Hello Pat,
A fundamental meditation teaching of the Buddha can be found as the
"Teaching on mindfulness of Breathing" (Ânâpâna-sati Sutta,
Majjhima-Nikâya 118, XII = Anupada Vagga 8), the 20 Sutta of the
"Grouping on Respiration" (Ânâpâna-Sa.myutta, Sa.myutta-Nikâya
liv.1-20, V = Mahâ Vagga x.1-20, e.g. liv.13 Ânanda Sutta), and in the
"Teaching for Girimânanda" (Girimânanda Sutta, Anguttara-Nikâya X.60,
X = Dasaka-Nipâta 60).
Moreover, the introduction and the first four quatrains of this
teaching can also be found in the "(Great) Teaching on the
establishment of Mindfulness" ((Mahâ) Sati-pa.t.thâna Sutta,
Dîgha-Nikâya 22 and Majjhima-Nikâya 10), and in the "Teaching about
mindfulness directed on the Body" (Kâya-gatâ-sati Sutta,
Majjhima-Nikâya 119).
The dark-humoured story at Sa.myutta-Nikâya 54.9 is an indication that
the ân'âp'âna-sati method was a deliberate and very important method.
Thich Nhat Hanh, in the booklet "Breathe: you are alive" (1988), did a
good commentary of this most practical and psychologically subtle
teaching.
Mettâ-cittena.
Jîvassatha, Buddhâyatana
--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Hall <pathall@...> wrote:
>
> Hello friends,
>
> I've only just begun my studies of Pali, and looking at the size of
> the canon is rather overwhelming, millions of words of text. I'm
> simultaneously learning about Buddhism, but I've been practicing
> meditation for some time now.
>
> I'm interested in trying to read some original Pali about meditation,
> but I really have no idea how our where to find them among the thicket
> of text.
>
> Is there a section of the canon which is most focused on approaching
> meditation?
>
> I realize that it may be hard to interpret the Pali texts as a
> "how-to" guide (to get started I'm relying on a lot of works in
> English as well as dhamma talks), but I'm motivated to try to
> investigate some of the texts.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> With metta,
> Pat
>
> PS. I'm relying on the Unicode-encoded version of the canon from
> http://www.buddhistethics.org/palicanon.html .
>