Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

On the cultivation of insight/wisdom
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ancientbuddhism
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Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by ancientbuddhism »

Meditation En Masse: How Colonialism Sparked the Global Vipassana Movement,by Erik Braun

Alternative link: http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documen ... 0Braun.pdf

An informative article on the history and development of Burmese Vipassanā. Braun presents the beginning of the meditation revival in Theravāda as a symbiosis of monastic and lay endeavor through movements to safeguard the Sāsana from colonial hegemony.

Also related to this topic see: Strong Roots: Liberation Teachings of Mindfulness in North America, by Jake H. Davis
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Sam Vara
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by Sam Vara »

Many thanks for this. A really interesting and informative little article.
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by Babadhari »

its interesting how the most well known insight techniques practiced in the west deviate or evolve if you will from the Canonical teachings.
these practices are being adapted and merged with cognitive behavioral therapy, life-coachiing,even with angel-healing in some new world schools(!).

were the Buddha here today what practice would he describe for my over-stimulated mind?
i shall never know, but i dont think they should be stripped from their Dhammic context void of precepts and underlying philosophy.
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by culaavuso »

kitztack wrote: were the Buddha here today what practice would he describe for my over-stimulated mind?
SN 46.53
SN 46.53: Aggi Sutta wrote: "In the same way, monks, on any occasion when the mind is restless, that is the wrong time to develop analysis of qualities as a factor for awakening, persistence as a factor for awakening, rapture as a factor for awakening. Why is that? The restless mind is hard to still with those mental qualities.

"Now, on occasions when the mind is restless, that is the right time to develop calm as a factor for awakening, concentration as a factor for awakening, equanimity as a factor for awakening. Why is that? The restless mind is easy to still with those mental qualities.
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by Babadhari »

thank you once again cuulavuso for another invaluable passage. :namaste:
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by pilgrim »

kitztack wrote:its interesting how the most well known insight techniques practiced in the west deviate or evolve if you will from the Canonical teachings.
these practices are being adapted and merged with cognitive behavioral therapy, life-coachiing,even with angel-healing in some new world schools(!).

were the Buddha here today what practice would he describe for my over-stimulated mind?
i shall never know, but i dont think they should be stripped from their Dhammic context void of precepts and underlying philosophy.
This may qualify as the corruption of the Dhamma.
Ani sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by Babadhari »

here is another article on the beginnningS of the different Vipassana traditions in Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka

Theravada reinvents meditation
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by EndlessStream »

This urgency certainly would explain all of the different 'made-up' or 'manufactured' Burmese systems of vipassana (which do not exist in the scriptures). In the same way the Japanese urgently built factories to militarise & industrialise to avoid colonisation, the Burmese built vipassana factories or assembly lines, like Model-T or VW Bettle vipassana.
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by tiltbillings »

EndlessStream wrote:
This urgency certainly would explain all of the different 'made-up' or 'manufactured' Burmese systems of vipassana (which do not exist in the scriptures). In the same way the Japanese urgently built factories to militarise & industrialise to avoid colonisation, the Burmese built vipassana factories or assembly lines, like Model-T or VW Bettle vipassana.
The Model-T and the VW Beetle were quite efficient vehicles that got one to where they needed to go. You might want to read Jake Davis' above linked book. These practice are not "made up" out of nothing. They are solidly grounded in the Buddha's teachings.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by SarathW »

Thanks
Very informative.
:)
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by ancientbuddhism »

kitztack wrote:here is another article on the beginnningS of the different Vipassana traditions in Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka

Theravada reinvents meditation
I have visited Chapman's blog on occasion, in part because his motivations puzzle me some. Is he trying to inform a 'truth' about these traditions, less the traditional hagiographical claims? Or is it just elegant bashing? Such as his claim that the Burmese Vipassanā traditions were purely ad hoc.

