Vipassana

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Vipassanā ( Pali “insight”) describes in Buddhism the “ insight ” into the three characteristics of existence impermanence ( anicca ) , suffering or inadequacy ( dukkha ) and not-self ( anatta ) .

The path of practice for developing this insight is called "vipassana meditation" (vipassanā-bhāvanā) , "insight meditation" or "vipassana practice". Vipassana practice is a way to overcome the suffering (dukkha) caused by not seeing ( avijjâ ) and delusion (kilesa) or to achieve liberation from nirvana in life . It is traced back to a commentary ( Visuddhi-Magga ) on the discourses of the historical Buddha handed down in the Pali canon .

The Vipassana practice and the achievement of its goals are basically not tied to any religious affiliation. Vipassana meditation is also practiced and taught by non-Buddhists. An essential part of the various training methods is the practice of mindfulness (sati) . In the psychological literature, Vipassana meditation is commonly called "mindfulness meditation" instead of insight meditation.

The “Vipassana Movement” is a loosely-knit lay and ordained movement that originated in Theravada Buddhism. It now includes numerous teachers, students, courses, meditation centers, and communities.

etymology

The Pali -word Vipassana is composed of the Sanskrit - prefix "vi" and the verbal root "√paś" for "see". It is mostly translated as "insight", "clear view" or "clear view".

The prefix “vi-” primarily means “two parts” or a movement “away” from something else. Corresponding prefixes in German are “apart” or “ent”. Vipassanā can also literally be translated as “seeing apart”. Accordingly, it describes an intuitively differentiating, more deeply transparent and thus freeing of illusions “seeing” in the sense of a direct comprehension. This also corresponds to the other meaning of “vi-”, which is an “intense” quality of differentiation. Vipassanā means a special kind of looking deeply, which directly, unclouded or truthfully grasps all internal and external processes.

By those "two parts" of "vi-" are meant the illusion or falsehood and the reality or truth. So does Vi-passana a higher vision that mindfulness increasingly viewed with the intuitive distinction every illusion, manipulation or delusion, and thus captures the respective reality or truth directly. Many Vipassana teachers hold the view that if this distinction is continually cultivated, it will lead to "full liberation" ( nirvāna ), the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice in all its forms.

Historical development

Early Buddhism

In the Buddha's speeches in the Pali Canon there is much evidence that the systematic practice of mere mindfulness for the purpose of liberating insights was widespread in the ancient Indian community. This broad practical orientation continued for several centuries. From around the 10th century onwards, it no longer seems to play a role in Theravada Buddhism. That broad-based early Buddhist mindfulness or insight practice aimed at laypeople and ordained people has become increasingly popular as a result of later Buddhist developments - above all the development of scholasticism , philosophy and institutionalization in the form of Buddhist monasteries , which have made a monopoly on the highest path of liberation Background stepped.

Revival from the 18th century

From the beginning of the 18th century, however, there was a revival in Burma of the early Buddhist orientation towards a liberating meditation practice for everyone, lay people as well as ordained, through systematic mindfulness training - based on the central mindfulness speeches of the Buddha in the Pali canon. This movement was eventually supported by the Burmese Theravada and the royal family. It gained momentum.

Since the late 19th century, the meditation forms of Vipassanâ have been broadly imparted to the (Burmese) population again in the course of a great reform movement, which was mainly shaped by the most learned and renowned master in Burma's history, Ledi Sayadaw. This is where the modern Vipassana movement started. Soon afterwards it reached Thailand , Sri Lanka and, in the last few decades, the western world, where it is becoming increasingly popular with its strong reorientation towards the early Buddhist situation, that is, its relative freedom from the later culture-related forms of the "religion" of Buddhism.

In the meantime, numerous Western meditation teachers have contributed to this, the majority of whom are lay people - either former ordained or never ordained - and sometimes formative monks such as Ajahn Brahm. There are also many women among these intermediaries.

The German Vipassana teacher and Theravadabuddhist monk Bhikkhu Vivekananda.

However, when it comes to making the ancient sources of the Pali Canon as the basis of the Vipassanâ movement accessible to a broader circle of practitioners, Western Theravada ordinates play the leading role - especially Bhikkhu Bodhi , Bhikkhu Thanissaro , Bhikkhu Analayo. But some lay scholars should also be mentioned here, such as Maurice Walshe. Analayo and Ajahn Sujato also research the canonical fragments of other early Buddhist schools that have been preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon.

Ledi Sayadaw and other reform-oriented Burmese monks originally opposed the cultural and scholastic reshaping of the Theravāda mother tradition, against the monopoly of the monasteries on the highest path of liberation and against Christian proselytizing in the context of British colonial rule in Burma. The practical teaching of Vipassanā, which was pragmatic of liberation, i.e. liberation here and now in life, was the Buddhist answer to the colonial power's religion and a particularly effective means of making the Burmese population insensitive to Christian proselytizing attempts.

