Tiantai - Tendai zhiguan and the four samadhis (Zhiyi)

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Zhiyi · China

What it is

This is a contemplative practice, not a therapy. Zhiguan renders the Sanskrit śamatha-vipaśyanā: zhi 止 ("stopping", calming) and guan 觀 ("contemplating", insight). In the tradition's own account, calming settles and "subdues" the afflictions (伏煩惱) and builds samadhi, while insight into emptiness…

Format

• The first five chapters give five groups of five preparatory items. In the Mohe zhiguan the "twenty-five skilful means" (二十五方便) form the sixth chapter, the preliminary practice before correct contemplation, which is then set out as ten objects (十境) and ten modes of contemplation (十乘觀法) across…
• Typical format and "dose".

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• The four samadhis (四種三昧). The Mohe zhiguan groups all practice into four outward forms, which can be combined with gradual, indeterminate or perfect-sudden calming-and-insight: constantly sitting (常坐), constantly walking (常行), half-walking half-sitting (半行半坐), and neither walking nor sitting (非行非坐). Swanson calls the first a precursor of Zen "sitting-only" and the second a precursor of Pure Land nenbutsu. In Japan,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• confusion between programme instructions and the teacher's instructions.
• craving for absorptive states, increasing practice to regain them, sleep loss.
• feeling spaced-out or unreal after sitting; use this as a grounding routine in session.
• the client asking for doctrinal rulings or recommending the therapist join their temple.
• pressure from the group to attend despite risk; the client hiding symptoms to be accepted.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.