The hubris of this and statements like the folowing on the page you linked is an example: (underlined emphasis mine)
  • I’m also not trying to prove that modern vipassana is “inauthentic.” Coming from Tibetan Buddhism, this rapid innovation, based on practical experiments, is slightly shocking for me. But as a scientist and engineer, it’s also inspiring. I am happy to regard all of it as terma—the Tibetan term for a valid new religious revelation.
Who cares about how recent or rapid the development of modern Vipassanā was? What to mention of how recent is Tibetan to Theravāda. After all, Burmese Vipassanā has Satipaṭṭhāna as its foundation and has been vetted by practitioners of contemplative samādhi practices sustained from earlier periods in Buddhist history to the Burmese Vipassanā milieu viz. Chán and Zen, which confirm that the results are identical as far as calm and insight practices go.
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by mikenz66 »

I was similarly puzzled, and I would query any statements about the "most important" teachers. These articles tend to be very Western-Centric. It happens that U Ba Khin/Goenka, Mahasi Sayadaw/U Pandita, and some of the Thai Ajahns, such as Ajahn Chah, are well known in the West. These are well-respected teachers in Asia, but their fame in the West relative to other Asian teachers is a result of having a good organisation (in the Goenka case) or some enthusiastic Western students.

It's also interesting that we can find claims from some that the Burmese teachers, such as Mahasi Sayadaw, just made it all up, and didn't pay much attention to the Theravada tradition. Yet we have claims from others that they are too traditional and pay too much attention to the Commentaries and Visuddhimagga...

:anjali:
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by Babadhari »

ancientbuddhism wrote:
kitztack wrote:here is another article on the beginnningS of the different Vipassana traditions in Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka

Theravada reinvents meditation
I have visited Chapman's blog on occasion, in part because his motivations puzzle me some. Is he trying to inform a 'truth' about these traditions, less the traditional hagiographical claims? Or is it just elegant bashing? Such as his claim that the Burmese Vipassanā traditions were purely ad hoc.

The hubris of this and statements like the folowing on the page you linked is an example: (underlined emphasis mine)
  • I’m also not trying to prove that modern vipassana is “inauthentic.” Coming from Tibetan Buddhism, this rapid innovation, based on practical experiments, is slightly shocking for me. But as a scientist and engineer, it’s also inspiring. I am happy to regard all of it as terma—the Tibetan term for a valid new religious revelation.
Who cares about how recent or rapid the development of modern Vipassanā was? What to mention of how recent is Tibetan to Theravāda. After all, Burmese Vipassanā has Satipaṭṭhāna as its foundation and has been vetted by practitioners of contemplative samādhi practices sustained from earlier periods in Buddhist history to the Burmese Vipassanā milieu viz. Chán and Zen, which confirm that the results are identical as far as calm and insight practices go.
i will admit that i did not give too much attention to the article before posting the link, just finding it interesting as general overview of different traditions after reading Venerable Analayo's Dynamics of Theravada Insight Meditation which also only goes back as far as Ledi Sayadaw.
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by ancientbuddhism »

mikenz66 wrote: ... It's also interesting that we can find claims from some that the Burmese teachers, such as Mahasi Sayadaw, just made it all up, and didn't pay much attention to the Theravada tradition. Yet we have claims from others that they are too traditional and pay too much attention to the Commentaries and Visuddhimagga...
I confess that I have played the devil’s advocate in some of this, pushing back at what I have perceived as broad sweeping claims from Vipassanā teachers that their tradition “is the Buddha’s teaching”. When U Pandita asked me if I thought this method (Mahasi) was such, I made an attempt at a gracious reply “yes sir, in so much as we find it in the suttas”.

But in all the debate in these fora, if I have not expressed it, or expressed it well enough, is my appreciation for what the Burmese Vipassanā traditions have given us. And for what these teachings have confirmed in my own practice, having come from a long background in Zen.
I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

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Re: Colonialism as foundation for the Vipassana Movement

Post by ancientbuddhism »

kitztack wrote: ...i will admit that i did not give too much attention to the article before posting the link, just finding it interesting as general overview of different traditions after reading Venerable Analayo's Dynamics of Theravada Insight Meditation which also only goes back as far as Ledi Sayadaw.
I don't have time at present to rummage around for them, but somewhere in Chapman's blog are mentioned a couple of thesis written on the history of Burmese Vipassanā, or the rise of meditation culture in Theravāda. I found a .pdf of one of them months ago, and the other as I recall was in a library in a Uni. somewhere. But even these docs seemed to point no earlier than the early 1800's for the beginning of this cultural development.
I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

Secure your own mask before assisting others. – NORTHWEST AIRLINES (Pre-Flight Instruction)

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