Welcome to the DhO Dharma Wiki\\

The DhO Dharma Wiki is a place where one can find detailed information regarding various meditative practices--including what they are, how to do them, and what they lead to. Below you'll find an extensive list of various meditative techniques and maps of the territory that these practices, if done correctly, will lead to.

A few things worth knowing about the wiki:

1. Things in red are links that haven't yet had their pages created. Blue links that lead to blank pages are pages we hope someone will fill in. This is a work in progress. If you want to have a hand in creating them, see the next point
2. Authorship is restricted. If you want to be a Wiki Author, let a Wiki Moderator or DhO Administrator know. We want to keep this of high quality.
3. If you make an entry about anything that is anything other than straight-up standard dogma or doctrine, you must state that this your take on this by the following method: you will place your full, real name before your addition to the content so that it is labeled as your take on the topic so that there is no ambiguity about who the author of that section of entry is.
4. As this will be a wiki with explicit authorship, adding an entry to the wiki is explicitly a claim to direct, personal understanding and attainment of whatever you are saying unless you explicitly label it as dogma, doctrine, theory or hearsay, and then you must give the reference for that or state that you don't know the reference if that is the case. Minimize the latter when possible except as something to build on or react to.
5. Controversy in this is inevitable and expected. This is to be a place where the debates, complexities, ambiguities and convergences can all be seen as they are as much as possible. Rather than an attempt to say, "This is absolutely how it is, end of story", this wiki is an attempt to say, "This is these peoples' takes on the thing based on their own experience and experiments," which hopefully will lead to something broad, realistic, practical, applicable, and experienced-based as much as possible that has more depth than what is typically possible based on one author or tradition or small, sectarian group.
6. The wiki will attempt to explore and promote personal practice, direct understanding and attainment whenever possible. All entries should attempt to keep this focus at the forefront whenever possible or say how this relates to something practical and useful that will make people's actual lives and this world somehow better.

DhO Basics

• The History of the DhO
• The Basics of the DhO
• Technical Support
• DhO Management and Moderators
• Some Goals for the DhO: the founder's vision of what this place can be.
• Visions of What Makes for a Good Meditation Tradition

DhO Dictionary

• DhO Dictionary
• DhO Acronyms

Core Principles

Here are some of the most core principles and teachings that are mentioned on this site.

• Theravada Core Principles
• Mahayana Core Principles

The Best of the DhO

Here you can find links to some of the Best of the DhO.

Types of Meditation

Here is a list of some of the different meditative techniques that are discussed on this site, along with related instructions. Many more may be found if you look around.

Concentration Techniques

Concentration techniques (sometimes called samatha practices) include those techniques which lead to a stabilization of attention on a particular object, and then often the development of more subtle stages of concentration, called the samatha jhanas.

• Mindfulness of Breath
• Kasina Meditation
• Mantras
• A General, All Purpose Jhana Thread

Insight Techniques

Insight techniques (sometimes called Vipassana practices) are more devoted to momentary concentration, noticing object after object, and tend to be more dedicated to promoting direct insights into the fundamental nature of phenomena, awareness and the like than anything else.

• Mahasi Noting
• Body scanning
• Choiceless Awareness
• Dzogchen
• Zazen
• Koans

Energy-oriented Practices

Energy practices is a broad category for various practices that tend to relate to discovering, cultivating and exploring our energetic systems. They may promote insight and tranquility and have other healthful effects and may be derived from a number of traditions. There is a lot of interest here around how these practices may augment or be augmented by other practices here.

• Energy Practices PortalA Dissection of the Early Stages in Advanced Posturing

Non-Dual/Immediate Practices

There are various practices and emphases that have a much less goal-oriented and object-oriented emphasis and a much more emphasis on this being it and on taking on Awareness or the Self or some other conceptualization of the Subject as the focus of practice.

Actualism

As there has been a lot of interest lately in Actual Freedom (AF for short), there is now a wiki section dedicated to its terms, practices, emphases, concepts, links, etc.

• Actualism
• AF and Insight: PCE Mode and Cycling Mode

The Maps of Meditation

There are many maps used to describe the progress of meditation. Below you'll find a list of many of these various maps.

Theravada Maps:

• The Samatha Jhanas
• The Progress of Insight
• Advanced Jhana Classification
• The Vipassana Jhanas
• The Four Path Model
• The Simple Model

Tibetan Maps:

• The Tibetan Five Path Model
• The Tibetan Bhumi Model

Zen Maps:

• Tozan's Five Ranks
• The Zen Oxherding Pictures

Christian Maps:

• The Ladder of Love

Other Maps:

• Taoist Maps
• A Framework of Awakening
• The Phases of Mindfulness

Traditions and Theory

Chuck's Corner: Early Buddhism

The Art of Nakedness: A Look At Buddhist Salvation

The Powers

Magick and the Brahma Viharas

eBooks and Resources

• Many of the English translations of the works of Mahasi Sayadaw can be found here.
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, may be found for free at www.mctb.org, or purchased in print at standard booksellers. It is often referenced on the DhO.
• The first edition, which is shorter, but less complete, may be found here: Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, an Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book, by Daniel Ingram, EXPANDED VERSION: meaning, that some DhO members have made additional links, comments, etc.
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha in Spanish, translated by Andrés Coca Lopez
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha in Swedish, translated by Ingrid Wennerhag
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha in German, translated by Bernhard Payr and Michael Zeh
• Practical Insight Meditation, by Mahasi Sayadaw
• The Progress of Insight, by Mahasi Sayadaw
• A Reformed Slacker's Guide to Stream-Entry
• The Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification) in .pdf, at long last!, with many thanks to Access to Insight
• The Vimuttimagga (Path of Freedom) at scribd: like the Visuddhimagga but so much more accessible.

Retreat Centers and Places to Practice

• Retreat Center Review Template is the suggested format for submitting a review: if you want to review a retreat center: copy the template, fill it out, and post it on the discussion forum, from which it can be commented upon and then added to the Wiki if useful.
• The Forest Refuge in Barre, MA, USA
• The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, USA
• Spirit Rock Meditation Center in CA, USA
• MBMC Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre in Penang, Malaysia
• Southern Dharma Retreat Center in Host Springs, NC, USA
• Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, MA, USA
• S N Goenka Centers
• Adyashanti at Asilomar retreat Center in Pacific Grove, CA, USA
• Chom Tong Insight Meditation Center in Chaing Mai, Thailand
• Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose, CA, USA
• Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, USA
• Bhavana Society Forest Monastery and Retreat Center in WV, USA
• Cloud Mountain Retreat Center in Castle Rock, WA, USA
• Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center in Missouri, USA
• Dhammacari Vipassana Meditatioszentrum in Germany
• Lumbini Panditarama Meditation Centre in Lumbini, Nepal
• Muttodaya Forest Monastery in Germany
• Satipanya Budhist Retreat in Shropshire, UK
• Wat Doi In Cee in Chaing Rai, Thailand
• Dipapravan Meditation Center in Koh Samui, Thailand
• Wat Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage in Chayia Surat Thani, Thailand
• Wat Kow Tham in Koh Phangan, Thailand
• Wat Donm Kiem in Chayia Surat Thani, Thailand
• Indriya Retreat Dhamma And Meditation Centre in Koh Phangan, Thailand

Places to Meditate is a site dedicated to reviewing Asian retreat centers.