The Practical Dharma of Mahasi Sayadaw
âEven reading and studying only Chapter 5 will enable you to practice insight meditation in a straightforward way, and you will be able to realize (enlightenment of) path knowledge, fruition knowledge, and nibbÄna.â â Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw, from Manual of Insight
The first English translation available to Westerners of the Ven. Mahasi Sayadawâs two-volume Manual of Insight might sound at first like something of interest mostly to scholarsâor to Buddhist Geeks. Originally completed in seven months by the vipassana master in 1945 even as Japanese bombers dropped their fiery payloads on the nearby Burmese city of Shwebo, the approximately 700-page tome is a rare example of the legendary Sayadawâs personal research into the Pali suttas, commentaries and sub-commentaries. It is also a straightforward meditation manual with a detailed exposition of the Progress of Insight, the specific stages of the path of awakening as meticulously observed within the Burmese Theravada tradition. It is this latter aspect of the textâits potential ability to help struggling yogis progress and to give Western meditation teachers additional tools to do a better jobâthat has Steve Armstrong so committed to seeing it available in the West.
âMost of the early generations of vipassana teachers in the West chose not to expose students to the Progress of Insight,â says Armstrong, a veteran vipassana teacher who is spearheading the translation project, which should be ready to submit to publishers by the end of the year. âThat is partly because many of us who were coming to practice in the 1970s were enthusiastic, diligent and spiritually ambitious. For us Western seekers, there was a danger that the Progress of Insight could have led to excessive striving and imbalanced effort as well as misevaluation of oneâs practice.â
More than three decades later, however, the unintended consequences of deemphasizing what is known about the stages of the path have become all too clear in Western vipassana, Armstrong says. For example, practice sometimes uncovers extremely unpleasant, destabilizing or counterintuitive mental terrain that advancing meditators can easily misunderstand. Armstrong, who was a monk for five years under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita at the Mahasi Meditation Center in Rangoon, cites an example of what can happen when Western dharma teachers fail to properly understand the emerging insight knowledge of dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and anatta (not-self or impersonality), two of the three universal characteristics of all phenomena.
âA good student of mine several years ago was undertaking a three-month retreatâshe had already been practicing a few yearsâand was at a stage in her practice where her sense of self was very porous and destabilized,â he recalls. âHowever, she was gaining insight knowledge into the way things are. At the end of her retreat, when she went back home, she felt extremely ill-at-ease. She went to her local dharma teacher for advice, who told her, âYou need therapy.â â
Nonetheless, the yogiâs inner voice told her she had come this far by relating to all meditative objectsâmental, physical, good, bad or indifferentâon a sensate, rather than psychological level. She had enough resolve to choose the cushion over the couch, Armstrong says. âShe went to Burma, ordained as a nun, and through intensive practice over the course of the next year attained the first of the Four Paths of Enlightenment,â he says. âThat was fortunate for her, but it also illustrates the limitations of teachers who have not yet experienced the first path, and then offer teachings from a perspective which might be more about psychology than vipassana.â
Western dharma students have long been accustomed to Buddhist books and talks that amount to an admixture of inspirational poetry, psychological analysis, riffs on current events, and freestyle borrowing from any number of spiritual traditions. In 1990, when Armstrong returned to the West still in robes from his studies with U Panditaâwho teaches the Mahasi method in the traditional and intense style that is characteristic of Burmaâhe was struck by the contrast. âI could not offer the teachings in as orthodox a way as they do in Burma because the Western scene was so modified, with a lot of psychological understandings and influences from other spiritual traditions like Krishnamurti and other non-dual teachings, as well as the Tibetan influence,â he recalls. âThere was a kind of potpourri, as U Pandita would call it.â
While this integrative approach certainly offers benefits, it also carries rarely discussed risksâsuch as the possibility of losing touch with the practical knowledge and specific instructions that give traditional lineages their effectiveness and power, Armstrong says. âThere are those who complain about the watering down of the dharma, the misrepresentation of the Mahasi technique and tradition, and just a general confusion on the part of many western Buddhists as to what vipassana practice is all about,â he says.
That is part of the reason Armstrong and his colleagues have taken such care to preserve the Sayadawâs voice throughout the translation, perhaps at the risk of alienating some western readers who are more accustomed to contemporary presentations of the dharma. âWe have aimed to find a balance between the authentic Mahasi voice and Western use of the English language,â Armstrong says. âMahasi Sayadaw was certainly very orthodox and almost fundamentalist at times, and that can be pretty daunting for people who remain bestseller Buddhists, not yet dig-to-the-depths Buddhists. If anything, we have erred on the side of literal Mahasi voice because we are intent on keeping this his teachings, not our interpretations of them.â
In fact, the translation will include nearly 100 pages of the actual Pali script the Sayadaw referenced. Vira Ăani, an American nun based in Burma, spent a year tracking down these references and putting together a glossary for the book. This was necessary because the Sayadawâs references to Pali texts notated the Burmese editions. Now, all Pali quote citations are to the Vipassana Research Instituteâs CSCD Pali Canon database, readily available to Westerners. âIt took a lot of research, but for those who want to confirm for themselves what Mahasi Sayadaw has either written or referenced, the Pali will now be there,â Armstrong says.
