Samatha-vipassanā

 ( Buddhist Meditation ) 

• Nyanaponika (1996), p. 108.

The Visuddhimagga (5th century CE) mentions Kammatthana. Mindfulness () of breathing (: ; S. ) is the most common practice (though this term is also used for meditation). can include other practices as well.

Buddhism describes the development of  in terms of three successive mental images or 'signs' () and five stages of joy (). According to the -tradition, , a feeling of joy, gladness or rapture, arises from the abandonment of the five hindrances in favor of concentration on a single object. These stages are outlined by the  exegete [[Buddhaghosa]] in his ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'' (also in ''Atthasālinī'') and the earlier Upatissa (author of the ''[[Vimuttimagga]]''). Following the establishment of access concentration (), one can enter the four , powerful states of joyful absorption in which the entire body is pervaded with .
     

• In Sri Lanka includes all those meditations that are directed at static objects.
• In Burma, comprises all concentration practices aimed at calming the mind.
• The Thai Forest tradition deriving from Ajahn Mun and popularized by Ajahn Chah stresses the inseparability of and , and the essential necessity of both practices.

In the Movement, the emphasis is on the Satipatthana Sutta and the use of mindfulness to gain insight into the impermanence of the self. It argues that the development of strong can be disadvantageous, a stance for which the Vipassana Movement has been criticised, especially in Sri Lanka. The "New Burmese Method" was developed by U Nārada (1868–1955), and popularised by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–1982) and Nyanaponika Thera (1901–1994). Other influential Burmese proponents include Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw as well as Mother Sayamagyi and S. N. Goenka, who were both students of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Influential Thai teachers include Ajahn Chah and Buddhadasa. A well-known Indian teacher is Dipa Ma.

The practitioner then engages in (mindfulness of breathing), which is described in the Satipatthana Sutta as going into the forest and sitting beneath a tree to simply watch the breath: If the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short. In the "New Burmese Method", the practitioner attends to any arising mental or physical phenomenon, engaging in , noting or naming physical and mental phenomena (e.g. "breathing, breathing"), without engaging the phenomenon with further conceptual thinking. By noticing the arising of physical and mental phenomena, the meditator becomes aware how sense impressions arise from the contact between the senses and physical and mental phenomena, as described in the five and . According to Sayadaw U Pandita, one's awareness and observation of these sensations is de-coupled from any kind of physical response, which reconditions one's impulsive responses to stimuli, such that one is less likely to physically or emotionally overreact to the happenings of the world.

The practitioner also becomes aware of the incessant changes involved in breathing, and the arising and passing away of mindfulness. This noticing is accompanied by reflections on causation and other Buddhist teachings, leading to insight into , , and . When these three characteristics have been comprehended, , and the process of noticing accelerates, noting phenomena in general, without necessarily naming them.

According to Thai meditation master Ajahn Lee, the practice of both and together allows one to achieve various mental powers and gnosis (Pāḷi: ), including the attainment of , whereas the practice of alone allows for the achievement of , but no other mental powers or gnosis.

are stages that describe the development of  in  meditation practice as described in modern Burmese  meditation.
Daniel M. Ingram (2025). 9781911597100, Aeon. ISBN 9781911597100
     

1. The meditator first explores the body/mind connection as one nonduality, discovering the three characteristics. The first consists in seeing these points and in the presence of and . Phenomena reveal themselves as arising and falling away.
2. In the second , the practice seems effortless. and both disappear.
3. In the third , , the joy, disappears too: there is only happiness () and concentration.
4. The fourth arises, characterized by purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. The practice leads to direct knowledge. The comfort disappears because the dissolution of all phenomena is clear. The practice shows every phenomenon as unstable, transient, disenchanting. The desire of freedom takes place.

meditation and  () are often considered synonymous by modern , but the four  involve a ''heightened'' awareness, instead of a narrowing of the mind.
     

