From the burden of illusion to the joy of freedom
I’m going to say something about the arising of insight that I’ve never heard any teacher say before, yet which I think is crucially important if you’re at all interested in where Buddhist meditation can take you.
But first I’ll have to offer you just a little background.
Traditionally, Buddhist meditation has been seen in terms of two different approaches: tranquility (or concentration) and insight.
Tranquility involves calming the mind, steadying the mind, and cultivating peace joy. The experience that arises is called jhana, or absorption. The vast majority of references to meditation in the Buddhist scriptures are about this approach to meditation. The Buddha in fact described it as “the path to Awakening.”
Insight…