Talk:Vipassana
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[edit] Discussion of Vipassana
I'm getting an &radix; appearing in the article; could someone replace this with the right entity? 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
Abhiññā 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, abhiññā 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 abhiññā the dictionary says that “wrong-doing, priestlysuperstitions and vain speculation do not conduce to abhiññā”.[32]
Now, this is just silly. "jānāti" is the third person singular active form of the verb √jñā. 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 √jñā. 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. --ñāṇa 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), °haññati to get slain.
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- 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.कुक्कुरोवाच 01:18, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC)
[edit] 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.
Obviously! A NEUTRAL aproach would be apreciated... besides, the movement that has, by far, most impact among the monastic comunity, as far as i know, is the Mahasi Sayadaw's method. This article is very very very very weak! For eample, what a hell is this: "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 ānāpāna 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."? The current trend in vipassana is Satipatthana, the four frames of reference (not explained!!!). However, using the 5 skandhas is more acordingly to the suttas, as far as i know (tangentialy explained). No mention is made to the prerequisition-of-jhana debate.
[edit] non-sectarian?
- While it is often referred to as Buddhist meditation, the practice taught by the Buddha was non-sectarian, and has a universal application. It does not require conversion to Buddhism.
This is confusing to me. "While it is" suggests a contrast - does this mean that Vipassana is sectarian and requires conversion? --Singkong2005 03:49, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Lakshan Attanayake
Hon Lakshan Attanayake is one of the Theravada meditation teacher living in Sri Lanka, one of living Aryan. I would come up with more information soon.
[edit] Schedules
I've added the schedules/calendars of some of the identified "living teachers" initially as verification that they are in fact actively teaching. Secondarily, it dawned on me that this might be useful for newbies looking for a teacher. Then, after a click of the "Save" button, it dawned on me that this might violate current WP policy regarding commercialism. If so, feel free to delete the "(schedule)" links or point me to the specific WP policy and I'll be happy to remove the offending text. Thanks! LarryR 22:11, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Renaming Vipassana Meditation
Probably not important, but the article referring to the other form of Buddhist meditation is named Samatha Meditation. For symmetry, as the terms are so closely related, should this article be renamed "Vipassana Meditation"? 138.217.179.154 11:35, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
