Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation

Bhikkhu Analayo completed a PhD on the Satipatthanasutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2000, published in 2003 by Windhorse Publications under the title Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. He has also written Perspectives on Satipatthana (Windhorse Publications, 2014), a comparative study of parallel versions of the Satipatthana Sutta. His other works include a habilitation research through a comparative study of the Majjhimanikaya in the light of its Chinese, Sanskrit and Tibetan parallels at the University of Marburg in 2007, published 2011. At present Analayo is a professor of Buddhist Studies at the Sri Lanka International Academy in Pallekele. He teaches at the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Hamburg and researches at the Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Taiwan. His main research area is early Buddhism and in particular the topics "Chinese Agamas", "Meditation" and "Women in Buddhism". Besides his academic pursuits, he spends about half of his time in meditation under retreat conditions and regularly teaches meditation courses in Asia and the West.

Praise for his previous book, Perspectives on Satipatthana: Analayo builds on his earlier ground-breaking work, 'Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization'. The brilliance of his scholarly research, combined with the depth of his meditative understanding, provides an invaluable guide to these liberating practices.' - Joseph Goldstein 'He offers us a work of great scholarship and wisdom that will be of immense benefit to anyone who wants to seriously study or to establish a practice of mindfulness.' - Sharon Salzberg 'A treasury of impeccable scholarship and practice, offering a wise, open-minded and deep understanding of the Buddha's original teaching.' - Jack Kornfield