What exactly is vipassana?

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But if you look directly at the Pali discourses —
the earliest extant sources for our knowledge of the Buddha's
teachings — you'll find that although they do use the word
samatha to mean tranquillity, and vipassana to mean clear-seeing,
they otherwise confirm none of the received wisdom about these
terms. Only rarely do they make use of the word vipassana —
a sharp contrast to their frequent use of the word jhana.

When they depict the Buddha telling his disciples to go meditate,
they never quote him as saying "go do vipassana,"
but always "go do jhana."

And they never equate the word vipassana
with any mindfulness techniques.




One Tool Among Many
The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu



Full Text:
//www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html