Vipassana

Vipassanā (Sanskrit: vipasyanā) is the Buddhist meditation practice of Insight Meditation. While the meditation practices themselves vary from school to school, the underlying principle is the investigation of phenomena (Sanskrit: Dharma#Dharmas in Buddhist phenomenology) as they manifest in the five aggregates (kanda) namely, matter or form (Rupa), sensation or feelings (Vedana), perception (Samjna), mental formations (Sankara) & consciousness (Vijnana). This process leads to direct experiential perception, Vipassanā. In a broader sense, vipassanā has been used as one of two poles for the categorization of types of Buddhist meditation, the other being samatha. Samatha is a focusing, pacifying and calming meditation, common to many traditions in the world, notably Hindu Yoga, from which much of Buddhist terminology derives. It is used as a preparation for vipassana, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of Insight. This dichotomy is also sometimes discussed as "stopping and seeing." In Buddhist practice, it is said that while Samatha can calm the mind, only Insight can reveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which leads to prajna (knowledge) and jnana (pure wisdom) and thus can lead to preventing it from being disturbed again. The term is also used to refer to a religious movement modelled after Theravada Buddhism which employs Vipassana and anapana meditation as its primary techniques and places emphasis on the teachings of the Satipatthana Sutta. Vedana (sensation/feeling) is the primary initial subject of investigation. ==Etymology== ''Vipassanā'' is a Pali word from the Sanskrit prefix "vi-" and verbal root √dr. It is often translated as ''"insight"'' or ''"clear-seeing,"'' though, the "in-" prefix may be misleading; "vi" in Indo-Aryan languages is cognate to our "dis." The "vi" in vipassanā may then mean to see apart, or ''discern.'' Alternatively, the "vi" can function as an intensive, and thus vipassanā may mean to see deeply. In any case, this is used metaphorically for a particularly powerful mental self-perception. A synonym for ''"Vipassanā"'' is ''paccakkha'' (Pāli; Sanskrit: pratyaka), "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. ==Practice of vipassanā== Vipassanā meditation consists of the experiencial observation of mind and matter (nama and rupajhana) in their aspects of impermanence, Dukkha and lack of an inherent, independent essence or anatta. To see through the mode of impermanence means to examine things as to whether they are permanent. To see through the mode of unsatisfactoriness means to examine things as to whether they are satisfactory or are imbued with stress or suffering. To see through the mode of non-self means to examine things as to whether they have a permanent identity or self, or an essential nature. In Vipassanā meditation, the meditation object is one's own consciousness, although it can be further refined to be one's consciousness while observing, say, the breath, as in anapana meditation. In this context, the modes of seeing refers to focusing on those aspects of consciousness which appear to have (or not have) these characteristics. Some steps are described as Vipassana jhanas, or simply as knowledges. A major 19th century vipassanā instructor in Burma was Ledi Sayadaw. ==Vipassanā today== Today, the term ''"Vipassanā"'' also refers to the meditation technique used by many branches of modern Theravada Buddhism, for example in modern Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos and Thailand, and to a specific branch of Buddhism popularized by the Indian businessman S. N. Goenka and his mentor U Ba Khin as a nonsectarian form of Buddhism, and also by Americans Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield (who were inspired by the monks Mahasi Sayadaw and Ajahn Chah) under the rubric "insight meditation." ''"Vipassanā"'' centers exist throughout the world. In Thailand and India, locals and visitors can have vipassanā training, often free of charge including accommodation and meals, in many temples around the country as well as some modern-day training centers run by veteran vipassanā instructors. The definition above (at the top of the page) includes, "In a broader sense, vipassana has been used as one of two poles for the categorization of types of Buddhist meditation, the other being samatha. Samatha is a focusing, pacifying and calming meditation, common to many traditions in the world, notably Hindu Yoga, from which much of Buddhist terminology derives. It is used as a preparation for vipassana, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of Insight. This dichotomy is also sometimes discussed as 'stopping