<p>As answered <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2039/18">here</a>, the forty samatha meditation objects are:</p>

<p><strong>1-10: The Kasinas</strong></p>

<p><em>These all lead to the four jhānas; they are practised by creating a disk and focusing on it, while repeating, e.g., "earth, earth..."</em></p>

<p>1. Earth
<br/>2. Water
<br/>3. Fire
<br/>4. Air
<br/>5. Blue
<br/>6. Yellow
<br/>7. Red
<br/>8. White
<br/>9. Light
<br/>10. Space</p>

<p><strong>11-20: Foulness</strong></p>

<p><em>These lead to the first jhāna; they are practised by contemplating a corpse in various states of decay</em></p>

<p>11. Bloated
<br/>12. Livid
<br/>13. Festering
<br/>14. Cut Up
<br/>15. The Gnawed
<br/>16. Scattered
<br/>17. Hacked and Scattered
<br/>18. Bleeding
<br/>19. Worm-infested
<br/>20. a Skeleton </p>

<p><strong>21-30: Recollections</strong></p>

<p><em>Body and Breathing bring jhāna (body only brings the first jhāna, breath brings all four); the other eight bring only access concentration; they are cultivated by reflecting on the object, e.g. "Buddha, Buddha"</em></p>

<p>21. Buddha
<br/>22. Dhamma
<br/>23. Sangha
<br/>24. Morality
<br/>25. Generosity
<br/>26. Angels
<br/>27. Death
<br/>28. Body
<br/>29. Breathing
<br/>30. Peace</p>

<p><strong>31-34: The Divine Abidings</strong></p>

<p><em>The first three bring about the first three jhānas; the fourth brings about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by taking beings as an object, e.g. "May all beings be happy"</em></p>

<p>31. Love 
<br/>32. Compassion
<br/>33. Joy 
<br/>34. Equanimity </p>

<p><strong>35-38: The Immaterial States</strong></p>

<p><em>These bring about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by using the fourth jhāna as a base, then expanding and refining the object</em></p>

<p>35. Limitless Space
<br/>36. Limitless Consciousness
<br/>37. Nothingness
<br/>38. Neither Perception Nor Non-perception</p>

<p><strong>39. Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment</strong></p>

<p><em>This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by reflecting on food as one collects and eats it.</em></p>

<p><strong>40. Defining of The Elements</strong></p>

<p><em>This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by breaking the body up into the four elements.</em></p>

<p>All forty meditation subjects are described and taught in detail in the Visuddhimagga; highly recommended for those interested.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-21T13:58:51.077Z
2014-09-21T13:58:51.077Z
2017-04-13T12:51:06.400Z
yuttadhammo
<p>There are two types of meditations described as "Samatha" and "Vipassana"
I have heard that there are several types of samatha bhawana (40 kamatahan). Can you please elaborate this based on Theravada Buddhism</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-21T13:56:56.210Z
Possible duplicate of http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2014/methods-for-reaching-jhana/2039#2039
yuttadhammo
<theravada><vipassana><meditation-samatha>
What are all the bhawana (meditation) methods in Buddhism?
# What are all the bhawana (meditation) methods in Buddhism?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-21)

There are two types of meditations described as "Samatha" and "Vipassana"
I have heard that there are several types of samatha bhawana (40 kamatahan). Can you please elaborate this based on Theravada Buddhism

**Tags:** theravada, vipassana, meditation-samatha

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2014/methods-for-reaching-jhana/2039#2039  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-21. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

As answered [here](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2039/18), the forty samatha meditation objects are:

**1-10: The Kasinas**

*These all lead to the four jhānas; they are practised by creating a disk and focusing on it, while repeating, e.g., "earth, earth..."*

1. Earth
  
2. Water
  
3. Fire
  
4. Air
  
5. Blue
  
6. Yellow
  
7. Red
  
8. White
  
9. Light
  
10. Space

**11-20: Foulness**

*These lead to the first jhāna; they are practised by contemplating a corpse in various states of decay*

11. Bloated
  
12. Livid
  
13. Festering
  
14. Cut Up
  
15. The Gnawed
  
16. Scattered
  
17. Hacked and Scattered
  
18. Bleeding
  
19. Worm-infested
  
20. a Skeleton

**21-30: Recollections**

*Body and Breathing bring jhāna (body only brings the first jhāna, breath brings all four); the other eight bring only access concentration; they are cultivated by reflecting on the object, e.g. "Buddha, Buddha"*

21. Buddha
  
22. Dhamma
  
23. Sangha
  
24. Morality
  
25. Generosity
  
26. Angels
  
27. Death
  
28. Body
  
29. Breathing
  
30. Peace

**31-34: The Divine Abidings**

*The first three bring about the first three jhānas; the fourth brings about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by taking beings as an object, e.g. "May all beings be happy"*

31. Love
  
32. Compassion
  
33. Joy
  
34. Equanimity

**35-38: The Immaterial States**

*These bring about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by using the fourth jhāna as a base, then expanding and refining the object*

35. Limitless Space
  
36. Limitless Consciousness
  
37. Nothingness
  
38. Neither Perception Nor Non-perception

**39. Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment**

*This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by reflecting on food as one collects and eats it.*

**40. Defining of The Elements**

*This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by breaking the body up into the four elements.*

All forty meditation subjects are described and taught in detail in the Visuddhimagga; highly recommended for those interested.


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