In this book, Analayo investigates the meditative practices of compassion and emptiness by examining and interpreting material from the early Buddhist discourses. Similar to his previous study of satipatthana, he brings a new dimension to our understanding by comparing the Pali texts with versions that have survived in Chinese, Sanskrit and Tibetan. The result is a wide-ranging exploration of what these practices meant in early Buddhism. While his presentation is based on academic methodology, this book is meant for practitioners, and he focuses on passages in light of their relevance to meditation.

"This book is the result of rigorous textual scholarship that can be valued not only by the academic community, but also by Buddhist practitioners. It serves as an important bridge between those who wish to learn about Buddhist thought and practice and those who wish to learn from it...As a monk engaging himself in Buddhist meditation as well as a professor applying a historical-critical methodology, Bhikkhu Analayo is well positioned to bridge these two communities who both seek to deepen their understanding of these texts."

-H.H. Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation, Analayo, Windhorse Publications, Paperback, 232 pages, $19.95

Bhikkhu Analayo completed a PhD on the Satipatthanasutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2000, published in 2003 by Windhorse Publications under the title Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. He has also written Perspectives on Satipatthana (Windhorse Publications, 2014), a comparative study of parallel versions of the Satipatthana Sutta, and Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation (Windhorse Publications, 2015). His other works include a habilitation research through a comparative study of the Majjhimanikaya in the light of its Chinese, Sanskrit and Tibetan parallels at the University of Marburg in 2007, published 2011.

At present Analayo is a professor of Buddhist Studies at the Sri Lanka International Academy in Pallekele. He teaches at the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Hamburg and researches at the Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Taiwan. His main research area is early Buddhism and in particular the topics "Chinese Agamas," "Meditation," and "Women in Buddhism." Besides his academic pursuits, he spends about half of his time in meditation under retreat conditions and regularly teaches meditation courses in Asia and the West.

Contents: Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation
Acknowledgement and Dedication	ix
Publisher's Acknowledgements	x
Foreword by H.H. The 17th Karmapa	xi
Introduction	1
Chapter I Cultivating Compassion	5
1. The Nature of Compassion	5
2. Compassion and Morality	8
3. Compassion and the Four Noble Truths	9
4. Compassion and Teaching	13
5. Compassion and Seclusion	16
6. Compassion in Meditation	20
7. The Objects of Meditative Compassion	24
8. Summary	26
Chapter II Compassion Contextualized	28
1. Benevolence	28
2. Kindness in Daily Conduct	32
3. Facing Aggression	35
4. Mental Beauty	36
5. Compassion and Sympathetic Joy	39
6. Compassion and Equanimity	41
7. Compassion and the Other Divine Abodes	47
8. Summary	49
Chapter III Maturing Compassion	50
1. The Benefits of Benevolence	50
2. Radiating Compassion and Absorption	54
3. Compassion as A Liberation of the Mind	57
4. Compassion and Karma	59
5. Compassion and Insight	63
6. Compassion and the Awakening Factors	68
7. Compassion And Infinite Space	70
8. Summary	73
Chapter IV Empty Matter	75
1. The Nature of Being Empty	75
2. A Gradual Meditative Entry into Emptiness	83
3. Earth	87
4. Infinite Space	91
5. Infinite Space and Compassion	97
6. Summary	98
Chapter V Empty Mind	100
1. Infinite Consciousness	100
2. The Nature of Consciousness	102
3. Dependent Arising	105
4. The Bahiya Instruction	110
5. Emptiness In Daily Life	115
6. Summary	123
Chapter VI Empty of Self	124
1. Nothingness	124
2. Imperturbability	126
3. Not-Self	130
4. Neither-Perception - Nor-Non-Perception	134
5. Signlessness	136
6. Realization of Emptiness	143
7. The Dynamics of Emptiness	145
8. Summary	149
Chapter VII Practical Instructions	151
1. Laying the Foundation	151
2. Compassion and the Other Divine Abodes	154
3. The Radiation Practice	159
4. Emptiness Meditation	162
Chapter VIII Translations	170
1. The Madhyama-Agama Parallel to the Karajakaya-Sutta	170
2. The Madhyama-Agama Parallel to the Culasunnata-Sutta	176
3. The Madhyama-Agama Parallel to the Mahasunnata-Sutta	181
References	190
List of Abbreviations	199
Subject Index	200
Index Locorum	211