and seeing.' In Buddhist practice, it is said that while Samatha can calm the mind, only Insight can reveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which leads to prajna (knowledge) and jnana (pure wisdom) and thus can lead to preventing it from being disturbed again." It is important to note that not only concentrative methods, but also expansion methods (insight) of meditation were known and widely practiced long before Buddha arrived and taught. The Prajna and Jnana referred to in the definitation were there long before, whether or not it was called "vipassana." Concentration and expansion have always gone together in Yoga, prior to the divergence from the main of Yoga into the particular lineage or religion called Buddhism. These are universal processes. ==Vipashyana in the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana== The small vehicle is the common path shared by Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, sometimes referred to as the Sutra path. Vipashyana as practiced in the Theravada is the understanding of the Four Noble Truths that were taught by the Buddha. It is understanding the transitory nature of phenomena and the selflessness of persons, that the conceptual consciousness, "I" does not exist. Mahayana Vipashyana consists of meditating on the two truths: conventional truth and absolute truth. One realizes that phenomena likewise have a lack of inherent existence, and have the nature of emptiness (Shunyata). This is determined by the inferential path of reasoning and direct observation through meditation. Mahamudra and Dzogchen use Vipashyana extensively, though in a different manner than in the Theravada. In the Vajrayana (Tantric) path, the true nature of mind is pointed out by the guru, and the practitioner takes the path of direct experience. "''In the Sutra path (Theravada) one proceeds by examining and analyzing phenomena, using reasoning. One recognizes that all phenomena lack any true existence and that all appearances are merely interdependently related and are without any inherent nature. They are empty yet apparent, apparent yet empty. The path of Mahamudra is different in that one proceeds using the instructions concerning the nature of mind that are given by one's guru. This is called taking direct perception or direct experiences as the path. The fruition of Shamatha is purity of mind, a mind undisturbed by false conception or emotional afflictions. The fruition of Vipashyana is knowledge (prajna) and pure wisdom (jnana). Jnana is called the wisdom of nature of phenomena and it comes about through the realization of the true nature of phenomena."'' -Thrangu Rinpoche, Looking Directly at Mind : The Moonlight of Mahamudra ==Famous masters== *Mahasi Sayadaw *S. N. Goenka ==See also== *Buddhism *Meditation *Samatha *Anapana *Satipatthana *Theravada *Atthakavagga and Parayanavagga ==External Links:== * [http://www.pariyatti.com Pariyatti.com: A nonprofit resource for books and other materials about the Buddha's teachings, Vipassana meditation, and Pali language studies] *[http://www.acmuller.net/cgi-bin/search-ddb4.pl?Terms=觀 Digital Dictionary of Buddhism] (log in with userID "guest") * [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/bfaq.html#vipassana "Is Vipassana the same as Theravada?" An elaboration on the different meanings of Vipassana related in this article] * [http://www.dhamma.org Vipassana Meditation As Taught By S. N. Goenka] * [http://www.vri.dhamma.org Vipassana Research Institute] * [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/buddhism/pandita9.htm Free Public Domain E-Book Containing Instructions for Vipassana Meditation in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw] * [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/modern/thanissaro/onetool.html "One tool among many" by Bhikkhu Thannisaro, arguing based on the Pali Tipitaka that Samatha or tranquility meditation and Vipassana go hand in hand.] * [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/mahasit1.pdf "Practical Vipassana Exercises", by Mahasi Sayadaw.] * [http://www.vipassana.ca Vipassana in Canada] * [http://www.lawofkarma.net/lptong/vipassana/howto.html "How to Practice Vipassana Meditation in the Way of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness," by Ven. Ajahn Tong of Chom Tong, Thailand] *[http://here-and-now.org/VSI/Articles/TheoryMed/theoryHow.htm How Meditation Works] *[http://homepages.tesco.net/~ghoutman/chapter_09.htm#9.7 Mental culture in Burmese crisis politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy] * [http://www.pariyatti.org/tipitaka.phtml The Pali Tipitaka Project] Buddhist philosophical concepts Buddhist meditation

