Vipassana
Also known as: Insight Meditation, Clear-Seeing
Pali: vipassana, from vi (special or clear) and passana (seeing).
Vipassana, meaning insight or clear-seeing, is a Buddhist meditation practice focused on observing sensations, thoughts, and mental states as they arise and pass, without reacting to them, in order to directly perceive impermanence. It is taught in structured intensive retreats as well as in shorter daily practice formats.
Modern Vipassana in the lineage popularized by S.N. Goenka is typically taught through ten-day silent retreats that begin with breath awareness, Anapana, before moving to systematic body scanning. The practice is closely related to, and historically one of the roots of, the secular mindfulness-based programs such as MBSR now widely taught outside a religious framework.
Vipassana, meaning to see clearly or insight, is among the oldest Buddhist meditation techniques, traditionally attributed to the Buddha himself and preserved in the Theravada tradition, with S.N. Goenka's 20th-century ten-day silent retreats bringing the practice to wide international attention from the 1970s onward. The technique specifically trains open, non-reactive observation of whatever arises, thought, sensation or emotion, without following or suppressing it, distinguishing it from focused-attention techniques that deliberately narrow attention onto a single object like the breath.
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Related Terms
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of paying deliberate, non-judgmental attention to present-moment experience, whether the breath, bodily sensations, thoughts, or surroundings. Rooted in Buddhist contemplative practice, it has been adapted into secular clinical programs and is widely used for stress, anxiety, and general wellbeing.
Meditation
Meditation is a family of practices that train attention and awareness, typically by focusing on a single object such as the breath, a mantra, or bodily sensation, or by cultivating an open, receptive awareness of whatever arises. Traditions vary widely, from concentration practices to open monitoring and loving-kindness meditation.
Body Scan
The body scan is a mindfulness practice of sequentially directing attention through different areas of the body, typically from the feet to the head, noticing physical sensations without trying to change them. It is a core exercise in MBSR and widely used to build interoceptive awareness and reduce tension.