An Examination of Vipassana (Insight) Meditation from a Theravada Perspective

What is the relationship between insight meditation (vipassana meditation) and serenity/ calm meditation (samatha meditation) in terms of attaining enlightenment? Is there any way, which is purely intellectual approach, could lead to liberation from all the defilements requiring not help at all of meditation? This essay attempts to investigate the aforementioned issues posed by some articles which propose that vipassana is a kind of intellectual activity and it could lead to the final goal, nibbana, without the help of meditation. Since this issue is caused by the term ＂vipassana＂ (insight), this essay, firstly , will concentrate on examining the nature, characteristics and the practice of vipassana as well as a very similar term ＂ vipassana bhavana＂ (the cultivation of insight). Then goes further to investigate the relationship between vipassana and samatha meditation. The approach taken by this essay is not only consulting the resources of Nikayas, Patisambhidiimagga, and Visuddhimagga, but also takes the contemporary works of some Theravada masters into account.

關鍵字

vipassana (insight) ； vipassana bhavana (the cultivation of insight) ； samatha (calm) ； relationship and intellectual activity

並列摘要

就修學證道的觀點而言，毗婆奢那(內觀)的禪修法和奢摩他(止)的禪修法，有否必然的關係呢?行者是否可以不靠這兩種禪法，單以理性思考、辯證和分析推理的方式,除去所有的煩惱而證得涅槃呢?本文就是從南傳佛教的觀點來探討上述的問題。由於這些問題涉及到vipassana及vipassana bhavana(即毗婆奢那禪修／內觀禪修）等內涵，本文將先探討這些問話所談的本質、特色及具體修法。接著，才探討毗婆奢那禪修法和奢摩他的禪修法間的關係。本文所採用的方式不只是從文字、經典的角度來看這些問題，也從實修的觀點來探討這些問題。因此，本文所用的資料，除了南傳的四部尼柯耶等經典外，也參考《清淨道論》、南傳《解脫道論》以及近代南傳修學有成的幾位禪師的觀點。