This reorientation of the Vipassanâ movement is also the reason that in most forms of this movement the belief elements of traditional Theravāda have faded into the background (e.g. the doctrine of rebirth in a literal sense). With its skepticism towards religious aspects of faith, the reform movement of Vipassanâ ties in with the teachings of the historical Buddha, who differentiated himself from the speculative religion of the Brahmins and the theories of the ancient Indian ascetics and forest hermits.

Therefore the practice forms of Vipassanā are considered the oldest Buddhist forms of meditation or are traced back to the historical Buddha himself. The main sources of all directions of Vipassanā can be found in the Pali canon , the textual basis of Theravāda Buddhism, which contains the oldest fully transmitted collections of speeches of the historical Buddha. Those main sources are the Satipatthāna-Sutta , the “talk of the mindfulness presentations” ( MN 10 and DN 22 ), and the Ānāpānasati-Sutta , the “talk of conscious inhalation and exhalation” ( MN 118 ).

In the Satipatthāna Sutta , mindfulness practice is referred to as the "only way" or "direct way" (ekāyana magga) . This term appears in the Pali Canon only at this point and thus justifies the high status of Vipassanā in early Buddhist teaching.

The modern Vipassanā movement is primarily shaped by the “pragmatism of salvation” of the ancient Buddha's practice of teaching - no religious faith, speculation, metaphysics or philosophy and no extreme asceticism. It thus corresponds to his core doctrine or intention, namely: "Only one thing I teach, now as before: Suffering ( dukkha ) and the end of suffering."

Vipassanā movement in the west

The Vipassanā center “Buddhayana” near Ingolstadt .

Vipassanā is the most influential form of Theravāda Buddhism today and, alongside Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, forms the third “mainstream” of Buddhism in the West . The starting countries and main strongholds of the mindfulness and insight practice Vipassanā are Burma and Thailand.

But influential teachers of Vipassanā in the West also come from other Theravāda countries, for example the American Yogavacara Rahula and the Sinhalese Bhante Gunaratana, who have been ordained Theravāda monks for decades. Together they both lead the American "Bhāvanā Society" and have received their spiritual training mainly from masters in Sri Lanka. The same goes for the well-known German nun Ayya ​​Khema . Yogavacara Rahula is also a master of yoga, which he teaches on his courses in connection with Vipassanā. Bhante Gunaratana is a well-known scholar and author.

There has been an increasing number of male and female vipassanā teachers in the West since the sixties. Both genders are equally represented among the teachers of this tradition. They either continue the traditional methods as representatives of a certain direction or they link the approaches with one another (sometimes also with other Buddhist practices, such as Joseph Goldstein with the Dzogchen of Tibetan Buddhism). Classic Vipassanā courses are held in the form of shorter or longer retreats. According to the traditional donation principle Dāna , the teacher's instructions are offered on the basis of voluntary donations.

There are many connections between Vipassanā and psychology and areas of helpful engagement, for example use in correctional facilities , addiction treatment or complementary medicine.

Buddhist mindfulness practice

Sammā Sati - Excellent Mindfulness

Dhamma hall of the Vipassanā meditation center in Prachenburi, Thailand (Goenka tradition)

The traditions of Vipassanā with their different methodological approaches all serve the development of a higher, so-called “excellent mindfulness” ( sammā sati ) , which goes beyond the mere concentration function of attention .

Vipassanā - clear vision

The practice of this “excellent mindfulness” is about the increasing penetration or “liberating seeing” of the “truth”, “supreme reality,” which is always and everywhere given through sensual experience, but which is usually hidden by delusions or “not seeing” (avijjā) "Or" Nature of Things ".

Vipassanā-bhāvanā - insight meditation

The exponents of Vipassanā teach that the only key to the “Supreme Reality” is a simple mindfulness that can be developed at any time , not concepts or studies that have only a preparatory function. It is a methodically developed mere mindfulness, which leads neither through systematic studies nor through strong states of concentration (“deepenings” or jhānas ), but proceeds directly (as viewing natural phenomena).

The purpose of traditional Vipassanā in all its forms is an unclouded, penetrating "clear view" (vipassanā) , a direct grasp of the transitory, inadequate or “self-less” nature of appearances - namely, of the sensually perceived phenomena, going beyond discursive thinking and the body's sensations, feeling reactions, emotions or thoughts. With this immediate grasp, the unconscious grasping or identification with the transitory phenomena as “I (am that)” or “mine” and with it all fears and sufferings should disappear. SN Goenka (see below) sums up Vipassanā with “seeing things as they really are”.

The prerequisite for successful progress in Vipassanā meditation is always the development of the “heart qualities”, that is, of ethics - especially the practice of the “five guidelines for behavior” ( Silas ).

