Vipassanā

Translations of Vipassanā
English	insight, clear-seeing
Pali	Vipassanā
Sanskrit	विपश्यन (vipaśyanā)
Burmese	ဝိပဿနာ
Chinese	觀 (Pinyin: guān)
Khmer	វិបស្សនា (vipassana)
Sinhalese	විපස්සනා
Tibetan	ལྷག་མཐོང་ ([lhaktong) (Wyl: lhag mthong] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
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Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit: विपश्यन) in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality.^[1] In the Theravada tradition this specifically refers to insight into the three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering or unsatisfactoriness, and the realisation of non-self.

Vipassanā meditation in conjunction with Samatha meditation is a necessary part of all Buddhist traditions. Therefore, it is important to distinguish Vipassanā on the one hand, and the Vipassana movement on the other, which was represented in the Theravada tradition by Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw and popularised by Mahasi Sayadaw, V. R. Dhiravamsa and ^[2][3][4] S. N. Goenka.

Etymology[edit]

Vipassanā is a Pali word from the Sanskrit prefix "vi-" and verbal root paś. It is often translated as "insight" or "clear-seeing", though the "in-" prefix may be misleading; "vi" in Indo-Aryan languages is equivalent to the Latin "dis." The "vi" in vipassanā may then mean to see into, see through or to see 'in a special way.'^[1] Alternatively, the "vi" can function as an intensive, and thus vipassanā may mean "seeing deeply."^{[citation needed]}

A synonym for "Vipassanā" is paccakkha (Pāli; Sanskrit: pratyakṣa), "before the eyes," which refers to direct experiential perception. Thus, the type of seeing denoted by "vipassanā" is that of direct perception, as opposed to knowledge derived from reasoning or argument.^{[citation needed]}

In Tibetan, vipaśyanā is lhagthong (wylie: lhag mthong). The term "lhag" means "higher", "superior", "greater"; the term "thong" is "view" or "to see". So together, lhagthong may be rendered into English as "superior seeing", "great vision" or "supreme wisdom." This may be interpreted as a "superior manner of seeing", and also as "seeing that which is the essential nature." Its nature is a lucidity—a clarity of mind.^[5]

Henepola Gunaratana defined Vipassanā as:

Looking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing"^[1]

Insight[edit]

Origins[edit]

According to Richard Gombrich a development took place in early Buddhism resulting in a change in doctrine, which considered prajna to be an alternative means to "enlightenment".^[6] The suttas contain traces of ancient debates between Mahayana and Theravada schools in the interpretation of the teachings and the development of insight. In the sutta pitaka the term "vipassanā" is hardly mentioned, while they frequently mention jhana as the meditative practice to be undertaken.^{[7][citation not found][note 1]}

According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, dhyāna itself constituted the original "liberating practice".^{[8][9][10][citation not found]} Vetter further argues that the eightfold path constitutes a body of practices which prepare one, and lead up to, the practice of dhyana.^[11] Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices."^[12] Out of these debates developed the idea that bare insight suffices to reach liberation, by discerning the Three marks (qualities) of (human) existence (tilakkhana), namely dukkha (suffering), anatta (non-self) and anicca (impermanence).^[13]

Sudden insight[edit]

The Sthaviravāda, one of the early Buddhist schools from which the Theravada-tradition originates, emphasized sudden insight:

In the Sthaviravada [...] progress in understanding comes all at once, 'insight' (abhisamaya) does not come 'gradually' (successively - anapurva).^[14]

The Mahasanghika, another one of the early Buddhist schools, had the doctrine of ekaksana-citt, "according to which a Buddha knows everything in a single thought-instant".^{[15][citation not found]} This process however, meant to apply only to the Buddha and Peccaka buddhas. Lay people may have to experience various levels of insights to become fully enlightened.

The Mahayana tradition emphasizes prajna, insight into sunyata, dharmata, the two truths doctrine, clarity and emptiness, or bliss and emptiness:^[16]

[T]he very title of a large corpus of early Mahayana literature, the Prajnaparamita, shows that to some extent the historian may extrapolate the trend to extol insight, prajna, at the expense of dispassion, viraga, the control of the emotions.^[17]

Although Theravada and Mahayana are commonly understood as different streams of Buddhism, their practice however, may reflect emphasis on insight as a common denominator:

In practice and understanding Zen is actually very close to the Theravada Forest Tradition even though its language and teachings are heavily influenced by Taoism and Confucianism.^{[18][note 2]}

The emphasis on insight is discernible in the emphasis in Chán on sudden insight,^[14] though in the Chán-tradition this insight is to be followed by gradual cultivation.^{[note 3]}

Relation with samatha[edit]

In all Buddhist schools two types of meditation practices are followed: samatha (Pāli: Samatha, Sanskrit: śamatha; English: "calm abiding") and vipassanā (Pali: vipassanā, Sanskrit: vipaśyanā, English: "clear seeing").^[20] Samatha is a primary meditation aimed at calming the mind, and is also well-known and widely used in non-buddhist traditions. It is, however, vipassanā, the systematic investigation of self and phenomena that is unique to the Buddhist tradition.

