abhibhvāyatana, in Buddhist philosophy, one of the preparatory stages of meditation, in which the senses are completely restrained. In Buddhist canons, abhibhvāyatana is divided into eight substages during which man comes to realize that physical forms in the external world are different from himself, thus freeing himself from attachment to the sense objects. These stages become bases for man’s deliverance from sensual pleasures and pains, which are understood to be sufferings.