Foreword by Joseph Goldstein
Foreword by Daniel Goleman
Managing Editor�s Preface
Introduction
1. Purification of Conduct
The Purification of Conduct for Monks
Observing the Monastic Precepts � Pursuing a Pure Livelihood � Wisely Using Requisites � Carefully Restraining the Senses � Practicing Restraint Prior to the Practice of Meditation � Restraint that Comes from Meditation � Restraint as a Prerequisite for Meditation
The Purification of Conduct for the Laity
Comparisons to Monastic Morality � The Five Spiritual Obstacles � The Enlightenment of Immoral Laypeople � How Different Types of People Are Suited to Different Trainings
Purifying Conduct with Meditation
Morality by Means of Abandonment � Morality by Means of Abstinence � Morality by Means of Mental Volition � Morality by Means of Restraint � Morality by Means of Nontransgression � Morality as Remote and Immediate Conditions for Concentration and Knowledges � The Power of Meditation to Purify Morality for Monastics � Nota Bene: The Practice of Morality Is Essential
2. Purification of Mind
Mental Purification
Three Types of Mental Purification � Two Vehicles for Going to Enlightenment � Methods for Taking the Two Vehicles to Enlightenment � Insight with Momentary Concentration � Methods for Developing Insight
Mental Purification for Those Who Take the Vehicle of Insight to Enlightenment
Liberations and Hindrances � Helpful Contemplations to Dispel Hindrances � Obstacles to Concentration and the Methods to Overcome Them � States of One-Pointedness
3. Absolute and Conventional Realities
What Is Reality?
Ultimate Reality � Conceptual Illusions � Hearsay and Such � Description vs. Experience � The Correct Definition of Ultimate Reality � Transience
The Two Meanings of Activity
The Meaning that Ordinary People Know � The Meaning that Insight Meditators Know
Two Kinds of Insight
Appropriate Objects for Meditation � The Present Moment � Inferential Insight: Knowledge by Comprehension
Lessons to Learn from Those Who Take the Vehicle of Tranquility to Enlightenment
Observation of the In- and Out-Breath � To What Extent Must Insight Be Purified? � Venerable Sariputta�s Method � Venerable Moggallana�s Method � A Note of Caution
4. The Development of Mindfulness
Checking Meditation against the Pali Texts Five Kinds of Phenomena
Contemplation of the Body
The Case of Seeing � The Case of Hearing � The Case of Smell � The Case of Taste � The Case of Touch � Mindfulness of Breathing � The Four Primary Material Elements � How to Observe Thought � How to Note General Activities � Clear Comprehension � Accurate Awareness
Contemplation of Feeling
Pleasant Feeling � Unpleasant Feeling � Neither- Unpleasant-nor-Pleasant Feeling � Worldly Pleasure � Unworldly Pleasure � Worldly Displeasure � Unworldly Displeasure � Worldly Neither Displeasure nor Pleasure � Unworldly Neither Displeasure nor Pleasure � Realizing Feelings
Contemplation of Mind
Mental States � Realizing Mind
Contemplation of Mental Objects
The Five Hindrances � Wise Attention � Unwise Attention � The Five Aggregates � The Six Senses � The Ten Fetters � The Seven Factors of Enlightenment � Balancing Spiritual Faculties � The Seven Types of Suffering � The Four Noble Truths
Mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths
Truths in the Round of Existence and Truths Beyond It � How Suffering Is Realized � How the Origin of Suffering Is Realized � How Cessation and Path Are Realized � Cultivating Mundane Understanding � Cultivating Supramundane Understanding � How to Develop the Noble Eightfold Path � The Moment of Path Knowledge � Other Objects of Meditation
The Benefits of Mindfulness
The Only Way � The Buddha�s Acknowledgment � Suitable Contemplations
5. Practical Instructions Preparations for Practice
The Basic Practice
The Primary Object � Distracting Thoughts � Physical Discomfort � Odd Experiences � Getting a Drink � Going to Bed � Getting Up � Eating a Meal � Increasing the Number of Objects � General Objects � Mental States � Diligence
