Essentials of Insight Meditation
Types of Meditation
Tranquillity and Insight Meditation
There are two kinds of meditation—Tranquillity meditation and Insight meditation.
Tranquillity meditation is the concentration of the tranquil and serene mind. It involves the very controlled or mindful action of
holding the mind to an object, and does not allow the mind to wander.
Insight meditation is quite different from tranquillity meditation. It does not just involve holding the mind still. It also involves penetrative observation. This kind of penetrative observation, without any thinking, without any conceptualization, allows the mind to realize the true nature of things as they really are, things like the nature of our mind and body processes, the nature of the person and the nature of the world.
Insight meditation
Insight meditation is based on the Four basic Foundations of Mindfulness as mentioned in the Satipat- thana Sutta.
The Satipatthana or the Four Foundations of Mindfulness have been emphasized as the one and only way for the purification of
beings. The discourse describes various meditation objects classified into four groupings. These are to be applied to develop mindfulness of things as they really are. They are:
- Kayanupassana Satipatthana
- Vedananupassana Satipatthana
- Cittanupassana Satipatthana
- Dhammanupassana Satipatthana
BODY CONTEMPLATION AS FOUNDATION OF MINDFULNESS(Kayanupassana Satipatthana) Within this foundation are various chapters:
- Breath
- Postures
- Clear comprehension
- Parts of the body impurities
- Four elements (earth, fire, water, and wind elements)
- Cemetery contemplation of corpses at different stages of decay
FEELING CONTEMPLATION AS FOUNDATION OF MINDFULNESS (Vedananupassana Satipatthana)
There are nine types of feelings here, which serve as objects of mindfulness. The first to the third are: pleasurable, painful, neither
pleasurable nor painful. These three are then further noted with regards to being carnal (fourth to sixth) or spiritual (seventh to ninth).
CONSCIOUSNESS CONTEMPLATION AS FOUNDATION OF MINDFULNESS (Cittanupassana Satipatthana)
Those consciousness which can be the objects of mindfulness are:
!
- Consciousness with lust
- Consciousness freed from lust
- Consciousness with anger
- Consciousness freed from anger
- Consciousness with delusion
- Consciousness freed from delusion
- Consciousness that is shrunken
- Consciousness that is distracted
- Consciousness that has grown great/expanded
- Consciousness that has not grown great/expanded
- Consciousness which has some other mental state superior to it
- Consciousness which has no other mental state superior to it
- Consciousness which is quiet/tranquil
- Consciousness which is not quiet/tranquil
- Consciousness which is freed
- Consciousness which is not freed
MENTAL OBJECT CONTEMPLATION AS FOUNDATION OF MINDFULNESS (Dhammanupassana Satipatthana)
- The five hindrances
- The five aggregates of clinging
- The six internal and six external sense-bases
- The seven factors of enlightenment
- The four noble truths