Vipassanā-Nyāna - The stepped path

“Vipassanā” is usually rendered as “mindfulness practice” or “insight meditation”. The process of developing insight usually takes place in stages. Therefore, in some influential directions of Vipassanā, there is the teaching of the levels of “insight knowledge” building on one another, the so-called “Vipassanā-Nyānas”.

Vipaśyana - Sanskrit

Vipaśyana is the Sanskrit spelling of the Pali word vipassanā , which does not mean the early Buddhist vipassanā described here, but other, namely, very own meditation forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism .

The Mahāyān “ Vipaśyana ” ( Tib . Lhagthong ) is based on thought- or concept-based methods, whereas the early Buddhist “Vipassanā” is based on mindfulness- or intuitive-based methods. The teaching and practice of a mere, non-conceptual or intuitively seeing “excellent mindfulness” has no central position in the Mahāyāna comparable to that in Theravāda. However, there are certain parallels between the practice of vipassanā in Theravāda Buddhism and certain forms of meditation in Mahāyāna. Particularly noteworthy here are Zen , Mahamudra and Dzogchen , which also involve practicing a non-conceptual perception of things.

Samatha - deepening

In general, the teachers of Vipassanā in their courses or in their writings take the view that a certain "flexible" level of concentration ( samatha ) that is established with the constant focus on the natural body-mind processes - namely the so-called "momentary." Concentration ”- that is the best basis for realizing the liberating, higher insights (vipassanā) .

If the focus on a naturally "static" concept or mental construct (such as visualizations, internal sounds, ideas, thoughts or reflections) becomes too strong, it hinders the liberating intuitive insights. Because these could only result from an increasing penetration of the natural, everywhere given realities or processes through seeing mindfulness on the basis of a flexible, that is not too strong or static concentration. The four main approaches of Vipassanā (see below) follow this path, which is also represented by well-known individual teachers who combine different main approaches (e.g. the monk Bhante Sujiva).

If the path to the liberating insights via the static states of rest or concentration of the deepenings “ Jhānas ” is taken, which is possible in principle, one must first come out of the deepening and the factors or phenomena associated with them as equally transitory, insufficient or see through as a not-self like all other phenomena. The central discourse frequently quoted by the representatives of this vipassanā path about the deepenings is the Anupada Sutta ( MN 111 ) in the Pali canon. Well-known representatives of this path in Asia are the Burmese master Pa Auk Sayadaw and in the west (especially in Germany) the teachers in the tradition of the German nun Ayya ​​Khema as well as individual monks such as the Czech bhikkhu Dhammadipa (a student of Pa Auk Sayadaw).

Satipatthāna Sutta - Talk of mindfulness mindfulness

As mentioned briefly above, the four mindfulness mindfulnesses are the subject of the fundamental mindfulness discourses of the historical Buddha. They are explained in detail in the Satipatthāna Sutta (Discussion of Mindfulness Mindfulness) . In the basic mindfulness discourses, the pronounced concentrative deepenings “jhānas” are not mentioned. Here, as with most Vipassanā methods, only that certain flexible concentration on the changing moments or processes is assumed, which develops with the consistent focus on the natural conditions of body and mind in order to realize the liberating insights on this basis. According to the Satipatthāna Sutta, there are four such mindsets:

  1. Physical awareness (kāyānupassanā)
  2. Realization of sensations (vedanānupassanā)
  3. Realization of the mind and its changing states (cittānupassanā)
  4. Realization of "Natural Truths" (dhammānupassanā). Others argue that this reading leads to contradictions in terms of content, because "mental objects" are explicitly just one of the various contents of the wording for the fourth visualization in the Satipatthana Sutta and therefore could not be an umbrella term for this fourth visualization. Klaus Mylius translate dammas here as "conditions". For Anālayo these dhammas are “not the object of meditation itself”. Rather, they form - like "glasses" - a "frame" or "reference points" that are applied to what has been experienced during the meditation practice. Hans Gruber understands the dhammas as "natural truths", since these would correctly encompass all the contents of the wording for the fourth visualization in the Satipatthâna Sutta . For Buddhadasa , however, they are only aspects of the truth of the one greatest Dhamma .

The “Dhammā” (plural of Dharma / Dhamma) in “Dhammānupassanā” are translated as “mind objects” by some teachers. The term “Dhamma” in Pali is particularly complex and has different meanings depending on its context. From the description of the fourth mindfulness in the Satipatthāna sutta , the meaning emerges. The various aspects of the Buddha's basic teachings on bondage and liberation from the world are listed here. For example: “So he knows whether one of the“ five inhibitions ”is present in him or not; knows how it arises, how it is overcome, how it no longer appears in the future. etc".

