampo )
Ten kinds of meditation set forth by T'ient'ai (538-597) in his Great Concentration and Insight as a way to observe the truth of life he defined as three thousand realms in a single moment of life.
They are as follows:
(1) The meditation on the region of the unfathomable. "The region of the unfathomable" means the truth of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, and this meditation is defined as the threefold contemplation in a single mind. This is the principal, self-fulfilling practice, while the other nine are for those who cannot accomplish this meditation.
(2) The meditation to arouse compassion.
(3) The meditation to enjoy security in the realm of truth.
(4) The meditation to eliminate attachments.
(5) The meditation to discern what leads to the realization of the true aspect of life and what prevents it.
(6) The meditation to make proper use of the thirty-seven aids to the way, or enlightenment.
(7) The meditation to remove obstacles to enlightenment while practicing the six paramitas.
(8) The meditation to recognize the stages of one's progress.
(9) The meditation to stabilize one's mind.
(10) The meditation to remove attachment to what is not true enlightenment.
The system of practices formulated in Great Concentration and Insight may be broadly divided into two categories. One is a group of preliminary practices comprising twenty-five preparatory exercises. The other is a group of practices for realizing the truth of life directly. The ten meditations constitute this second group. As mentioned above, particular importance is attached to the first of the ten meditations, the meditation on the region of the unfathomable. Miao-lo categorized the ten meditations according to the capacity of the practitioner. Practitioners of superior capacity, he stated, can realize the true aspect of life directly through the meditation on the region of the unfathomable alone; those of intermediate capacity can attain the goal by practicing the first through seventh meditations; and those of lesser capacity must practice all ten meditations.
