Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

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One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

What exactly is vipassanā? Almost any book on early Buddhist meditation will tell you that the Buddha taught two types of meditation: samatha and vipassanā. Samatha, which means tranquility, is said to he a method fostering strong states of mental absorption, called jhāna. Vipassanā—literally "clear-seeing," but more often translated as in­sight meditation—is said to be a method using a modicum of tranquility to foster moment-to-moment mindfulness of the inconstancy of events as they are … [Read more...]

Upon the Tip of a Needle (Mahā Niddesa 1.42)

Andrew Olendzki

    This remarkable and powerful poem, found buried amid the rather dry linguis­tic commentary of the Niddesa (a canoni­cal commentary on the Aṭṭhakavagga of the Sutta Nipāta attributed to Sāriputta), speaks to the dual themes of impermanence and selflessness. In the later systematic psy­chology called Abhidhamma, these themes are developed into the doctrine of momen­tariness and the thorough enumeration of impersonal phenomena. All human experience is ever-chang­ing, but is … [Read more...]

Sitting Just to Sit

Larry Rosenberg

The intimacy of practice is the practice of non-separation, of being at one with whatever is happening. We tend to think that we are not all right now—we're too fearful, greedy, angry, whatever—and if we take up some spiritual practice we can improve ourselves. By doing this, we think, we will be all right at some mo­ment in an imagined future. This is the mind that works on the "in order to" prin­ciple—we are always doing this in order to get that, or to be that. Yet this very tendency—to … [Read more...]

Let the Wilderness Serve! (Saṃyutta Nikāya 6.2.3)

Andrew Olendzki

At one time the Buddha was residing in Magadha, near [a place called] Andhakavinda. At that time the Buddha was seated under the open sky, in the deep darkness of the night, and the rain-god was making it rain, drop by drop. Then the Brahmā Sahampati, as the night was passing away, lighting up Andhakavinda with his surpassing brilliance, approached the Buddha and stood to one side. As he stood to one side, the Brahmā Sahampati offered up these verses in the presence of the … [Read more...]

To the Forest for Refuge

Joseph Goldstein

Joseph, after practicing in India for ten years and teach­ing in this country for more than twenty, you have recently returned from a well-earned teaching sabbatical, in which I understand you did quite a bit of personal meditation prac­tice. Has anything emerged from this experience, in terms of greater clarity? I think one of the pieces that has emerged from the time off is a greater clarity about where I'd like to put my energy in the following years. With so many newer teachers coming … [Read more...]

Mindfulness: Gateway into Experience

Carol Wilson

These words are excerpted from a dharma talk given at BCBS on Janu­ary 18, 1997 as part of the Nalanda Program's weekend retreat. Mindfulness (sati) reveals to us the nature of reality, of our own mind and body in each moment of our experience. When we apprehend any aspect of our experience with mindfulness, we find that experience to be fleeting. Seeing the fleeting nature of all our experiences over a period of time, we become grounded in the wisdom or insight that we cannot rely on any … [Read more...]

Practicing for Awakening

Jack Engler

These remarks have been excerpted from a day-long program given by Jack Engler at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies on November 1, 1997. Jack has had a long association with Dharma study and practice. He studied Pali language and Abhidhamma at the Post-Graduate Institute of Buddhist Stud­ies in Nalanda, Bihar, and practiced meditation for several years in India with Anagarika Munindraji and Dipa Ma. He also studied with the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. He is co-author of Transformations of … [Read more...]

Insight Journal

Fall 1998

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • New and Notable
    • COVID-19 Safety Protocols
    • Mission and Values
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Board of Directors
    • IMS
    • Staff
    • Job Openings
    • Getting to BCBS
    • Mailing List
    • Contact Us
  • Onsite Programs
    • Current Course Calendar
    • Everything You Need to Know About Residential Programs
    • Typical Residential Schedule
    • Continuing Education Credits
    • Financial Assistance
    • Teacher Dāna
  • Online Programs
    • Upcoming Programs
    • Wisdom Collaborations
    • Previously Offered Programs
    • Cancellation Policy
  • Path Programs
  • Teaching Faculty
  • Resources
    • Insight Journal
    • Bhikkhu Anālayo’s Offerings
    • The Daily Sit
    • Freely Offered Dharma
      • Events
      • Courses
    • BCBS Publishing
    • BCBS Bookstore
    • Access to Insight
    • Dharma Seed
    • Ways to Engage in Social Justice
  • Generosity
    • Donate
    • Recurring Donations
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways of Giving
    • Teacher Dāna
    • Volunteer