Insight Meditation Center
About Insight Meditation
Insight meditation offers teachings and practices in mindfulness and insight meditation (vipassana). Suitable for everybody.
The Buddho Foundation
Insight Meditation Society - US
What is Insight Meditation?
Buddhism emerged over 2,500 years ago in Northern India. Historians, religious scholars, and various Buddhist sects debate the actual year of the Buddha’s birth; it may have been as early as 644 BCE or as late as 540 BCE (although some point to other, later dates for his lifetime).
However, it is relatively certain that he was born Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the son of Suddhodana, king of the Shakya tribe, in what is now Nepal. .
Questions & answers about meditation for beginners
Meditation can be an effective form of stress reduction and has the potential to improve quality of life and decrease health care costs.
Meditation involves achieving a state of 'thoughtless awareness' in which the excessive stress producing activity of the mind is neutralized without reducing alertness and effectiveness.
When did meditation start?
Traditionally, the practice of meditation has been used in most Asian countries, but cultures all over the world have used it for various reasons. .
Samatha as a preparatory stage for Vipassanā
Samatha meditation is commonly seen as a foundational practice, serving as a preparatory step for more advanced forms of meditation, including Vipassanā. It plays a crucial role in calming the mind and reducing distractions, making it easier for practitioners to progress in their spiritual journey.
Vipassanā, on the other hand, is considered an advanced practice that directly addresses the insight and wisdom components of the Buddhist path.
It is often undertaken after a foundation in .
Way to Heaven – meaning and symbolism
The way to Heaven is also known as a way to Nirvana. Way to heaven gives deeply symbolic meaning and explanation of the path to enlightenment.
Symbols in way of heaven
The way to heaven consists of different symbols which have different meanings. This illustration of the development of mental tranquility is often painted on monastery walls. This mnemonic diagram depicts the nine progressive stages of mental development, which are obtained through the six powers of .