Vipashyana

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Vipashyana (Tib. lhaktong; lhag mthong) 'Clear seeing' or 'insight' meditation.

Etymology

Vi is short for vishesa, which means ‘special’, ‘superior’, or ‘particular’. Pashyana , means ‘to see’ or ‘to look’. Lhak is ‘unique’ and tong is ‘seeing’. So, it means ‘to look at things in a very direct and especially clear way’.

Prerequisites for Vipashyana

Kamalashila’s second Stages of Meditation (Skt. bhavanakrama) mentions three prerequisites for developing vipashyana

  1. Reliance upon a spiritual teacher
  2. Genuinely engaging in extensive study
  3. Appropriate reflection