The Four Samādhis Explained

Overview

The Four Samādhis (四種三昧) are the heart of Tiantai Buddhist meditation, formulated by Zhiyi (智顗, 538–597 CE), founder of the Tiantai School in China. They represent a complete meditative path that balances stillness and movement, retreat and daily life, monastic rigor and lay accessibility.

In Tiantai doctrine, samādhi (三昧) means “concentration” or “absorption”, a collected state of body and mind in which insight into the true nature of all phenomena arises. Zhiyi’s system draws on the Lotus Sutra’s teaching that all beings possess Buddha-nature, making meditation not an escape from the world but a direct contemplation of the world’s interpenetrating reality.

The Four Samādhis are presented in Zhiyi’s Mohe Zhiguan (Great Calming and Contemplation), the most detailed meditation manual in the Chinese Buddhist canon.

1. The Constant Sitting Samādhi (常坐三昧)

Description

The Constant Sitting Samādhi involves extended periods of seated meditation, often lasting ninety days or more. Practitioners remain in one place, abstaining from idle talk and worldly duties, focusing entirely on calming and insight.

Zhiyi described it as “stilling the mind like a clear pond in which all reflections appear undistorted.”

Method

• Preparation: Preceded by confession, purification, and taking the precepts.
• Posture: Seated cross-legged (or lotus position) with upright spine, relaxed shoulders, and natural breathing.
• Focus:
  • Awareness of breath (ānāpānasmṛti).
  • Visualization of the Buddha or contemplation of the mind itself.
• Insight: As concentration deepens, one observes the arising and passing of thoughts without attachment, seeing their emptiness and dependent origination.

Purpose

This Samādhi cultivates mental stability and the capacity for prolonged, subtle insight. It mirrors the meditative absorption described in early Buddhism but framed within the Mahāyāna vision that each thought contains infinite interrelations (yi nian san qian, 一念三千).

Modern Adaptation

For lay practitioners today, this Samādhi may take the form of a silent meditation retreat, daily seated sessions, or a weekend of extended sitting and recitation.

2. The Constant Walking Samādhi (常行三昧)

Description

This practice involves continuous circumambulation (walking around a sacred object or image of the Buddha) while reciting sutras or mantras. It combines rhythmic movement with mindfulness and devotion.

Traditional Form

Zhiyi described this as a ninety-day walking retreat in which practitioners continuously walk clockwise around a Buddha image, day and night, alternating recitation and contemplation of the Lotus Sutra.

Symbolism

Walking in circles symbolizes the non-duality of movement and stillness, each step a turning of the Dharma wheel. It emphasizes the integration of body, speech, and mind in a unified rhythm of awakening.

Key Practices

• Recitation: Typically of the Lotus Sutra or the Buddha’s name.
• Mindfulness: Awareness of the body’s movement and the arising of thoughts.
• Visualization: Seeing each step as traversing the realms of existence toward Buddhahood.

Benefits

The Constant Walking Samādhi develops energetic mindfulness, compassion in motion, and the ability to sustain meditative awareness amid activity.

Modern Adaptation

Modern practitioners may adapt this into walking meditation in gardens, cloisters, or public parks, dedicating each step to the awakening of all beings.

3. The Half-Walking, Half-Sitting Samādhi (半行半坐三昧)

Description

This Samādhi alternates periods of seated meditation and walking meditation, creating a balanced rhythm that prevents fatigue and maintains concentration throughout the day.

Zhiyi considered it the most practical form for long-term cultivation because it harmonizes body and mind without extreme austerity.

Method

• Divide the day into cycles of sitting and walking.
• During sitting: observe breath, thoughts, or a chosen contemplation theme (such as the Threefold Truth).
• During walking: maintain mindfulness, recite verses, or visualize the Buddha.

Relation to the Four Noble Truths

The alternation symbolizes the Middle Way between extremes of asceticism and indulgence. Walking represents compassionate activity; sitting represents inner stillness. Together they reveal the unity of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.

Application for Modern Life

For most practitioners today, this Samādhi offers an ideal model for daily practice: alternating seated meditation with mindful tasks such as cooking, cleaning, or walking to work. It demonstrates how insight can arise within ordinary activity.

4. The Neither-Walking-Nor-Sitting Samādhi (非行非坐三昧)

Description

The most profound and all-inclusive of the four, this Samādhi transcends formal distinction between movement and stillness. It is the direct contemplation of reality in every moment — “seeing the Dharma in all activities.”

