Open AccessFour Element Meditation
Author(s) -
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
mindfulness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.509
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1868-8535
pISSN - 1868-8527
DOI - 10.1007/s12671-020-01516-1
Subject(s) - contemplation , parallels , meditation , buddhism , transcendence (philosophy) , mindfulness , element (criminal law) , impermanence , mandala , materialism , psychology , philosophy , aesthetics , happiness , psychoanalysis , epistemology , social psychology , psychotherapist , theology , law , engineering , political science , mechanical engineering
One of the mindfulness exercises described in the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta and its parallels concerns the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, which stand representative of the qualities of solidity, cohesion, temperature, and motion. Within the ancient Indian setting, the early Buddhist analysis of matter into these four elements can be seen to eschew the two extremes of materialist annihilationism and eternalism; closer inspection also shows that the employment of these elements does not reflect the influence of Brahminical cosmology, as assumed by Alexander Wynne. The ultimate concern of mindful contemplation of the elements is their transcendence, which is to be achieved through cultivating liberating insight into their impermanent and empty nature.