The Buddha taught many meditation techniques that were already known. In terms of technique what was his contribution ?
bq. What is called yoga today is actually a later development. Patanjali lived about 500 years after the time of the Buddha, and naturally his _Yoga Sutra_ shows the influence of the Buddha’s teachings. Of course yogic practices were known in India even before the Buddha, and he himself experimented with them before achieving enlightenment. All these practices, however were limited to _sila_ and _samadhi_, concentration up to the level of the eighth _jhana_, the eighth stage of absorption, which is still within the field of sensory experience. The Buddha found the ninth _jhana_, and that is Vipassana, the development of insight that will take the meditator to the ultimate goal beyond all sensory experience.
[excerpt from “Vipassana Meditation”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060637242/jksobservat-20]
Buddha's Contribution
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