Ānāpānasati-Sutta - Speech of conscious breathing in and out

The other basic text for the Buddhist mindfulness practice is the "speech of conscious inhalation and exhalation" ( MN 118 ). This is about a path to liberating insight through a systematically developed breath awareness, the individual stages of which are precisely described in the speech. In the course of this increasingly developed breath consciousness, the “four visualizations of mindfulness” and the seven limbs of enlightenment (bojjhanga) unfold by themselves, which finally culminates in the liberating insights.

Today's methods

The practice forms of Vipassanā can be divided into structurally open “natural approaches” and clearly structured “technical methods”. From a scientific point of view, none of these forms of practice can claim to be “the” method of the historical Buddha. Because the relatively open-minded mindfulness teachings of the Buddha's speeches handed down in the Pali canon can be used to justify all approaches of Vipassanā.

Buddhist monks meditate in Jetavana Monastery, Sravasti, Uttar Pradesh, India

The approaches to nature are more based on the Ānāpānasati sutta and the technical methods of vipassanā are more based on the Satipatthāna sutta . Accordingly, the techniques or approaches used to look at the natural processes of the mind and body are different. According to the Satipatthāna Sutta , the four mindfulness mindfulnesses each largely stand on their own, because each of these mindfulnesses can function in itself as a full path of liberation (in accordance with the frequently recurring 'refrain' of the sutta in oral traditions with which the liberating insights appear after each section). In addition, with this sutta the Buddha gives precise methodological instructions on how the contemplation should be made (although these are not methods in the sense of today's vipassanā approaches).

According to the Ānāpānasati-Sutta , on the other hand, all four visualizations of mindfulness unfold within the 'roof consciousness' of conscious inhalation and exhalation, which is the focus here, that is, the actual path of liberation. In addition, with this sutta the Buddha gives less precise methodological instructions, but rather describes the deepening states of calm and insight, how these develop within a kind of 'roof awareness' of conscious inhalation and exhalation.

The representatives of the natural approaches of Vipassana from Thailand, such as Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Buddhadasa or Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro, do not or hardly take into account the Abhidhamma, the old commentaries on the speeches of the Buddha and the Visuddhi-Magga . Among the representatives of the "technical methods" of Vipassana from Burma, the third basket of the Pali canon ( Abhidhammapitaka ), which was created later than the other two baskets ( Vinayapitaka and Suttapitaka ), play the old commentaries on the speeches of the Buddha and the scholastic one Factory Visuddhi-Magga a role in the support of its approaches. Nevertheless, they also base their techniques primarily on the Buddha's speeches.

Approaches to nature based on the Ānāpānasati-Sutta

In the approaches to nature, which are based more on the Ānāpānasati-Sutta , the focus is on the observation of the breath as a complete path of liberation, within which calm and insight gradually develop. In Ajahn Buddhadāsa, for example, the entire process of breathing is considered with a certain systematics, both the course of breathing (via the sensations around the nostrils to the movement of the chest and the abdominal wall with each inhalation and exhalation) and the subtle effects of the increasing conscious breathing on both body and mind.

There are also natural approaches in which breathing is seen as a phenomenon that encompasses the whole body (namely in the form of oxygen that is transported through the blood to all cells, which is accompanied by certain subtle sensations in all areas of the body). That is why the systematic consideration of breathing is combined with the systematic consideration of the entire body (for example with the Thai master Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro).

There are extensive commentaries on the Ānāpānasati sutta from the founding masters of the natural approaches.

Technological methods in connection with the Satipatthāna Sutta

Corresponding to this difference, the technical methods, which are more based on the Satipatthāna Sutta , are fairly detailed or precisely structured “techniques” in the narrower sense, in which the observation of the breath only has a “preparatory”, concentrative function, that is, not as the actual way of liberation of vipassanā applies.

In the systematic observation of sensations in the tradition of U Ba Khin , or its most influential representative, SN Goenka , the sensations around the nostrils with every inhalation and exhalation are observed more and more precisely to calm the mind before the actual vipassanā. Afterwards, with vipassanā this approach, one's own body is systematically traversed with mindfulness in order to grasp the various body sensations more and more directly until their transience, their inadequacy or their non-self are understood on a deeper level. So the unconscious grasping of things is increasingly disappearing. “Do not look at and do not react” or “remain calm in understanding impermanence, impermanence, impermanence” are frequently repeated instructions from SN Goenka.

When "Labeling" (eng. Labeling , labeling ') in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw is taken as the anchor object, the up and down movement of the abdominal wall at each inhalation and exhalation. On the basis of this anchor or main object, the range of observed phenomena is then gradually expanded (to the stronger sensations in the body, the noises and finally the perceptual, thought or affective processes in the mind), until gradually a "random awareness" entry. The main means of more and more conscious observation are "labels" that appear spontaneously in the mind. They function as internal snapshots. They are, as it were, intuitive “flashes” of understanding, not thoughts in the actual sense. Only a small part of the attention should flow into the labels so that they are not specially "produced". To the extent that the connection to the processes of body and mind succeeds in this way, they fall away and a liberating "random awareness" develops.

