• About Vipassana
• The Buddha
• The Buddha's Path
• The Four Noble Truths
• Dana

Vipassana Meditation Practice

Insight Meditation or Vipassana (pronounced "vi-pah-sa-na"), which means clear seeing, is the meditation practice in the Theravada school of Buddhism. Theravada means the way of the elders. Vipassana is a way of seeing things as they truly are and not just what we'd like them to be or think they should be. It has been practiced in Asia, the home of the Buddha, for over 2500 years and here in the West for about 60 years. Mindfulness is at the heart of practice. The breath is used as the focus of our attention which can lead to calm. It isn't about controlling the breath, but letting the breath bring us to the present moment which is the only moment there is.  

In the present moment we can relax and learn to trust life as it is happening. We learn not to resist what is but with compassion and kindness to accept whatever is happening. From that acceptance we develop an open heartedness to ourselves and to our lived experience. There is no way to do this practice wrong so we learn to drop all of our judgments and just pay attention!

The ultimate aim of the practice is the ending of our suffering and the discovery of an unconditioned and complete freedom.