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By Bhikkhu T Seelananda
Introduction
Vipassana means insight; that is, seeing through. This is a very popular term in the original teaching of the Buddha, especially in terms of meditation. According to the teaching of the Buddha, there are two types of meditation; concentration meditation ( Samatha), and insight meditation (Vipassana). Of the two, Vipassana is the heart of Buddhist meditation. This is popularly known as either "insight meditation" or "wisdom meditation". As we all are aware, concentration meditation is practiced in almost all religions in the world today. But the technique of Vipassana is peculiar to the teaching of the Buddha. More ...
Theravada (Pali: thera "elders" + vada "word, doctrine"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the name for the school of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the Pali Canon, or Thripitaka, which scholars generally accept as the oldest record of the Buddha's teachings. For many centuries, Theravada has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand; today Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million worldwide. In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the West - primarily in Europe, Australia and the USA. More ...
Sri Lanka is the oldest continually Buddhist country, Theravada Buddhism being the major religion in the island since its official introduction in the 2nd century BC by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the Emperor Ashoka of India during the reign of King Devanampiya- Tissa. Later, the nun Sanghamitta, the daughter of Asoka, was said to have brought the southern branch of the original Bodhi tree, where it was planted at Anuradhapura. From that day up to the present, the Buddhists in Sri Lanka have paid and are paying the utmost reverence to this branch of the Bodhi Tree under the shade of which the Master achieved Enlightenment. More ...
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