Vipassana Meditation

The Discourse Summaries

During each 10 Day Course in Vipassana Meditation conducted by S.N. Goenka and his assistant teachers, a Dhamma discourse is given on each of the eleven days of the course. Set forth below are condensations of each of those eleven talks by Goenkaji along with an translation of the Pali passages used by Goenkaji and a glossary of Pali terms used in the discourses.

The Discourse Summaries

Foreword by William Hart

Day One Discourse

Initial difficulties--the purpose of this meditation--why respiration is chosen as the starting point--the nature of the mind--the reason for the difficulities, and how to deal with them--dangers to be avoided

Day Two Discourse

Universal definition of sin and piety-the Noble Eightfold Path: sīla and samādhi

Day Three Discourse

The Noble Eightfold Path: paññā--received wisdom, intellectual wisdom, experiential wisdom--the kalāpa--the four elements--the three characteristics: impermanence, the illusory nature of the ego, suffering--penetrating through apparent reality

Day Four Discourse

Questions on how to practise Vipassana--the law of kamma--importance of mental action--four aggregates of the mind: consciousness, perception, sensation, reaction--remaining aware and equanimous is the way to emerge from suffering

Day Five Discourse

The Four Noble Truths: suffering, the cause of suffering, the eradication of suffering, the way to eradicate suffering--the chain of conditioned arising

Day Six Discourse

Importance of developing awareness and equanimity towards sensations--the four elements and their relation to sensations--the four causes of the arising of matter--the five hindrances: craving, aversion, mental and physical sluggishness, agitation, doubt

Day Seven Discourse

Importance of equanimity towards subtle as well as gross sensations--continuity of awareness--the five friends--faith, effort, awareness, concentration, wisdom

Day Eight Discourse

The law of multiplication and its reverse, the law of eradication-equanimity is the greatest welfare-- equanimity enables one to live a life of real action--by remaining equanimous, one ensures a happy future for oneself.

Day Nine Discourse