About Insight Meditation

Insight meditation is a simple form of Buddhist meditation that calms and concentrates the mind. This practice originated with the Buddha over 2500 years ago. The practice begins with focusing attention on the breath. It allows one to see more of ones conditioning, and therefore to be more present in the moment. This is a non-sectarian practice that may be combined with any religion. Buddhist ethics and psychology are an important part of the teaching. For more detailed introductory information about Insight (also known as vipassana) meditation, please see Spirit Rock Center's introductory information. For books about Insight Meditation please see our reading list.

What do Buddhists Believe?
Buddhists don't have to believe anything but what they discover for themselves. The Buddha taught that there are four noble truths:

The Eightfold Path defines a way of living that is designed to decrease suffering:

• Right View
• Right Intention
• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livlihood
• Right Effort
• Right Mindfulness
• Right Concentration

These essential teachings of the Buddha are summarized in a wide variety of translations of sacred texts and commentaries upon them. Among the most succinct and germane of the contemporary writings is Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught, which contains both a summary of teachings and excerpts from the actual sermons of the Buddha, the Sanskrit word for which is sutras. In one single sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, the Buddha set forth the essence of his message, the Four Noble Truths, which formed the basis not only for the balance of his own teachings but for all subsequent doctrinal developments as well. It is customary during selected observances for the ritual recitation of these teachings to be performed, as a chant or spoken hymn.

Non-exclusivity
One of the Buddha's central messages, as contained in the texts cited above, is the universality of the human condition. He also preached the universality of the potential for enlightenment; that is, there are many means by which it can be obtained. He therefore advised against the unquestioning, uncritical acceptance of any religious dogma or doctrine, and instead counseled a careful examination of its effects upon followers and those around them. For that reason, vipassana meditation groups in the United States do not ask that practitioners forswear adherence to any other religious tradition as a condition of becoming vipassana meditation practitioners. However, at meditation retreats, all retreatants are requested to take vows (see next topic) and to strictly adhere to them throughout the course of the retreat.

Code of Doctrine and Discipline
At the opening ceremonies for every retreat, all retreatants take the "three refuges" and "five precepts." This ceremony, which dates back to the time of the Buddha, consists first of retreatants taking refuge in the Buddha (the spirit of limitless compassion in oneself and in all beings), the Dharma (the Truth, also translated as the Teachings), and the Sangha (spiritual community of Buddhists). Having done so, retreatants then vow to adhere to the five precepts. These vows, which were also set forth by the Buddha as the necessary moral conditions for the establishment and maintenance of spiritual community, are as follows: (1) to refrain from killing or knowingly harming other sentient beings; (2) to refrain from intoxicants or other substances which cloud the mind; (3) to refrain from sexual misconduct; (4) to refrain from lying or other harmful speech; and (5) to refrain from stealing or otherwise taking that which is not given. The substance and context of the refuges and precepts are discussed in Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught.

At the closing of each meditation retreat the teachers leading the retreat emphasize the importance of seeking to adhere to these precepts not only at religious retreat settings but in daily life as well, if the benefits of vipassana practice experienced at retreats are to be realized in some measure in one's family, in one's local community and in society.

Forms of Practice and Schedule of Activities
As explained above, there are two primary forms of practice in the vipassana meditation tradition as practiced at the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, and at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and at Mountain Stream Meditation Center. The first is the intensive, multi-day meditation retreat, and the second is the regularly scheduled (e.g. weekly) multi-hour meditation sitting group meetings, which are accompanied by instruction.

The retreats are intensive periods of secluded training in this form of the practice of meditation. In these retreats a rigorous daily schedule of sitting and walking meditation is conducted in complete silence, with a minimum of diversion and no contact with other persons outside of the retreat grounds. A typical daily schedule of meditation practice on retreat might look like this:

5:00 AM Bell Rings to Awaken Retreatants
6:00 One hour sitting meditation
7:00 Silent Breakfast
8:00 Sit
9:00 Walk
10:00 Sit
11:00 Walk
12:00 Silent Lunch (final meal of the day)
1:00 Sit
2:00 Walk
3:00 Sit
4:00 Walk
5:00 Tea
6:00 Sit
7:00 Dharma Talk by the Teacher
9:00 Sit
10:00 Retire

In this schedule, "sit" refers to all retreatants sitting in silent meditation together in the Zendo, or temple. "Walk" refers to a walking meditation practice, in which the continuity of devotional practice is maintained by the repetition of a silent internal chant while walking at a slow, measured pace outside the meditation center. Dharma Talk refers to an instructional talk delivered by one of the teachers leading the retreat.

Weekly sitting groups are the other primary form of practice in this Buddhist tradition. These weekly meetings usually open with the ringing of a gong and forty-five minutes of silent sitting meditation. A Dharma talk or lesson based on selected Buddhist scriptures or commentaries follows the meditation. This talk is prepared and presented by the resident teacher or a visiting teacher. If a teacher is not in attendance, one of the senior members of the group may lead the meditation and the following discussion. Often a general sharing of experiences and insights is encouraged for the last half hour. Announcements are made of upcoming events and activities before a final short loving kindness meditation that signals the end of the sitting.

Buddhist Hierarchy/Ecclesiastical Government
In the forest monasteries and meditation centers of Burma and Thailand, Theravada Buddhist teachings, practices, and traditions are shared at the present time just as they have been continually from the time of the Buddha. The greatest acknowledged contemporary leaders of this tradition in Asia include the Venerable Achaan Chaa and Achaan Buddhadasa in Thailand, and Ven. Sunlun Sayadawa and Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. In 1965, the World Buddhist Council designated Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw as chief questioner, the "central role in clarifying and preserving the Buddhist teachings for generations to come."

During the past three decades several Western scholars and devotees have undertaken intensive Buddhist meditation practice in south and Southeast Asia, including ordination as monks and nuns in the Theravada tradition. After years of training in the monastic orders, Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw authorized four Americans-Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg and Jacqueline Schwartz-to independently undertake perpetuation of the Theravada tradition in the United States.

Upon Dharma transmission (i.e., ordination), Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon Salzberg became the resident guiding teachers at the Insight Meditation Society, a non-profit religious organization founded in accordance with applicable state and federal law in Barre, Massachusetts, in 1976. Dr. Kornfield moved to northern California in the early 1980's where he aided in the founding of Insight Meditation West (now the Spirit Rock Center), a non-profit religious organization founded in accordance with applicable state and federal law in Woodacre, California, in 1985. Dr. Kornfield is now the senior Theravada elder authorized by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw in California. Since 1986, Dr. Kornfield has been conducting a training for vipassana meditation teachers in Marin County, California. Another resident guiding teacher at the Spirit Rock Center is Sylvia Boorstein.

These guiding teachers at the Spirit Rock Center and at Insight Meditation Society are the senior American heirs to the vipassana tradition transmitted to them by the recognized hierarchy of Southeast Asian vipassana meditation masters, and they are all members of the Teachers Advisory Committee of the Mountain Stream Meditation Center. Messrs. Goldstein and Kornfield are among the foremost-published authors and scholars of vipassana meditation in the English-speaking world. Among their best-known works are: (1) The Experience of Insight, (2) Living Buddhist Masters, (3) Seeking the Heart of Wisdom-The Path to Insight Meditation and (4) Insight Meditation-The Practice of Freedom. Dr. Kornfield's most recent (and best selling) book on applied insight meditation practice is A Path With Heart.