To gain true insight Samatha and Vipassanā needs to be conjoined. There are two different traditions concerning the sequence of the two. The Samatha first approach is the most common, and involves cultivating a stable samatha before practicing vipassanā. Different traditions describe different levels of Samatha as being sufficient. In some access to first dhyana is said to be enough. In others full attainment of dhyana is enough. Yet in others only full attainment of the four form and formless absorption dhyana states are said to be sufficient. The approach of first cultivating Samatha is recommended by most of the great scholar-practitioners of ancient India.

In the Mahayana this approach is reflected in the sutra approach of for example Shantideva and Kamalashila. Through Shamatha disturbing emotions are abandoned and thus facilitates clear seeing Vipashyana. In the Mahayana sutra approach Vipashyana is cultivated through reasoning, logic and analysis in conjunction with Shamatha. In contrast, in the Vipashyana directly approach represented by for example the siddha tradition of the direct approach of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, the view of Vipashyana is ascertained directly through looking into one's own mind. After this initial recognition of Vipashyana the steadiness of Shamatha is developed within that recognition. It is however also common in the direct approach to first develop enough Shamatha to serve as a basis for Vipashyana. In that case the view of Vipashyana is ascertained through meditation. In sum, the traditions differ in the sequence but all comes down to the union of Samatha and Vipassanā. It is therefore faulty to claim that only Samatha or only Vipassanā is sufficient.^[21]

In the Theravada tradition, samatha is regarded as a preparation for vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening concentration in order for insight to arise, which leads to liberation. In contrast, the modern Vipassana Movement gives more emphasis to Vipassanā already from the start, highlighting the risks of going out of course when strong samatha is developed.^[22] For this the Vipassana Movement has been criticised, especially in Sri Lanka.^[23][24]

Though both terms appear in the Sutta Pitaka^{[note 4]}, Gombrich and Brooks argue that the distinction as two separate paths originates in the earliest interpretations of the Sutta Pitaka,^[13] not in the suttas themselves.^{[29][note 5]} According to Gombrich, the distinction between vipassanā and samatha did not originate in the suttas, but in the interpretation of the suttas.^{[13][note 6]} Various traditions disagree which techniques belong to which pole.^[31]

Vipassanā meditation[edit]

Vipassanā can be cultivated by the practice that includes contemplation and introspection through primarily awareness and observation of bodily sensations. The practices may differ in the modern Buddhist traditions and non-sectarian groups according to the founder but the main objective is to develop insight. [1]

Theravāda[edit]

Insight in the Four Noble Truths[edit]

According to the Theravada-tradition, Buddhist practices lead to insight in the Four Noble Truths, which can only be reached by practising the Noble Eightfold Path. According to Theravāda tradition, enlightenment or Nibbana can only be attained by discerning all Vipassanā insight levels when the Eightfold Noble Path is followed ardently. This is a developmental process where various Vipassanā insights are discerned; the final enlightenment may come suddenly, as proposed by other schools.

Vipassanā movement[edit]

The term vipassana is often conflated with the Vipassana movement, a movement which started in the 1950s in Burma but has gained wide renown mainly through American Buddhist teachers such as Joseph Goldstein, Tara Brach, Gil Fronsdal, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. The movement has had a wide appeal due to being open and inclusive to different Buddhist and non-buddhist wisdom, poetry as well as science. It has together with the modern American Zen tradition served as one of the main inspirations for the 'mindfulness movement' as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and others.

The Vipassanā Movement, also known as the Insight Meditation Movement, is rooted in Theravāda Buddhism, especially from the Thai Forest Tradition and the "New Burmese Method", as well as the modern influences^[32] on the traditions of Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos and Thailand originating from various Theravāda teachers like Ledi Sayadaw, Mogok Sayadaw (who was less known to the West due to lack of International Mogok Centres), Mahasi Sayadaw, Ajahn Chah, and Dipa Ma, as well as derivatives from those traditions such as the movement led by S. N. Goenka.

