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We currently have tags and .

They each have one or two dozen topics. Assuming we don't want to merge them (because it is a type of meditation and a word which people will search for), should they at least be defined as synonyms?

What about (three dozen topics) which is described as a type of samatha meditation: should that be a synonym too?

What about too (see also What is the difference between samadhi and samatha?), should that be a synonym of samatha?

And there's also (seven dozen questions)?

A separate topic, what about and and , should these be synonyms of each other?

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  • Anyway we need a tag cleanup.
    – Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 11:41
  • I'm hoping people will make, agree with, or improve specific suggestions of which tags to clean and how.
    – ChrisW Mod
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:05
  • Easiest is multiple tags due to spelling mistakes or spelling variations .
    – Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:27

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  • Samatha and Meditation-Samatha should be made synonyms

  • Jhana do belong to Samatha meditation but I would not mark them as synonyms since one can ask questions regarding Jhana alone such as which mental factors arise in each Jhana or more specific what nature the mental factors have, e.g. Vitakka and Vichara. Also the Jhanas can correspond to the different realms, e.g. a human being who has attained the Jhanas, can experience the mental state of a Brahma living in the higher realms. That is a question solely on Jhana and Realms and may not include Samatha Meditation if the practical/methodological part is left out.

  • Samadhi and Samatha should not be synonyms as Samatha refers to the overall practice of "concentration, serenity, tranquility meditation", while Samadhi refers to a particular kind of one-pointedness of mind. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi gives the example of "a gourmet sitting down to a meal, an assassin about to slay his victim, a soldier on the battlefield - these all act with a concentrated mind, but their concentration cannot be characterized as samadhi. Samadhi is exclusively wholesome one-pointedness, the concentration in a wholesome state of mind".

  • Mindfulness.. I honestly don't know what to do with this term. Its being used for so many different things nowadays. I feel that the meaning of the word has been exhausted. I know many teachers simply refrain from using the word since its being connected with stuff that is inherently non-mindfulness, such as commercialism. On Buddhism SE we should use the word in its true meaning, i.e. the function of Mindfulness, i.e. to clear the cognitive ground for objects and to practice bare-attention of mind, meaning to deliberately keep the mind in the present moment.

  • Meditation-metta, Metta-bhavana and Loving-Kindness should be made synonyms.

Bare in mind that this my own opinion and not necessarily the right one.

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  • Unfortunately I don't understand the difference between Samatha and Samadhi, even though you just explained it, and Robin explained it, and there are two different Wikipedia articles. Do you think you or someone might be able to suggest two "tag wikis" (i.e. descriptions), one for each tag, which explains a) What this tag is for b) When to use this tag instead of the other tag c) When to use the other tag instead of this tag (and/or whether and when to use both tags or neither tag).
    – ChrisW Mod
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 16:04
  • @ChrisW I was told that Samadhi is the highest attainment of sitting meditation. So the difference in words is like 'automobile' vs 'Rolls Royce'. Eventually, Samadhi can be generalized to all of waking experience.
    – user2341
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 18:57
  • Mindfulness might be Sati, i.e. keeping in mind, also remembering or not being distracted, maybe remembering the three characteristics, mindfulness of various things (e.g. of Buddha, of Dharma, of breath) ... maybe it's only Mahasi Sayadaw's doctrine sees Sati as "bare awareness".
    – ChrisW Mod
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 22:45
  • Not being distracted is Samadhi or concentration, not Sati. Generally mindfullness is Sati. sati means to remember the dharmas, whereby the true nature of phenomena can be seen as per the link you provided seams ok. Also Jhana means to see the object of concentration clearly.
    – Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 11:40
  • "Sati" is often translated as Mindfulness or Remembrance or Recollection, i.e. to remind oneself (to be in- or to come back to the present moment).
    – user2424
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:23
  • @ChrisW. I will look into it when possible.
    – user2424
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:24
  • If samadhi and samatha should not be made synonymous, maybe metta (loving-kindness, benevolence and whatever else translation is used) should not be made synonymous with tags that represent the practice of it? I don't know if this has any effect, but I guess it would be just be a small matter of symmetry...
    – user382
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 22:07

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