Vetter notes that may refer to the four stages of meditation, but that only the first stage refers to strong concentration, from which arise the other stages, which include mindfulness.

According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four describes two different cognitive states. Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to it. According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element." Alexander Wynne further explains that the -scheme is poorly understood. According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as , , and , are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states, whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects.

Asaṅga's Abhidharma-samuccaya states that the practice of is a part of the beginning of a Bodhisattva's path, in the first "path of preparation" ().

The Sthavira nikāya, one of the early Buddhist schools from which the tradition originates, emphasized sudden insight: "In the Sthaviravada ... progress in understanding comes all at once, 'insight' () does not come 'gradually' (successively—)."

The Mahāsāṃghika, another one of the early Buddhist schools, had the doctrine of , "according to which a Buddha knows everything in a single thought-instant". This process however, meant to apply only to the Buddha and paccekabuddha. Lay people may have to experience various levels of insights to become fully enlightened.

The Sūtra Unlocking the Mysteries ( Samdhinirmocana Sūtra), a , is also often used as a source for teachings on . The Samādhirāja Sūtra is often cited as an important source for instructions by the Kagyu tradition, particularly via the commentary of Gampopa, although scholar Andrew Skilton, who has studied the Samādhirāja Sūtra extensively, reports that the itself "contains no significant exposition of either meditational practices or states of mind."

The Mahayana Akṣayamati-nirdeśa refers to as seeing phenomena as they really are—that is, empty, without self, nonarisen, and without grasping. The Prajnaparamita in 8,000 lines states that the practice of insight is the non-appropriation of any , including the five aggregates:

Although and Mahayana are commonly understood as different streams of Buddhism, their emphasis on insight is a common denominator: "In practice and understanding Zen is actually very close to the Forest Tradition even though its language and teachings are heavily influenced by Taoism and Confucianism."

Abrupt doctrine (subitism), though in the Chan tradition, this insight is to be followed by gradual cultivation. This "gradual training" is expressed in teachings as the Five Ranks of enlightenment, the Ten Bulls illustrations that detail the steps on the path, the "three mysterious gates" of Linji, and the "four ways of knowing" of Hakuin Ekaku.

According to Thrangu Rinpoche, when and are combined (as in the mainstream approach of Shantideva and Kamalashila), through disturbing emotions are abandoned, which thus facilitates , "clear seeing". is cultivated through reasoning, logic, and analysis in conjunction with .

In contrast, in the tradition of the direct approach of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, is ascertained directly through looking into one's own mind. After this initial recognition of , the steadiness of is developed within that recognition. According to Thrangu Rinpoche, it is also common in the direct approach to first develop enough to serve . Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche charts the developmental relationship of the practices of and this way:

by fixing the mind upon any object so as to maintain it without distraction... by focusing the mind on an object and maintaining it in that state until finally it is channeled into one stream of attention and evenness.

According to Geshe Lhundup Sopa, is:

just a one-pointedness of mind () on a meditative object (). Whatever the object may be... if the mind can remain upon its object one-pointedly, spontaneously and without effort (), and for as long a period of time as the meditator likes, it is approaching the attainment of meditative stabilization ().

furthers the right concentration aspect of the noble eightfold path. The successful result of  is sometimes characterized as meditative absorption (, ) and meditative equipoise (, ), and as freedom from the five obstructions (, ). It may also result in the  of clairvoyance (, ) and magical emanation (, ).
 (1996). 086171119X, Wisdom Publications.  086171119X
     

, " has five characteristics: effortlessly stable attention (), powerful mindfulness (), joy (), tranquility (), and equanimity (). The complete state of results from working with stable attention () and mindfulness () until joy emerges. Joy then gradually matures into tranquility, and equanimity arises out of that tranquility. A mind in is the ideal instrument for achieving Insight and Awakening". The idea here is that in order to achieve awakening, you have to master both attention, and peripheral awareness. Such as focusing on the breath and being aware of one's peripheral awareness simultaneously.