In the Vipassanā Movement, the emphasis is on the Satipatthana Sutta and the use of mindfulness to gain insight into the impermanence of the self.

Vipassana-meditation in the modern Vipassana movement[edit]

Vipassanā-meditation uses mindfulness of breathing, combined with the contemplation of impermanence, to gain insight into the true nature of this reality. All phenomena are investigated, and concluded to be painful and unsubstantial, without an immortal entity or self-view, and in its ever-changing and impermanent nature.^[33][17]

Mindfulness of breathing is described throughout the Sutta Pitaka. The Satipatthana Sutta describes it as going into the forest and sitting beneath a tree and then to simply watch the breath. If the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short.^[34][35]

By observing the breath one becomes aware of the perpetual changes involved in breathing, and the arising and passing away of mindfulness. One can also be aware of and gain insight into impermanence through the observation of bodily sensations and their nature of arising and passing away.^[36] Eventually Vipassanā-meditation leads to insight into the impermanence of all phenomena, the absence of a permanent self, and the cause of suffering, thereby leading to liberation from suffering.^[17]

Stages of Jhana in the Vipassana movement[edit]

Vipassanā jhanas are stages that describe the development of samatha in vipassanā meditation practice as described in modern Burmese Vipassana meditation.^[37] Mahasi Sayadaw's student Sayadaw U Pandita described the four vipassanā jhanas as follows:^[38]

1. The meditator first explores the body/mind connection as one, nonduality; discovering three characteristics. The first jhana consists in seeing these points and in the presence of vitakka and vicara. Phenomena reveal themselves as appearing and ceasing.
2. In the second jhana, the practice seems effortless. Vitaka and vicara both disappear.
3. In the third jhana, piti, the joy, disappears too: there is only happiness (sukha) and concentration.
4. The fourth jhana arises, characterised by purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. The practice leads to direct knowledge. The comfort disappears because the dissolution of all phenomena is clearly visible. The practice will show every phenomenon as unstable, transient, disenchanting. The desire of freedom will take place.

Northern tradition and Mahāyāna[edit]

Like the southern Theravada tradition, the north Indian Buddhist traditions like the Sarvastivada and the Sautrantika practiced vipaśyanā meditation as outlined in texts like the Abhidharmakosha of Vasubandhu and the Yogacarabhumi. The Abhidharmakosha states that vipaśyanā is practiced once one has reached samadhi (absorption) by cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness (smrtyupasthanas).^[39] This is achieved according to Vasubandhu:

"By considering the unique characteristics (svalaksana) and the general characteristics (samanyalaksana) of the body, sensation, the mind, and the dharmas."

"'The unique characteristics' means its self nature (svabhava)."

"The general characteristics" signifies the fact that "All conditioned things are impermanent; all impure dharmas are suffering; and that all the dharmas are empty (sunya) and not-self (anatmaka)."^[39]

These works are some of the main texts used to study vipaśyanā in the Mahāyāna tradition. Mahāyāna vipaśyanā differs from the Theravada tradition in its strong emphasis on the meditation on emptiness (shunyata) of all phenomena. The Mahayana Akṣayamati-nirdeśa refers to vipaśyanā as seeing phenomena as they really are, that is, empty, without self, nonarisen, and without grasping. The Prajnaparamita sutra in 8,000 lines states that the practice of insight is the non-appropriation of any dharmas, including the five aggregates:

So too, a Bodhisattva coursing in perfect wisdom and developing as such, neither does nor even can stand in form, feeling, perception, impulse and consciousness...This concentrated insight of a Bodhisattva is called 'the non-appropriation of all dharmas'.^[40]

Likewise the Prajnaparamita in 25,000 lines states that a Bodhisattva should know the nature of the five aggregates as well as all dharmas thus:

That form, etc. [feeling, perception, impulse and consciousness], which is like a dream, like an echo, a mock show, a mirage, a reflection of the moon in water, an apparition, that is neither bound nor freed. Even so form, etc., which is past, future, or present, is neither bound nor freed. And why? Because of the nonbeing-ness of form, etc. Even so form, etc., whether it be wholesome or unwholesome, defiled or undefiled, tainted or untainted, with or without outflows, worldly or supramundane, defiled or purified, is neither bound nor freed, on account of its non-beingness, its isolatedness, its quiet calm, its emptiness, signless-ness, wishless-ness, because it has not been brought together or produced. And that is true of all dharmas.^[41]