Insight
Mind and Body � Cause and Effect � Effects of Concentration � Seeing the Three Characteristics � Distractions from the Path � Disappearance � Disillusionment � Looking for Relief � Equanimity
The Experience of Nibbana
Entering Fruition � Clarifying the Insight Knowledges � Practicing for Higher Paths and Fruitions � A Note on Parami
A Word of Advice
6. Stages of Insight Knowledge
Insight Knowledge that Discerns Mental and Physical Phenomena: Purification of View
Awareness of Phenomena � Discerning Mental and Physical Phenomena � Seeing Things as They Really Are
Insight Knowledge that Discerns Conditionality: Purification by Overcoming Doubt
The First Way of Seeing Conditionality � The Second Way of Seeing Conditionality � The Third and Fourth Ways of Seeing Conditionality � The Fifth Way of Seeing Conditionality � The Lesser Stream Enterer
Insight Knowledge by Comprehension
Comprehension of Impermanence � Comprehension of Suffering � Comprehension of Not-Self � Contemplation of Mental Phenomena � Other Types of Contemplation � Strengthening the Mental Faculties � Seven Ways to Contemplate Physical Phenomena � Seven Ways to Contemplate the Mind � Practical Advice
Insight Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away
Eliminating Attachment � Continuity of Processes vs. Momentary Phenomena � The Characteristics of Arising and Passing Away � Observing True Arising and Passing Away � The Ten Corruptions of Insight � Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is Path and Not Path � Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way
Insight Knowledge of Dissolution
Insight and Counter-Insight � Inferential Knowledge � Mature Knowledge
The Three Aspects of Disillusionment: Insight Knowledges Fear, of Danger, and of Disenchantment
Insight Knowledge of Fear � Insight Knowledge of Danger � Insight Knowledge of Disenchantment
Insight Knowledge that Desires Deliverance
Insight Knowledge of Reobservation
The Ten Aspects of Insight into Impermanence � The Twenty- Five Aspects of Insight into Unsatisfactoriness � The Five Aspects of Insight into Not-Self � Mature Reobservation
Insight Knowledge of Equanimity toward Phenomena
How Phenomena Are Observed from Two Aspects � How Phenomena Are Observed from Four Aspects � How Phenomena Are Observed from Six Aspects � How Phenomena Are Observed from Eight Aspects � How Phenomena Are Observed from Ten Aspects � How Phenomena Are Observed from Twelve Aspects � The Three Stages of Equanimity � Peak Insight Knowledge of Equanimity toward Phenomena
Knowledge that Leads to Emergence
Adaptation � Knowledge of Change-of-Lineage � Path Knowledge and Fruition Knowledge � A Word of Caution
Reviewing Knowledge
Five Subjects to Consider � Abandonment of Defilements � Confirming Stream Entry � The Great Reviewing Knowledges (Mahapaccavekkhananana)
Attainment of Fruition
Three Types of Insight � The Benefit of Attaining Fruition � Entering the Attainment of Fruition � The Experience of the Attainment of Fruition � Emerging from the Attainment of Fruition � Unstable Attainment � Varying Degrees of Mastery
Nibbana
Definitions of Nibbana � Two Types of Nibbana � Experiencing Nibbana
7. The Eighteen Great Insight Knowledges
The Seven Main Contemplations
Contemplation of Impermanence � Contemplation of Unsatisfactoriness � Contemplation of Not-Self � Contemplation of Disenchantment � Contemplation of Dispassion � Contemplation of Cessation � Contemplation of Relinquishment
The Remaining Contemplations
Contemplation of Destruction � Contemplation of Fall � Contemplation of Change � Contemplation of the Signless � Contemplation of the Desireless � Contemplation of Emptiness � Insight into Phenomena that Is Higher Wisdom � Knowledge and Vision of Things as They Really Are � Contemplation of Danger � Contemplation Reflection � Contemplation of Turning Away
Mahasi Sayadaw�s Closing Words
List of Abbreviations
Notes Pali-English Glossary
English-Pali Glossary
Bibliography
Index About Vipassana Metta Foundation
