Vipassana · Pāli: vipassanā; Skt: vipaśyanā

Vipassanā is the direct, investigative seeing into experience that the Pali tradition sets alongside calm. Access to Insight’s glossary defines it as “Clear intuitive insight into physical and mental phenomena as they arise and disappear, seeing them for what they actually are — in and of themselves — in terms of the three characteristics”, and also “in terms of stress, its origin, its disbanding, and the way leading to its disbanding”. Those three characteristics (inconstancy, stress and not-self) are the three marks of existence.

It is half of a pair. In the Vijjā-bhāgiya Sutta (AN 2.30) the Buddha says “These two qualities have a share in clear knowing. Which two? Tranquillity (samatha) & insight (vipassana)”, and gives each its own work: “When tranquillity is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what purpose does it serve? Passion is abandoned.” Insight does the other half: “When insight is developed, what purpose does it serve? Discernment is developed. And when discernment is developed, what purpose does it serve? Ignorance is abandoned.” The two remedies answer two different defilements, since “Defiled by passion, the mind is not released. Defiled by ignorance, discernment does not develop.” So calm steadies the mind and insight sees with it.

The Sanskrit form, vipaśyanā, carries the word into the Mahayana traditions, where Tibetan writers call it “special insight” and argue about its place: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy summarises Tsongkhapa holding that “tantra is defined neither by special insight (vipaśyana) nor Mahāyāna universal altruism, but solely by deity yoga”. The word travels; what counts as the practice differs by tradition.