bhavana

Bhavana, from the Pali bhāvanā and Sanskrit bhāvanā, means cultivation or development. In Buddhist discourse it refers to the deliberate training of the mind through meditation, with the aim of purifying awareness, reducing mental afflictions, and realizing liberation. The term covers both the methods used to cultivate mental states and the broader process of mental development over time.

Practically, bhavana is typically described as two interrelated streams: samatha (calmness or concentration) and vipassanā (insight). Through samatha, the mind learns stability and clarity, sometimes culminating in jhāna meditative states. Through vipassanā, practitioners investigate impermanence, suffering, and non-self to awaken wisdom. Beyond these, bhavana also includes the cultivation of wholesome mental factors such as loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity (the brahmavihāras) as ongoing forms of mental development.

In Theravada Buddhism, bhavana is central to the path from ethical conduct to liberation; canonical and post-canonical texts describe bhavana as the principal process by which one develops concentration and insight, notably through mindfulness of the body, feelings, mind, and mental objects (the Four Foundations of Mindfulness). The Visuddhimagga treats samatha and vipassanā as complementary bhāvanā practices.

In Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, bhavana remains the key notion of cultivation, applied to the development of wisdom and compassionate action in the bodhisattva path, as well as to tantric meditation practices that transform experience. Across schools, bhavana signifies the ongoing, disciplined process of mental cultivation aimed at freeing the mind from distress and achieving realization.