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Vipassana Meditation

© Yeshe Chodon

Theravada Buddhism refers to Buddhism as practiced in southern Asia, in countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. Vipassana ("insight" or "seeing things as they are") meditation practice is a Theravadan practice, known for 2,500 years. Today, evolving worldwide, it has thousands of followers in the West, due in large measure to three prominent teachers: S.N. Goenka, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield.

This article is an introduction to Vipassana and its place in the Buddhist spectrum.

Keep in mind that Vipassana falls within mainstream Buddhist thought. There are geographical, historical and linguistic differences between different Buddhist traditions, to be sure. For one, Pali is the Theravadan scriptural language instead of Sanskrit, so dharma becomes dhamma; karma is kamma;nirvana is nibbana.

But geographical, historical, and linguistic distinctions fade to background when compared to the core common to the main Buddhist traditions: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma-the way to liberation-which is universal.

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

http://www.xmission.com/~mustard/sangha_...
http://world.std.com/~minding/mlnoble4.h...
http://members.aol.com/wgraetz943/noble....
http://www.novia.net/~brianism/4truths.h...

Above are four web sites that list and describe the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Each contributor has added a personal spin, but the gist is consistent. Here is my synthesis with some Pali for flavor:

The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukka
All life knows suffering. Old age, deterioration and death are certain. Change is inevitable; change is the essence of life as we know it.

2. Samudaya
The causes of suffering are clinging, often referred to as attachment, and its opposite, aversion. Another cause is ignorance.

3. Nirodha
There is a way to end suffering, a way to abandon clinging, aversion and ignorance.

4. Magga
The Eightfold Path is the way to escape the cycle of rebirth with its inevitable suffering.

The Eightfold Path:
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

S.N. Goenka

http://www.dhamma.org/index.htm
http://www.vri.dhamma.org/
http://www.firehorse.com.au/philos/vipas...

Above are a few sites providing background on this teacher and his role in the wide dissemination of Vipassana meditation techniques.

Five centuries after the Buddha, the noble heritage of Vipassana had disappeared from India. The purity of the teaching was lost elsewhere as well.

In the country of Burma, however, it was preserved by a chain of devoted teachers. From generation to generation, over two thousand years, this dedicated lineage transmitted the technique in its pristine purity.

In our time, Vipassana has been reintroduced to India, as well as to citizens from more than eighty other countries, by S.N. Goenka, an Indian by descent, who studied in Burma, seeking, besides enlightenment, a cure for his migraine headaches. Eventually he was authorized to teach Vipassana by the renowned Burmese Vipassana teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

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