There are detailed comments on the Satipatthāna sutta from the founding masters of the technical methods , but relatively few statements on the Ānāpānasati sutta (the same applies to SN Goenka, who today mainly spreads the observation of sensations; in his tradition, for example, the first progressive course of " Satipatthāna Sutta Course ”, on which Goenka only interprets this sutta).

The Thai master and Vipassanā teacher Ajahn Buddhadāsa

The right method

The different practical approaches are aimed at certain personality types. For example, the body sweeping approach of the highly pragmatic U Ba Khin, the head of the Burma administration after the colonial era, or today of Mother Sayama and SN Goenka with numerous centers around the world, is aimed at people with a strong physical and sensory disposition. The “naming” of Mahasi Sayadaw, who is also famous for his erudition, is particularly suitable for personalities with a strong disposition to thinking. The "path of the monastery community" of the nature master Ajahn Chahs is aimed at community-oriented people with a pronounced emotional or heart system and the "natural method or emptiness of all things" Ajahn Buddhadāsas at personalities with a strong tendency to intuition or inspiration.

Main representative

The main representatives of the most important approaches of Vipassanā today are U Ba Khin and Mahasi Sayadaw (“technical” methods from Burma), as well as Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Buddhadāsa (“natural” approaches from Thailand).

Approaches to nature

Ajahn Chah is the main representative of the “path of the religious community” with around 500 monasteries in Thailand and a larger branch in the West, in which only occidental men and women are ordained. It relates in particular to the Vinayapitaka basket of the Pali Canon, which contains the rules of the order.

Ajahn Buddhadāsa with his students, such as the British Christopher Titmuss and Martin Aylward, who heads the “Moulin de Chaves” center in southern France, is the main proponent of the “nature method or the emptiness of all things”.

The western main student Ajahn Buddhadāsas is his translator for many years and the former monk Santikaro. Today he heads “Liberation Park”, a center and a Dharma community in rural Wisconsin / USA. According to Ajahn Buddhadāsa's approach, which is also strongly engaged in the world and is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the worldwide “Engaged Buddhism”, the self-description of “Liberation Park” states: “We are committed to building a community of liberating practice. For this purpose we provide a natural environment for individual meditation retreats and live a Buddhist ethic of ecological and social responsibility. "

The Nature Method refers in particular to the second basket of the Pali Canon (" Suttapitaka "), which contains the Buddha's discourses.

Other important representatives of natural approaches are, for example, the Burmese master Sunlun Sayadaw ("touch and awareness"), originally a simple farmer who has become famous for his insight. He mentions the key concept of a liberating practice: “Make yourself every body sensation as it is, without a name; until only pure knowledge remains in the feeling itself ”; that is, knowledge without concepts of oneself and others, such as “my” or “your body”, “I” or “a self”.

Other representatives of natural approaches from Thailand are a master of the forest tradition, Ajahn Lee (“The path of breath sensations in the whole body”), who teaches the secret of liberation “Keeping breathing in the feeling”; as well as Ajahn Dhammadaro ("sensations at the heart base"), who teaches as the path to liberation to see through all sensory experiences as "clear sensations" that "arise and pass away at the heart base". The particularly influential American Theravâda monk Bhikkhu Thanissaro belongs to the tradition of Ajahn Lee. The Englishman Christopher Titmuss belongs to the tradition of Ajahn Dhammadaro (and also to the tradition of Ajahn Buddhadâsa).

Technique methods

The Chinese-born vipassanā teacher Bhante Sujiva from Malaysia

U Ba Khin , with his most formative students Satya Narayan Goenka and Mother Sayama with Saya U Chit Tin, is the main representative of the technique method, the focus of which is the immediate understanding of transience through the observation of all subtle or gross physical sensations "Vedanā". U Ba Khin has authorized various Asians and Westerners to pass on his particularly body and sensation-oriented Vipassanā method.

The best known are SN Goenka and Mother Sayama. But the German-American Ruth Denison should also be mentioned here, who differs greatly in her meditation approach from the two main representatives of the U Ba Khin direction mentioned above. This does not suggest that U Ba Khin was strictly fixed in his approach to meditation.

Mahasi Sayadaw is the father of the technical method of naming or labeling "Labeling". He refers not only to the speeches of the Buddha in the Pali canon, but also to the commentaries, the Abhidhamma basket of the Pali canon, which contains extensive classifications of a psychological and epistemological nature, and the scholastic work Visuddhi-Magga .

