(Correction note: This version corrects typographical errors in the institutional name (‘Shana’ → ‘Shan’) and location (‘Taunngyi’ → ‘Taunggyi’) present in version 1.) This study investigates the Dīgha Nikāya, the "Collection of Long Discourses" in the Pāli Canon, as a foundational source for early Buddhist meditation. It examines how selected discourses systematically present the stages, components, and purposes of meditative training within the integrated path of ethics (sīla), concentration (samādhi), and insight (paññā). While contemporary scholarship has explored mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) and absorptions (jhāna) across various Nikāyas, less attention has been given to the Dīgha Nikāya as a unified textual framework. This project explores five key discourses from the Dīgha Nikāya (the Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), the Poṭṭhapāda Sutta (DN 9), the Tevijja Sutta (DN 13), the Mahānidāna Sutta (DN 15), and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22)) to trace how the early Buddhist texts map out the meditative path. Rather than presenting meditation as a single technique, these suttas unfold it in stages: beginning with ethical conduct and the deepening of concentration through the absorptions; moving into the cultivation of the four brahmavihāras of loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity; then examining how meditative practice reshapes perception and understanding; followed by a thorough exposition of dependent origination (paṭicca-samuppāda); and finally, the detailed, systematic practice of mindfulness and insight as laid out in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. This qualitative textual study bridges canonical models and contemporary interpretations, presenting the Dīgha Nikāya as a comprehensive foundation for meditative training toward liberation (Nibbāna).
Javana Ñāṇa (Sun,) studied this question.
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