Foreword

At the request of the Board of Directors of the Buddhist Intermediate School of Long An province, I began teaching the subject of Meditation Studies (Thiền học) in 2003. In fact, I had also taught Meditation Practice (Thực tập Thiền quán) in the previous course, with somewhat different lessons. However, Meditation Studies has a broader meaning, so I allowed myself to go further into theory, since theory, after all, gives direction to practice.

Because I had to prepare to move on to teaching another subject, I accepted ending this course on Meditation Studies with just 20 lessons. The teachings and the Path of meditation are vast and boundless. These twenty lessons are only a basic orientation for monks and nuns in training, to serve as provisions for a lifetime of practice, and they will find many better things for themselves.

I have boldly included the method of Qigong to support the strength of those who practise meditation, because I have seen that the Buddha, when he was still a prince, had mastered Qigong, as had Patriarch Bodhidharma, with his captivating Qigong legends.

I have drawn up this curriculum mainly on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Tứ Niệm Xứ) in the Early Buddhist canon, with non-self (Vô ngã) as the ultimate goal. Other schools were also consulted to supplement it. I have tried to avoid sectarian bias and to present the material objectively, in the manner of scholarly study at a school. Monks and nuns in training may have a school of their own from the temple or monastery they come from, but when they study, they must be taught objective things that go beyond any school. This is necessary for the lasting harmony and unity of Buddhism in the future.

When this book reaches the reader, it is thanks to the merit of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who have protected me, the merit of the teachers who taught me, the merit of the Board of Directors of the Buddhist Intermediate School of Long An province, the merit of the lay Buddhists who helped me in my teaching, the merit of the monks and nuns in training who followed attentively, the merit of the Religion Publishing House, the merit of the many people who contributed to printing and distributing it, and finally the merit of all beings throughout the Dharma realm.

Phật Quang, 12 August 2004. Respectfully written,

Bhikkhu Chân Quang