From this tradition come some teachers who have chosen their own paths after their spiritual training, albeit on the basis of 'naming', such as the Chinese-born monk Bhante Sujiva from Malaysia, who is increasingly popular in Europe and who speaks fluent English, who does body sweeping with naming connects as well as other forms of meditation the Buddha teaches. As a mediator of vipassanā meditation and the central complementary practice of “loving kindness” ( mettā ), he has a growing reputation due to his combination of profound knowledge of the Pali canon with a clear focus on practice. He does not confuse early Buddhism with secondary teachings.

The Americans Bhante Vimalaramsi and Daniel M. Ingram, as well as the Thai king's private tutor, Ajahn Thong, whose Vipassanā approach is represented by some centers in Europe and in Germany primarily by the “Dhammacari Vipassana Meditation Center”, have also chosen their own paths . Ajahn Thong teaches a sequence of 28 inner "touching points" for mindfulness, which can awaken energy and concentration to a particular degree.

Influential Western exponents of traditional “naming” include the German monk Vivekananda, who runs the frequented “Panditarama Lumbini International Vipassana Meditation Center” in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in what is now southern Nepal. He comes to the West regularly to give courses. The English monk Bodhidhamma should also be mentioned among the classic Western representatives of “naming”. He leads Satipanya Buddhist Retreat, a new center in Wales, UK .

The American vipassanā teacher Jack Kornfield in Pasadena 2005

The leader of the Burmese opposition movement, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi , is committed to the practice of naming her source of strength.

The well-known American teachers Jack Kornfield , Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg also come from this tradition (they were authorized to teach by Mahasi Sayadaw himself; Jack Kornfield was also strongly influenced by Ajahn Chah). Marie Mannschatz, a student of Jack Kornfield, is active as a meditation teacher in Germany and is a well-known author. The Swiss Vipassanā teacher Fred von Allmen is well versed in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna. Kornfield's and Goldstein's approaches are among his main influences.

One of the main features of the “American” Vipassanā taught or originated by Kornfield, Goldstein and Salzberg is a relatively strong syncretism , that is, the mixing of Vipassanā with other teachings under the term “Vipassanā” without this confusion being always made transparent. Such syncretisms exist with Goldstein with the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen , with Kornfield with therapy, psychology and the doctrine of the “true self”, with Mannschatz with psychology and focusing or with von Allmen with the Mahāyāna.

Pa Auk Sayadaw from Burma developed another important technique method based primarily on texts from the Abhidhamma. He teaches the classical methods of concentration in order to awaken liberating insights on the basis of calm meditation. In the West, the Czech monk Dhammadipa, who is fluent in various languages, spreads Pa Auk Sayadaw's approach.

Mindfulness Practice for Non-Buddhists

Practically all representatives of Vipassana emphasize the extensive independence of Vipassana from culture-related forms by limiting themselves to conveying the essential practical methods of early Buddhism and the background teachings that explain them. The Vipassana is comparatively strongly oriented towards this world, because in this tradition it is always about the highest possible degree of liberation in this life or the corresponding methods and teachings. This is where Vipassanā differs from an otherworldly faith religion. In this it also differs from pre-Buddhist and some Buddhist beliefs that exist in the countries of origin.

The basic Vipassanā method of systematically becoming aware of natural conditions or of the phenomena that constantly arise and pass away (in contrast to the conceptual, merely imagined and thus relatively "static" conditions made by the mind), finds its way into different modern contexts - For example in mindfulness therapies, new psychological theories, esoteric currents or a reformed modern Christianity oriented towards inner practice.

One of the most popular modern "applications" of Vipassanā is the complementary medical treatment program MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) by the American molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn , which is primarily based on the two largest technical Vipassanā methods, bodysweeping and naming. The aim of the program is to train mindfulness. This promotes stress relief and can aid in the treatment of psychosomatic ailments. MBSR is used today in many American clinics and also increasingly in Europe. A typical MBSR program lasts eight weeks and consists of breath observation, body scan, sitting meditation, and simple physical exercises, with participants pledging to exercise at least 45 minutes per day. The "body scan" is based on the Vipassana method of body sweeping, the sitting meditation comes from the Vipassana method of "naming". In addition to these Vipassanā methods, elements from other Buddhist directions have also flowed into the program. For example, the training in mindfulness in everyday tasks is inspired by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh . The physical exercises are taken from Hatha Yoga . Within the MBSR, Buddhist terms are largely avoided. The training of mindfulness can thus take place largely independently of the cultural and religious backgrounds of the participants.

