The Buddha”s Two Main Meditation Techniques

　　- by S. N. Goenka

　　(The following has been translated and adapted from "Kyā Buddha Dukkhavādī The

　　" first published in Nepal in May 2000, in which Goenkaji has sought to dispel prevailing misconceptions about the teaching of the Buddha.)

　　To live a happy and harmonious life and to eradicate all misery, the Buddha taught many meditation techniques. Of these, the two principal methods are Vipassana and mettā bhāvanā.

　　1. Vipassana meditation

　　Vipassana enables meditators to gain mastery over the mind on the basis of morality, and to develop experiential wisdom to eradicate all the defilements of craving and aversion. It is a practical technique that gives beneficial results here and now, just as it did in the past. At the time of the Buddha, millions of suffering people tormented by the unbearable assaults of life were relieved from this burden of suffering through Vipassana.

　　One example:

　　Kisā Gotamī

　　For years after her marriage, Kisā Gotamī suffered the painful burden of childlessness. When she finally gave birth to a son, her happiness knew no bounds. It was as if a pine treasure had been bestowed upon her. However, after only a few years, her only child died of snakebite. Her heart sank to the greatest depth of misery. Others around her could not tolerate her extreme lamentation. When this anguished woman met the Buddha and learned Vipassana, she was relieved not only of the grief of her son”s death but also of all the suffering of repeated births and deaths. She spent the rest of her life helping other suffering women to become free from misery.

　　Another example:

　　Paṭācārā

　　Paṭācārā was the daughter of a very rich family of Sāvatthi. She was born and brought up in great luxury. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell into the quicksand of passion and ran away with one of her family”s young servants. Years passed before she began her journey to return to her parents. Several circumstances had resulted in the catastrophic loss not only of her husband, but of both of their sons. In acute grief and lamentation over the loss of husband and sons, she reached Sāvatthi, only to find three funeral pyres burning outside the town. Imagine her deep shock when she discovered that these pyres were burning the bodies of her own mother, father and only brother. (The night before, their house had collapsed in an earthquake.) Now this unfortunate woman had no relative left in the world. Due to this intolerable trauma, she became totally insane. Then she came in contact with the Buddha and learned Vipassana. Practising it, she found that this benevolent technique liberated her not only from the sorrow of losing her near and dear ones, but also from all the sufferings that come from the cycle of birth and death. She started serving others and helped many to lead happy lives.

　　Even today, this practice gives the same results, with each step that is taken on the Noble Path of Vipassana. Those who practise it live happy and peaceful lives even in the face of complex worldly problems. The experience of hundreds of thousands of meditators is the concrete proof of this. People all over the world from all walks of life come to Vipassana courses. Their minds are burdened with grief from the losses of their near and dear ones: their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives. Or they are afflicted with depression or insomnia due to the stresses of modern life. They have suffered the losses of money, position, prestige, or disappointment in personal relations. They are disheartened and frustrated by multifarious problems. Yet, we always find that at the end of their ten-day Vipassana course, their faces light up with peace and happiness.

　　There are so many instances where serious Vipassana meditato…

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