Vipassana

I'm getting an &radix; appearing in the article; could someone replace this with the right entity? User:M.e 03:39, 23 May 2004 (UTC) http://www.chibs.edu.tw/publication/chbs/07/385-416n.htm (an article that tries to clarify the various uses of vipassana and vipassana meditation.) There is some authority for translating vi- as "in a special manner" or "in many directions" and some of the Pali canon and commentaries support the idea that Vipassana allows one to see through the modes of impermanence etc. (See for example, sec. 2.4.2 in the above article) : I have some concerns about the author's attitude. For example, he says that

Abhi��ā is derived from the verb,jānāti, which means to know, to have or gain knowledge, to experience, to beaware of or to find out.[31]　 That is, abhi��ā is a special knowledge obtained through experienceand awareness. The very significant words which we should pay attention to are �experience� and�awareness�.　These two words suggest that vipassanā is cultivated by being aware of livingactivity (experience) rather than thinking barely or working on abstract ideas,such as speculation, assumption and the like. The statement can be supported by the Pāli-English Dictionary. Inthe explanation of abhi��ā the dictionary says that �wrong-doing, priestlysuperstitions and vain speculation do not conduce to abhi��ā�.[32]

Now, this is just silly. "jānāti" is the third person singular active ''form'' of the verb ''√jā''. And that verb is exactly the same as the English verb "know." They're cognates and everything. And sometimes people useit in a high-falutin sense, and sometimes they use it in an everyday sense. But these usages don't magically inhere in the word, and there's no reason at all that we should think that "experience" and "awareness" inhere in ''√jā''. The author writes with the characteristic exuberance of one who understand a language poorly and reads in too much meaning. There's a rule in linguistics and philology that the more romantic an explanation is, the less likely it is to be true. It's a good rule for Indology, too. He's good enough to cite some suttas for us, which yields some results. For example: In that case,Vaccha, develop (bhāvehi) further two things (dhammā): serenity (samatha) andinsight (vipassanā). When thesetwo things are developed (bhāvitā) further, they will lead to the penetrationof many elements. Penetration is fine, penetration is excellent. To see-apart, to see cuttingly or piercingly, to discern or discrimate, are completely defensible and supportable (as a knife di-vides what it cuts). The article also draws on the PTSD. Let's take a look:

Vipassanā (p. 627) (f.) [fr. vi+passati; BSk. vipaśyanā, e. g. Divy 44, 95, 264 etc.] inward vision, insight, intuition, introspection D III.213, 273; S IV.195, 360; V.52 (samatha+); A I.61 (id.), 95; II.140, 157 (samatha+); IV.360; V.99, 131; Ps I.28, 57 sq., 181; II.92 sq.; Pug 25; J I.106; Dhs 55, 1356; Nett 7, 42 sq., 50, 82, 88 sq., 125 sq., 160, 191; Miln 16; Vism 2 (with jhāna etc.), 289 (+samādhi), 628 sq. (the 18 mahā�); PvA 14 (samāhita--citta�), 167; VvA 77; Sdhp 457, 466. --anga constituent of intuition SnA 8 (given as "nāmarūpa--pariccheda etc."). --upekkhā indifference by introspection Vism 162. --kammaṭṭhāna exercise for intuition DhA IV.46. --�āṇa ability or method of attaining insight Vism 629; DhA IV.30; cp. Cpd. 65 sq., where 10 such modes. --dhura obligation of introspection DhA I.8; IV.37 sq.

Now, I'd be inclined to hold as close to this as possible in my interpretations of "Vi-". Why? Because a prefix has many meanings, and not all of them apply to each and every stem to which the prefix is attached. But we can look at the prefix itself, too:

Vi (p. 611) (indecl.) [prefix, resting on Idg. *ṷi "two," as connotation of duality or separation (Ger. "ent--zwei"), which is contained in viŋśati, num. for "twenty" (see vīsati), cp. Sk. viṣu apart, Gr. i)/dios private (lit. separate); also Sk. u--bhau both; and *ṷidh, as in Lat. dīvido=divide. A secondary (compar.) formation in Sk. vitara further, farther, Goth. wipra against, Ger. wider]

1. (a) inseparable prefix of separation and expansion, in original meaning of "asunder," semantically closely related to Lat. dis-- & Ger ver--. Often as base--prefix in var. meanings (see below 1--4), also very frequent as modifying prefix (in combn with other primary prefixes like ā, ni, pa, paṭi, saŋ), where its prevailing character is one of emphasis. --

(b) The native grammarians define vi- either as "vividha" (i. e. our meaning 2): see Bdhgh. at SnA 136 (viharati=vividhaŋ hitaŋ harati); and Vism 179 vividhaŋ khittaŋ=vikkhittaŋ; see also under viggaṇhati; or "prātilomya" (i. e. meaning 3): Nirukta (ed. Roth) I.3; or paraphrase it by su� or suṭṭhu (i. e. meaning 4): see under vimāna & vippasanna. The latter meaning also in Hemacandra's Anek' ārtha--sangraha (ed. Calc.) 7, 15: "śreṣṭhe 'tīte nānārthe" (i. e. Nos. 4 & 2). --