literature

Main sources

  • Hans Gruber: Course book Vipassanā : Ways and teachers of insight meditation. Fischer, Frankfurt; 2nd edition 2001, ISBN 978-3-596-14393-1
  • Gil Fronsdal: Insight Meditation in the United States: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. in: Charles S. Prebish, Kenneth Ken'ichi Tanaka (eds.): The faces of Buddhism in America. University of California Press, 1998. pp. 163-180. ISBN 978-0-520-21301-2 ( Google Books )
  • Gustaaf Houtman: Traditions of Buddhist practice in Burma. Dissertation, School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, 1990. ( Google Books )
  • Jack Kornfield : Living Buddhist Masters. Unity Press, Santa Cruz 1977. ISBN 0-913300-03-9 ( Google Books )
  • Andrew Rawlinson: The Book of Enlightened Masters, Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions. Open Court, Chicago, 1997. ISBN 0-8126-9310-8

further reading

Web links

Commons : Vipassana  - collection of images, videos and audio files

English-language information sources:

  • "Access to Insight" - Most comprehensive collection of the philologically most reliable (English) new translations of the Buddha's speeches in the Pali canon as well as contributions and comments by well-known teachers. This website can also be downloaded for free (also as an app).
  • "Dharma Seed" - Very large range of freely downloadable lectures by many of today's Vipassana teachers (ordained and lay teachers), primarily from English-speaking countries.
  • "Audio Dharma" - Another larger collection of lectures by well-known English-speaking Vipassana teachers.
  • Bhikkhu Bodhi - The primary re-translator of the Buddha's speeches in the Pali canon, with its free range of audios - full study course on these speeches, overview courses on various core teachings of the Buddha and Pali language course. His (generally most cited) speech translations are available as books with extensive appendices from "Wisdom Publications".
  • Large overview of further information sources about Theravada and Vipassana with the links.
  • Other, smaller overview with the links.

German-language information sources:

