Vipassana-bhavana (Buddhism, Pali)

By practising constant awareness, conscious of the body, feelings, state of mind and the mental processes, an individual achieves insight into reality. The system involves repeated meditation on major items of Buddhist doctrine until they are completely internalized and the individual cognitive and perceptual systems operates only in these terms - the old cognitive and perceptual habit patterns are removed. This is done under the supervision of individuals who have already achieved insight and is usually preceded by [samatha]

meditation to bring a state of calm (although nowadays this step is sometimes omitted as being distracting).

The technique teaches the individual to know and be conscious of something new about the way things are. It is seen as solving the basic problem of ignorance, believing that inaccurate understanding leads to misinterpretation and misunderstanding both of the human experience and of the nature of the world. In contrast, knowledge brings control so that the individual has power over his own destiny and is no longer subject to repeated rebirths and deaths.

With practice, the person meditating becomes aware of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and insubstantiality (anatha). If the ensuing detachment is not so satisfying as to deter from continuing progress, further insight on the Buddhist path follows, culminating in [lokuttara]

, transcendent consciousness.

One of the two systems of Buddhist meditation, the other being samadhi-bhavana (development of concentration).