Books on Vipassana as Taught by Mahasi Sayadaw

by Mahasi Sayadaw

This book is a comprehensive manual of the practice of vipassana meditation (~710 pages). The manual covers in great depth all aspects of the threefold training in sīla (morality), samādhi (concentration), and paññā (wisdom).

The book systematically covers the stages of insights, which every meditator goes through.

The writing style of Mahasi Sayadaw is very technical and the book contains plenty of references to suttas of the Pali Canon, Visuddhimagga, and other important texts of the Theravada tradition. I believe that this is one of the best books out there for anyone who is interested in practicing vipassana. However, I wouldn’t recommend the book to absolute beginners in meditation.

by Mahasi Sayadaw

Mahasi Sayadaw has given very precise vipassana instructions in Practical Insight Meditation. The remarkable thing is that the book is quite short (~67 pages) but contains everything you need in order to start practicing.

The book is highly recommended for beginners in meditation since it is very practical and straightforward. There are meditation instructions laid out in a clear and digestible language, well suited for western meditators.

If you are making your first steps into vipassana, this will be a great resource.

by Mahasi Sayadaw

This small book (~50 pages) describes in detail the insight knowledges (vipassanā-ñāṇas) which are the stages that vipassana practitioners go through. Going through these knowledges is referred to as the progress of insight (visuddhiñana-katha).

The progress of insight is outlined in various traditional Theravada Buddhist commentary texts such as the Patisambhidamagga, the Vimuttimagga, and the Visuddhimagga.

This book is not recommended nor intended for beginner meditators, since it could create lots of confusion and disturb their practice. The practitioner should go through this book once they have done some consistent practice. It’s best to discuss these important but also delicate topics with an experienced teacher.

by Sayadaw U Pandita

In This Very Life is a collection of talks from a three-month retreat that Sayadaw U Pandita taught in the United States. He describes both the practical journey of awakening and the theoretical model of understanding it.

The book goes through topics such as morality, meditation instructions, overcoming hindrances, the seven factors of awakening, and more.

Sayadaw U Pandita is also the first teacher to define the vipassana jhānas and points out the relationship between the jhānas and ñāṇas.

While reading the book, you will notice how much Sayadaw U Pandita has encouraged his students on being meticulous during their practice.

This book can be great for both beginners and mature practitioners since the content is presented in a very understandable manner. The style is much less technical compared to the books of Mahasi Sayadaw.

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) is part of the Majjhima Nikaya.

This sutta is one of the most widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon since it has been the foundation for contemporary vipassana meditational practice.

This sutta stresses the importance of practicing mindfulness (sati). Mindfulness has become a very vague word in the west, and it means different things to different people. Sayadaw U Pandita suggests that “observing power” is a more adequate translation of the word sati.

Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this discourse: “This is the direct way monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna“.

For me, reading the Pali suttas is invaluable as it shows how the Dharma was supposedly transmitted in the early days. It is encouraging and helpful to read the discourses by the Buddha and his disciples and see what they emphasized to overcome the challenges along the path.

The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) is part of Dīgha Nikāya.

The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is subsequently created after the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. They are word by word the same for most parts. The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, however, has some parts that are greatly expanded.

Everything I have mentioned in the section about the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta applies to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta as well.