(c) vi� occurs also as distributive (repetitional) prefix in reduplication compounds (here closely resembling paṭi� and the negative a�), like cuṇṇa--vicuṇṇa piecemeal, chidda--vicchidda holes upon holes, vaṭṭa--vivaṭṭa, etc. -- Contracted forms are vy� (=viy� before vowels) and vo� (=vi+ ava); the guṇa & vriddhi form is ve�. --

II. Meanings. --

1. denoting expansion, spreading out; fig. variety or detail, to be trsld by expressions with over or about (cp. Lat. e--), as: �kampati shake about, �kāseti open out, �kirati scatter about, �kūjati sing out (=upa--nadati C), �carati move about (=ā--hiṇḍati), �churita sprinkled about, �jāyati bring forth, �tāna "spread out," �tthāra ex--tension, de--tail, �dāleti break open, �dhammati whirl about, �dhāyaka providing, �pakirati strew all over, �pphāra pervading, �pphārika ef--fulgence, Qbhajati ex--plain, �bhatta dis--tributed, �bhāga division, distribution, �ravati shout out, �rūhana growing up, �rocati shine out, �ssajjati give out, �ssaṭṭha sent out, �ssara shouting out, �ssuta far--famed. --

2. denoting disturbance, separation, mixing up (opp. saŋ�), as given with "away" or "down," or the prefixes de-- and dis--, e. g. �kasita burst asunder, �kubbana change, i. e. miracle (meta--morphosis), �kkaya sell ("ver--kaufen"), �kkhambhati de--stroy, �kkhāleti wash off (=ācameti), �kkhepa de--rangement, �gata dis--appeared (used as defn of vi� at ThA 80), �galita dripping down, �ggaha separation, �cinati dis--criminate, �jahati dis--miss, �desa foreign country (cp. verajjaka), �naṭṭha destroyed, �nata bending down, �nāsa de--struction, �nicchaya dis--crimination, �nodaka driving out, �pāteti to be destroyed, �ppalapati to talk confusedly, �rājeti discard as rāga, �rodha destruction, �lumpati break up, �vitta separated, �vidha mixed, �veka separation, �vāha carrying away, i. e. wedding. --

3. denoting the reverse of the simple verb, or loss, difference, opposite, reverse, as expressed by un-- or dis--, e. g. �asana mis--fortune, �kaṭika unclean, �kappa change round, �kāra per--turbation, dis--tortion, �kāla wrong time, �tatha un--truth, �dhūma smoke--less, �patti corruption, �parīta dubious, �ppaṭipanna on the wrong track, �bhava non--existence (or as 4 "more" bhava, i. e. wealth), �mati doubt, �mānana dis--respect, �yoga separation, �raja fault--less, �rata abs--taining, �rūpa un--sightly, �vaṭa unveiled, �vaṇṇeti defame, �vāda dis--pute, �sama uneven, �ssandati overflow, �ssarita for--gotten, �siṭṭha distinguished, �sesa difference, distinction. --

4. in intensifying sense (developed fr. 1 & 2), mostly with terms expressing per se one or the other of shades of meanings given under 1--3; to be trsld by "away," out, all over, "up," or similarly (completely), e. g. �ākula quite confused, �katta cut up, �kopeti shake up, �garahati scold intensely, �chindati cut off, �jita conquered altogether, �jjotita resplendent, �tarati come quite through, �niyoga close connection, �nivatteti turn off completely, �pariṇāma intense change, �ppamutta quite released, �ppasanna quite purified, �pphalita crumpled up, �bandhana (close) fetter, �ramati cease altogether, �sahati have sufficient strength, �sukkha dried up, �suddha very bright, �ssamati rest fully (Ger. aus--ruhen), �ha��ati to get slain.

::I dunno. I don't really see it. I mean, sure, II:1 has "sprinkled around" and whatnot, which involve pluralities, but they seem to be primarily consequences of the idea of broading or dividing--open out, for example. They don't seem nearly as compelling as II:4, to see intensively. And this isn't to say one doesn't gain insight into many things through vipassanā--it's just to say it doesn't seem to be hard-coded into the word.User:Kukkurovaca 01:18, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC) == Connection with Mr. Goenka? == I get an uncanny sense that some material here has come staright from Mr. Goenka's (a respected authority on Vipassana) websites. He has been mentioned in the article and the reference is same as that in his website about his Burmese Guru.

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

V

Words begining with Vipassana:

Vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassana_jhanas
Vipassana_movement