Vipassana & Insight

Vipassana is a Pali word usually translated as "insight" or "seeing things as they really are". It refers to meditation practices aimed at direct understanding of the nature of experience.

Two wings of meditation

Traditional Buddhist teachings describe two complementary aspects:

Most insight traditions begin with some concentration (often on the breath) and then turn attention to the changing nature of all experience.

Is it religious?

Vipassana comes from the Theravada Buddhist tradition, rooted in teachings attributed to the Buddha, particularly the Satipatthana Sutta (the discourse on the foundations of mindfulness). Many modern courses present it as a non-sectarian technique that people of any faith, or none, can practise.

Vipassana doesn't ask you to believe anything. It asks you to look — closely and repeatedly — at your own experience.

A Brief History

• ~5th century BCE: the Buddha teaches in northern India. Mindfulness and insight practices are central.

• Centuries later: Vipassana is preserved mainly in Theravada countries — Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

• 19th–20th century Myanmar: a revival of lay meditation. Teachers including Ledi Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayagyi U Ba Khin develop accessible methods for laypeople.

• 1969: S.N. Goenka, a student of U Ba Khin, begins teaching 10-day courses in India. His organisation's courses are now held at centres worldwide, offered on a donation basis. Dhamma Giri in Igatpuri, Maharashtra, is one of the best-known.

• 1970s onwards: Western teachers bring insight meditation to Europe and the US (for example, Insight Meditation Society). Modern mindfulness programmes such as MBSR draw on these roots.