Theravada and Insight

Vermont Insight and the Theravada lineage

Vermont Insight Meditation Center is a Buddhist practice center founded in the tradition of Insight Meditation that was established when Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield (among others) opened Insight Meditation Society in the 1970s. All of them had traveled extensively in southeast Asia and India learning meditation practices from a variety of teachers and practitioners.

They were particularly influenced by these teachers from the Theravada School:

• S.N. Goenka, Munindra, and Dipa Ma in India
• Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma
• Ajahn Chah in Thailand

Theravada, the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, references those monks who lived in community during the centuries following the Buddha’s death and who were trying to live closely to the Buddha’s original teachings. In contrast, during the 1970s, Buddhist practice in the U.S. was focused on the Zen tradition from the Mahayana school and Tibetan Buddhism from the Vajrayana school. More on the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools can be found here.

The Roots of the Insight tradition

The Insight tradition is a relatively recent development within the Theravada lineage, with roots dating back to the 1800s. Sometimes, Insight meditation is referred to as Vipassana. This Pali word means to see clearly, or “insight.” As Andrew Olendzki wrote in Tricycle,

“…vipassana meditation involves pointing a concentrated mind at a flowing stream of experience, with each moment presenting a different object. By watching the ongoing rise and fall of phenomena at the point of contact with the senses, rather than through the filters of narrative and conceptual thought, the meditator is able to see beyond appearances.”

Below is a brief history.

Burma

The Insight tradition began taking shape in Burma in response to Western governments’ efforts to colonize that part of the world in the late 1800s. Ledi Sayadaw, a Burmese monk, popularized some of the classic teachings in order to teach them to laypeople and keep at least part of the tradition alive. More details on this fascinating story can be found here.

In the 20th Century, Mahasi Sayadaw continued Ledi Sayadaw’s line. Mahasi Sayadaw’s students included Munindra and Dipa Ma as well as many westerners, including the founders of the Insight Meditation Society. 

Thailand

At the same time in 1970s Thailand, westerners discovered Ajahn Chah and other Theravada monks practicing in the Thai Forest tradition – a reform movement established in the late 1800s. The movement emphasized austere lifestyles within a monastic setting — a kind of “getting back to the basics” with reference to the Pali Canon (the original discourses of the Buddha). Jack Kornfield lived with Ajahn Chah as a monk for a time.

To learn more about the well-known teachers in the Theravada school over the last century or so, see this article.

And for more educational resources on Buddhism, please see the websites of interest on our Buddhist Resources page.

 

A special thanks to teachers Paul Rodrigue and Susan Dreyer Leon and board member Paula Swenson for putting this page together!