Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

D HYA NA ( TRANCE STATE)
Buddhism in this region. He became a novice monk at
an early age, studying with an Indian teacher while developing
his skills in Chinese. His translation career
began in 266 and continued for more than forty years,
resulting in the translation of over 150 Buddhist texts
into Chinese. He was assisted in his endeavors by a
considerable number of Indian, Central Asian, and
Chinese collaborators—some monks, some laymen—
the most prominent of whom was Nie Chengyuan, a
Chinese upasaka with whom Dharmaraksa worked in
the northern Chinese city of Chang’an.
Dharmaraksa translated a number of mainstream
Buddhist works, but his most notable contributions are
his translations of Mahayana texts, including such
large and well-known sutras as the LOTUS SU TRA
(SADDHARMAPUN D ARIKA-SU TRA), the Guangzan jing
(Pañcavim śatisahasrikaprajñaparamita-su tra; Perfection
of Wisdom in 25,000 Lines), and the Xianjie jing
(Bhadrakalpika-su tra; Scripture on the Fortunate Aeon).
Dharmaraksa died at the age of seventy-eight amidst
the social and political chaos that marked northern
China at the beginning of the fourth century. His translations
laid the foundation for the textual exegesis and
doctrinal developments of the fourth century, epitomized
in the work of the monk DAO’AN (312–385). In
the early fifth century, many of Dharmaraksa’s translations
were superseded by the retranslations of the
Kuchean monk KUMARAJIVA (350–409/413).
See also: China; Mahayana; Prajñaparamita Literature
Bibliography
Boucher, Daniel. “Gandhar and the Early Chinese Buddhist
Translations Reconsidered: The Case of the Saddharmapundarkasutra.”
Journal of the American Oriental Society
118.4 (1998): 471–506.
Tsukamoto Zenryu. A History of Early Chinese Buddhism. From
Its Introduction to the Death of Hui-yüan, Vol. 1, tr. Leon
Hurvitz. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1985.
DHYA NA (TRANCE STATE)
DANIEL BOUCHER
Dhyana (Pali, jhana) is a trance state experienced
through particular meditative practices. According to
traditional Buddhist thought, there are eight trance
states. These are divided into two categories: The first
four dhyanas are part of the realm of form, and the final
four are part of the formless realm. The division
between the form and formless dhyanas is not absolute;
the higher formless dhyanas (trance states five through
eight) are themselves considered a division of the
fourth dhyana belonging to the realm of form. Thus,
the eight dhyanas form a continuous hierarchical
structure.
The practice of mental concentration (śamatha; Pali,
samatha) is the condition for the meditative experience
of these trance states. As mental concentration increases,
the practitioner gains entry to increasingly
higher levels of absorption. This progression is a process
of stilling or calming mental states and achieving the
joy of tranquility and peace. In the fourth dhyana all
sensations are extinguished, resulting in a state of equanimity.
The attainment of the fourth dhyana gives access
to the four formless dhyanas, the states of infinite
space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neitherperception-nor-nonperception.
The fourth dhyana,
characterized by equanimity and one-pointedness, also
gives rise to a set of supernatural powers, including the
power to know one’s former lifetimes.
The experience of trance states is not viewed as an
end in itself, but rather a means to the final goal of
NIRVAN A. The levels of dhyana are categorized as conditioned
and impermanent and thus ultimately unsatisfactory.
The experience of absorptions are temporary;
they last only for as long as the mind remains concentrated.
When concentration ends, the unwholesome
qualities of the mind return and the blissful
feelings experienced in the first four dhyanas cease. For
these reasons, the experience of trance states is to be
joined to the cultivation of PRAJN A (WISDOM; Pali,
pañña). The mental transformation accomplished
through the experience of the dhyanas prepares the
mind for training in wisdom and the specific practices
of the cultivation of insight, vipaśyana (Pali, vipassana).
Concentration can also be pursued together
with insight as each absorption is experienced and then
transcended when it is analyzed as impermanent.
There is a parallel between dhyana as interiorized
meditative states and as cosmological heavenly
realms. The first four dhyanas correspond to the seventeen
HEAVENS of the realm of form, resting above
the lower heavens of the realms of desire. The four
higher dhyanas correspond to the four levels of the
formless heavens, the uppermost realm of the cosmos.
Dhyanas can therefore be experienced for temporary
periods through meditative concentration or for
longer durations through REBIRTH into one of the
form or formless heavenly realms.
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