ABSTRACT
A strong case can be made for a Brahminic origin of formless meditation. The most convincing evidence for this consists of a number of early parallels to the goals of the two teachers. No less important is evidence connecting formless meditation to the tradition of early Brahminic meditation. This evidence consists of schemes of element meditation found in both the early Buddhist and Brahminic literature. In the early Brahminic literature, element meditation is based on the principle that the yogin who wishes to attain union with brahman must simulate the process of world dissolution in his meditative practice. Similar schemes of element meditation are found in the early Buddhist literature, and some of these include the formless spheres. Because there is no doctrinal background for these lists in the early Buddhist literature, it is more likely than not that they have been borrowed from an early Brahminic source. The early parallels to the goals of the two teachers suggest that the Brahminic source for these practices was the teachers themselves.