Zhiyi described it as the perfection of samādhi, attainable when the mind no longer depends on conditions or postures to remain unified.

Method

• Maintain mindfulness through all bodily actions: standing, lying down, speaking, or working.
• Contemplate that all dharmas arise from causes and conditions and are empty of inherent nature.
• Recognise that every perception, sound, and sensation manifests the Buddha-realm itself.

Philosophical Basis

This Samādhi embodies Zhiyi’s teaching of “contemplation within a single thought” (一心三觀), seeing emptiness, provisional existence, and the middle simultaneously.

It is not passive absorption but dynamic awareness, illuminating all phenomena as expressions of awakening.

Contemporary Meaning

In modern terms, this practice parallels mindfulness-in-action or integrated awareness. It teaches that the entire world is the meditation hall; every moment of perception is a gate to enlightenment.

Samādhi	Mode	Focus	Duration / Setting	Main Benefit
Constant Sitting	Stillness	Concentration and insight	Extended retreat	Profound inner tranquility
Constant Walking	Movement	Recitation and devotion	Continuous walking	Energetic mindfulness
Half-Walking, Half-Sitting	Alternation	Balance of calm and motion	Flexible daily cycles	Sustainable harmony
Neither-Walking-Nor-Sitting	Integration	Awareness in all activities	Everyday life	Enlightenment in every moment

The Four Samādhis as a Unified Path

Zhiyi did not view these as four separate practices but as a single mandala of contemplation expressing the full range of human experience. Together they demonstrate that awakening can occur in stillness or movement, solitude or community, meditation hall or marketplace.

Each Samādhi deepens understanding of the Threefold Truth:

• Emptiness: no fixed self in any activity.
• Provisional existence: all actions function within interdependent causes.
• The Middle: the realisation that both emptiness and existence are the same living reality.

When these insights converge, every breath and gesture becomes a manifestation of the Buddha-way.

The Four Samādhis in the Mohe Zhiguan

Zhiyi devoted extensive sections of the Mohe Zhiguan (Mo-Ho Chih-Kuan) to the structure and discipline of the Four Samādhis. His disciple Guanding (灌頂) compiled detailed records of the practices, including schedules, dietary recommendations, and mental preparations.

Modern translations, notably Donner & Stevenson’s The Great Calming and Contemplation, provide valuable commentary for contemporary practitioners and scholars.

Relationship to Other Buddhist Traditions

The Four Samādhis influenced later forms of meditation across East Asia:

• Tendai (Japan): Saichō incorporated the Four Samādhis into the training regimen at Mount Hiei.
• Chan / Zen: The alternation of sitting and walking meditation echoes Tiantai principles.
• Nichiren Buddhism: Emphasises the Constant Walking Samādhi through vocal recitation of the Lotus Sutra’s title (Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō).
• Pure Land practice: Shares devotional aspects of continuous recitation and walking mindfulness.

Thus, Zhiyi’s system became the root structure for nearly every later East Asian meditative tradition.

Integrating the Four Samādhis Today

Tiantai’s message is that meditation is not confined to monasteries. A modern practitioner can adapt the Four Samādhis as follows:

• Morning: Ten minutes of quiet sitting (Constant Sitting).
• Daytime: Mindful walking or chores (Constant Walking).
• Evening: Alternating short periods of walking and sitting (Half-Walking, Half-Sitting).
• Throughout life: Continuous awareness of interdependence and compassion (Neither-Walking-Nor-Sitting).

Each practice nurtures compassion, clarity, and presence, aligning with Zhiyi’s insight that “within one thought, all dharmas are complete.”

Key Takeaways

• The Four Samādhis are a complete meditation system developed by Zhiyi, founder of Tiantai Buddhism.
• They harmonise stillness and movement, offering methods suitable for both monastic and lay practitioners.
• Their purpose is to cultivate zhǐ-guān (calming and insight) leading to realization of the Threefold Truth.
• Modern mindfulness practices trace their roots to this Tiantai framework of integrated awareness.

Recommended Reading

• The Great Calming and Contemplation; Translation & study by Daniel B. Stevenson & Paul L. Swanson (BDK English Tripiṭaka)
• Foundations of T’ien-t’ai Philosophy; Paul L. Swanson
• Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism; Brook A. Ziporyn
• The Lotus Sutra; Translated by Burton Watson

📘 Related pages:
Zhiyi: Founder of Tiantai Buddhism →
What Is Tiantai Buddhism? →
Tiantai Buddhist Calendar (ICS) →