  • "Access to Insight" - an attempt at the beginning of the German translation of the above mentioned leading and very comprehensive English-language website "Access to Insight".
  • "Everything all goes over" - report over 10 days of Vipassana incl. Interview with Dr. Scholz on Vipassana in addiction therapy.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definitions of Vipassanâ in lexica, for example in: Robert E. Buswell, Jr. (Editor In Chief): Encyclopedia of Buddhism , Macmillan Reference USA, 2004, Klaus-Josef Notz: Lexikon des Buddhismus Fourier Verlag, 2002. ISBN 3- 932412-08-7 (p. 508); Nyanatiloka: Buddhist Dictionary , Beyerlein & Steinschulte, 1989.
  2. ↑ Other names are about "process meditation" (Kornfield 1977, p. 12) or "clear vision exercise" (Nyanaponika: The Buddhist Satipatthāna method ).
  3. ↑ Christopher Germer, Ronald Siegel, Paul Fulton: Mindfulness in Psychotherapy. Arbor-Verlag, 2009. ISBN 978-3-936855-71-5 . P. 32
  4. ↑ The definition follows Fronsdal (1998, p. 164f). Other names are for example "Vipassana Sangha" (Rawlinson 1997, p. 586ff) or "das Vipassana" (Gruber 2001, p. 13)
  5. ↑ See Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004, pp. 889-890)
  6. ↑ http://www.bswa.org/
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bodhimonastery.net
  8. ↑ http://www.dhammatalks.org/
  9. ↑ Analayo Bhikkhu. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 4, 2009 ; accessed on August 1, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Satipatthāna Sutta , Intermediate Collection , Speech 10. “Ekāyana Magga” was a particularly solemn term in ancient India, which only appears at this point in the speeches of the historical Buddha, which shows the meaning of the Satipatthāna Sutta . It is also a complex Pali term that simultaneously means “direct path”, “only path” and “path only for one person (as a path that is primarily to be taken independently)”.
  11. ↑ The Indology pioneer Erich Frauwallner describes "redemption pragmatism" as the main characteristic of the teaching of the historical Buddha. See his basic guiding essay, The Buddha and Jina . In: Frauwallner, E., History of Indian Philosophy , Volume 1, Salzburg: Otto Müller Verlag, 1953. New edition: Shaker, 2003.
  12. ↑ With this sentence Buddha sums up his teaching to the monk Anuradha. Source: Anuradha Sutta ( SN 44.2 ).
  13. ↑ Bhāvanā means 'cultivation' or 'meditation' in Pali
  14. ↑ cf. Doing Time, Doing Vipassana (1997) in the Internet Movie Database (English) and Dhamma Brothers (2008) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  15. ↑ In this article the Buddhist terms are capitalized in all their components, such as Excellent Mindfulness or Supreme Reality.
  16. ↑ A repeated statement by Goenka about the ten-day courses
  17. ↑ The Pali term “cittam” means both heart and mind, so actually “heart spirit”, but in the West it is usually only abbreviated as “spirit”. Buddhism is not just about developing mental or cognitive skills, but also about developing ethical or heart qualities. Because the latter are in all directions of Buddhism as the basic requirement for deeper, liberating insights.
  18. ↑ cf. Hans Gruber: The way of seeing mindfulness (PDF; 280 kB) In: Buddhismus Aktuell 2/08 . 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2009, p. 50
  19. ↑ Satipatthāna can be read as sati-patthāna or as sati- u patthāna . Most of the translations follow the old commentary Visuddhimagga ( Vis XXII ) and use the term "basics of mindfulness" (patthāna) . Some authors argue that the reading sati- u patthāna is more philologically correct: "Presence of mindfulness" (Anālayo, Sati in the Pāli discourses , p. 11), "Ververstellungung der Mindfulness" ( Gruber 2001, p. 203). Bikkhu Bodhi also prefers the reading upatthāna ("establishment of mindfulness"), but makes exceptions depending on the context of the text (cf .: en: Satipatthana ). Nyanaponika changed its translation in the commentary on the Satipatthāna Sutta from "Verversichtigungen" (1st edition) to "Basics" (2nd edition).
  20. ↑ Majjhima-Nikaya (MN 10) and Digha-Nikaya (DN 22) in the Pali Canon. Translations of the Satipatthāna Sutta (MN 10) on the web: KE Neumann and English by Thanissaro Bhikkhu , Nyanasatta Thera , Soma Thera . Translations of the (Mahā) satipatthāna Sutta (DN 22) on the web: KE Neumann and English by Thanissaro Bhikkhu . Dissertation by Anālayo: Satipatthāna, The Direct Path to Realization. Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka 2003. Introductory articles and comments: Hans Gruber: The basic meditation teachings of Buddhism ; Anālayo: Sati in the Pali discourses ; Soma Thera: The Way of Mindfulness - The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary , 1941. Nyanaponika : The Buddhist Satipatthāna Method ; Thich Nhat Hanh: Embrace your anger. Theseus Verlag, 1992; and much more. The German translations by Karl Eugen Neumann linked above are very old (early 20th century) and highly controversial.
  21. ↑ Most teachers and authors translate dhamma at this point as "spirit (es) objects" (for example Kay Zumwinkel (ex.): The teachings of the Buddha from the middle collection "Majjhima Nikaya" Jhana-Verlag, Uttenbühl 2001 ISBN 978- 3-931274-13-9 or Nyanaponika or KE Neumann ; English mental objects such as Soma Thera and Nyanasatta Thera )
  22. ↑ The Four Noble Truths , Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1988, ISBN 3-379-00268-2 , p. 114ff., And Peter Gäng ( Meditation Texts of Pāli-Buddhimsus I. Buddhist Studienverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-937059-00 -8 , p. 39ff.)
  23. ↑ Sati in the Pāli Discourses , p. 14
  24. ↑ 2001, p. 212ff and p. 259f
  25. ↑ Ānāpāsati - The gentle healing of spiritual illness , p. 111, p. 30 u. a.
  26. ↑ Nyanatiloka: Buddhist Dictionary. Beyerlein & Steinschulte publishing house, ISBN 3-931095-09-6 . Entry on "Satipatthana"
  27. ↑ The Ānāpānasati Sutta ( MN 118 ) translated by KE Neumann and English by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
  28. ↑ for example: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: Anapanasati - The gentle healing of spiritual illness . Munich: Buddhist Society Munich, 2002, ISBN 3-8311-3271-2 . Online version ( PDF , 224 pages, 1.0 MB) - in English. Original Mindfulness With Breathing
  29. ↑ Daw Nimala (2007). Various ways of dealing with sensation by different meditation traditions in Myanmar .
  30. ↑ According to SN Goenka, every physical sensation is "a manifestation of impermanence" and thus the grasping of body sensations is the best way to a liberating understanding of the "three universal characteristics" of impermanence, inadequacy or not really being able to satisfy or not-self .
  31. ↑ http://www.panditarama-lumbini.info/
  32. ↑ UMASS: Major Research Findings (English) ( Memento of the original of July 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umassmed.edu
  33. ^ Jon Kabat-Zinn: Healthy through meditation , OW Barth-Verlag
  34. ↑ a b Psychologie heute issue 2001/7: Article by Hans Gruber, "Alles in Buddha". (On-line)
  35. ↑ The separation of Buddhist meditation from the Buddhist religion is the aspiration of the representatives of the MBSR program. But so far there have hardly been any studies to what extent this claim is maintained. For example, Saki Santorelli, the successor of Kabat-Zinn at the main center of the program in Massachusetts, defines the MBSR mindfulness meditation: "Meditation is the practice of returning to our true selves." (Santorelli, Saki F .: Mindfulness and Mastery. In: Claude Whitmyer: Work as a Way: Buddhist Reflections , Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch, 1996.) The "true self" is a main term of some directions in Mahayana Buddhism and has from found its way into occidental disciplines here. Relevant members of the MBSR program have a Mahayana background. For example, the head of German MBSR training, Dr. Linda Lehrhaupt, Zen teacher. In early Buddhism, from which all forms of Vipassana meditation or the root of the MBSR originate, no "true self" is represented as a human being.