Asanga's Abhidharma-samuccaya states that the practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā is a part of a Bodhisattva's path at the beginning, in the first "path of preparation" (Sambharamarga).^[42]

The later Indian Mahayana scholastic tradition, as exemplified by Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, saw śamatha as a necessary prerequisite to vipaśyanā and thus one needed to first begin with calm abiding meditation and then proceed to insight. In the Panjika commentary of Prajnakaramati on the Bodhicaryavatara, vipaśyanā is defined simply as "wisdom (prajña) that has the nature of thorough knowledge of reality as it is."^[43]

East Asian Mahāyāna[edit]

In Chinese Buddhism, the works of Tiantai master Zhiyi (such as the Mohe Zhiguan, "Great śamatha-vipaśyanā") are some of the most influential texts which discuss vipaśyanā meditation from a Mahāyāna perspective. In this text Zhiyi teaches the contemplation of the skandhas, ayatanas, dhātus, the Kleshas, false views and several other elements.^[44] Likewise the influential text called the Awakening of Faith scripture has a section on calm and insight meditation.^[45] It states:

He who practices 'clear observation' should observe that all conditioned phenomena in the world are unstationary and are subject to instantaneous transformation and destruction; that all activities of the mind arise and are extinguished from moment or moment; and that, therefore, all of these induce suffering. He should observe that all that had been conceived in the past was as hazy as a dream, that all that is being conceived in the future will be like clouds that rise up suddenly. He should also observe that the physical existences of all living beings in the world are impure and that among these various filthy things there is not a single one that can be sought after with joy.^[46]

The Chan (Zen) Buddhist tradition advocates the simultaneous practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā, and this is called the practice of Silent Illumination.^[47] The classic Chan text known as the Platform Sutra states:

Calming is the essence of wisdom. And wisdom is the natural function of calming [i.e., prajñā and samādhi]. At the time of prajñā, samādhi exists in that. At the time of samādhi, prajñā exists in that. How is it that samādhi and prajñā are equivalent? It is like the light of the lamp. When the lamp exists, there is light. When there is no lamp, there is darkness. The lamp is the essence of light. The light is the natural function of the lamp. Although their names are different, in essence, they are fundamentally identical. The teaching of samādhi and prajñā is just like this.^[47]

Tibetan Buddhism[edit]

In Tibetan Buddhism, the classical practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā is strongly influenced by the Mahāyāna text called the Bhavanakrama of Indian master Kamalaśīla. Kamalaśīla defines vipaśyanā as "the discernment of reality" (bhūta-pratyavekṣā) and "accurately realizing the true nature of dharmas".^[48]

Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism employed both deductive investigation (applying ideas to experience) and inductive investigation (drawing conclusions from direct experience) in the practice of vipaśyanā.^{[note 7][note 8]} According to Leah Zahler, only the tradition of deductive analysis in vipaśyanā was transmitted to Tibet in the sūtrayāna context.^{[note 9]}

In Tibet direct examination of moment-to-moment experience as a means of generating insight became exclusively associated with vajrayāna.^{[51][note 10][note 11]}

Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen[edit]

Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen use vipaśyanā extensively. This includes some methods of the other traditions, but also their own specific approaches. They place a greater emphasis on meditation on symbolic images. Additionally in the Vajrayāna (tantric) path, the true nature of mind is pointed out by the guru, and this serves as a direct form of insight.^{[note 12]}

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

History[edit]

• Theravāda Spirituality in the West
• David Chapman, Theravada reinvents meditation

Background[edit]

• Insight Meditation Online From Buddhanet.net
• A Honed and Heavy Axe
• Mahasi Sayadaw, Satipatthana Vipassana: Criticisms and Replies
• Jeffrey S, Brooks, The Fruits (Phala) of the Contemplative Life
• Publications in the Theravāda tradition/ Pariyatti.org
• Publications and resources on Vipassana meditation (as taught by S.N. Goenka) (vipassanabookstore.org)

Practice[edit]

• Meditation From Yellowrobe.com
• Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka and his assistant teachers in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin at free centers worldwide
• Saddhamma Foundation Information about practicing Vipassana meditation.
• Practical Guidelines for Vipassanâ by Ayya Khema
• A Meditator's Handbook by Bill Crecelius
• Turning to the Source by V.R. Dhiravamsa
• The Middle Path of Live by V.R. Dhiravamsa
• Healing through Pure Mindfulness by V.R. Dhiravamsa