Kate Crosby - Esoteric Theravada: The Story of the Forgotten Meditation Tradition of Southeast Asia

I offer my sincere thanks to Richard Gombrich, who, back in the early 1990s, first drew my attention to the meditation text, the Amatkaravaan; to the late Heinz Bechert, who wrote the brief entry that had caught Richards attention and encouraged me to undertake this research; and to Andrew Skilton and the late Lance Cousins, who both alerted me to the work of Franois Bizot. I was fortunate that in Lances final years he made time to discuss meditation with me, with a refreshing open-mindedness, a serious consideration of practice, and an inspiring facility for detailed engagement in Abhidhamma. It was only after his death that I came to understand the significance of the practice element in Lances approach. This was thanks to Grevel Lindop, Keith Munnings, and others of the Samatha Trust.

I would like to thank practitioners of meditation in Thailand and Cambodia for their assistance and support. While I name specific sources in the body of the text, I would like to highlight here the personal contributions of Ven. Veera Virandharo, former Director of the Dhammakaya International Society of the United Kingdom, and Ven. Veera Thanaveero of Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi. Of the many who have helped me in Cambodia, I would like to highlight the help of the late Achar Te Tong Yi, my teacher Ven. Neang Sam Ol, the late Yey Oun Sophy, and Yey Srean. I thank Ven. Uch Yoeurn for the repeated loan of his former kui, and Elizabeth Guthrie, John Marston, and the late Ian Harris for their kindness and expertise. I would also like to thank my long-time friends and occasional assistants, Long Sarou and Chea Bunnary.

Deserving of special mention are those who worked with me in Thailand and London on materials related to this tradition and shared my enthusiasm for putting together the puzzle: Phibul Choompolpaisal, Andrew Skilton, and Amal Gunasena. For encouragement on the subject over the years, I would like to thank Phyllis Granoff, Gregory Schopen, and Paul Dundas. For the past decade, I have benefited from membership of the Theravada Civilizations Project established by Juliane Schober and the late Steven Collins, and from Steves galvanizing comments and breathtaking enthusiasm. For their important work on the subject, as well as their kindness in sending me their writings, I thank Franois Bizot, Olivier de Bernon, Phibul Choompolpaisal, Oskar von Hinber, Franois Lagirarde, Mano (erstwhile) Mettanando Laohavanich, Andrew Skilton, Barend (Baas) Terwiel, and Kitchai Urkasame.

For help in access to resources and references, I thank Mike Charney, Romola Dane, Alastair Gornall, Jotika Khur-Yearn, Atsuko Naono, Liz Harris, and Pyi Phyo Kyaw, whom I also thank for her expertise in Abhidhamma and important help of various kinds. For their practical support, I thank Isara Treesahakiat, Kampol Treesahakiat, and Patcharin Yimpatna.

In helping me to develop the subject and my understanding over the past decade, I should additionally like thank the co-organizers, contributors, and audiences at conferences on variety in Theravada meditation and on Abhidhamma, at Kings College London in October 2014 and June 2015, at the cole franaise dExtrme-Orient in Siem Reap in July 2016, and at Shan State Buddhist University near Taunggyi in November 2019. The first three of these conferences were generously funded by Dhammakaya International Society of the United Kingdom and the Ji Chanqun Buddhist Studies funding of Kings College London. I am also grateful to David Germano, colleagues and students at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and Kurtis Schaeffer and Andrew Quintman, who organized the thought-provoking 2017 IABS panel on Literatures of Contemplation, as well as students at Kings and elsewhere, who all pushed me to think in different ways.