Armstrong got involved in the project about 10 years ago after having a casual conversation with his friend Hla Myint, a former Burmese monk. âI went back to Burma in 2000,â he explains. âI met Hla Myint and inquired, âWell, what are you doing now?â He responded, âOh, I am translating Mahasi Sayadawâs two-volume book Manual of Insight.â I said, âYou are? Hasnât that been translated into English yet?â â
Immediately enthusiastic about the project, Armstrong began funding Hla Myintâs work. Ariya Ăani, a Swiss nun in Burma, later re-read the original in Burmese and suggested substantial improvements in the English translation. Armstrong, along with his wife, the senior vipassana teacher Kamala Masters, and dhamma teacher Deborah Ratner-Helzer, edited the text.
Now finishing up the footnotes, Armstrong hopes to bring these teachings to a wider audience by submitting Manual of Insight to a major American publisher like Wisdom Publications. While Mahasi Sayadaw might be considered the grandfather of Western vipassanaâa primary teacher of the likes of Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfieldâhis original works are still scarce in the West, Armstrong notes. âAbout 30 of his books have been translated into English, but they are very difficult to find,â he says. Indeed, some of these rarer titles list for up to $150 on Internet auction sites. A couple of the Sayadawâs works are available for free on Google Books, but hard copies often must be obtained in Burma or ordered from Sri Lanka.
Manual of Insight, moreover, is different from the Mahasi Sayadaw books with which some students may be familiar. âThis is one of the few books he did that is pure research and written manual,â Armstrong notes. âMost of the other books are transcriptions of talks he has given.â With its richness of detail and clear instructions, Manual of Insight also offers useful information for practitioners at any level. Chapter 5, for example, lays out the preparatory as well as the advanced practice needed in order to establish mindfulness and make progress in developing insight. Throughout, the text elucidates important subtleties of Mahasi Sayadawâs understanding of the Buddhaâs teaching and insight practice, Armstrong says. âEven as I was reading and editing this book, I kept coming across things where I said, âHoly sheeshâI never realized that.â Or âThat really answers a question I never knew I had.â â
The material on the states and stages of the path could be of particular help to beginning students, retreatants and advanced yogis alike, so long as they keep the Progress of Insight in perspective and resist any temptation to, as the saying goes, confuse the map with the journey, Armstrong says. Interestingly, several of the founders of Western vipassana have encouraged Armstrongâs efforts to make the Progress of Insight better known. âToday, there are a lot of experienced and maturing students in vipassana who could benefit from a subtler explanation and refinement of understanding of what is going on in their practice,â he says. âSome Western vipassana teachers may not know this information, either from textual sources or personal experience, and may offer students inappropriate or ineffective guidance. Many Western dharma books are coming from the same place, frankly. They are from the same level of understanding. The Mahasi book is definitely from a different level of insight.â
The map also points to territory traversed by students of Zen, Dzogchenâany contemplative traditionâand thus this translation will be of interest to non-Theravadins as well. âIt is the continuity of mindful awareness that deepens concentration, that reveals the true characteristics of phenomena and develops liberating insight,â Armstrong says. âLiberation is possible. Donât be satisfied with rearranging your psychological patterns. Comfort is not a goal worthy of your sincerest efforts.â
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I've found Mahasi's writings to be invaluable in my practice. I'm very much looking forward to the new translation! Thanks for passing this on.
Vince you're doing such great work in facilitating all of this great liberation information. 1000 thank yous.
Wow. It's too bad this important new book is not yet available. Joel and Vince, please keep the community here informed of when it is. And yeah, thanks!
How exciting! MCTB went beyond the instructions of "just keep noting" to explain things like how the 3rd nana needs you to keep up the effort and concentration and encourage the development of a more laserlike attention, but 5th nana won't go anywhere until you accept a spacious, diffuse, and perhaps even smeared quality of attention. Still, Daniel could only fit so much of that stuff into a book that's supposed to cover all of the ground of hardcore Theravada meditation. It will be fascinating to see the kind of hardcore vipassana technique tips that the Sayadaw has included in this tome of meditation! Freedom of information FTW.
great article!. Really looking forward to its being published. Joel and Vince you have created a really amazing little community here!
really looking forward to this book! I hope it becomes immediately available on iBooks and Kindle formats. i prefer reading this on an iPad with quick access to search/copy-paste/notations. this will be an excellent addition to my geeky dharma digital library
I am VERY excited for this work to be published. I have received so much benefit from reading Mahasi Sayadaw's published works. I can only imagine how much my meditation practice will benefit from this two-volume work of practical, no-nonsense dharma!
I would love to be able to receive notification about when the book is scheduled to be published. Would it be possible to be placed on an email list of some kind?
Ooops.
FYI–
The above PDF link is just for the first 15 pages of Practical Insight Meditation (another of Mahasi Sayadaw's works–NOT the one featured in the above article). This PDF link is for a 24-page doc. http://www.aimwell.org/assets/practicalinsightmed…
Practical Insight Meditation on Google Books is a full 70 pages. Guess the PDFs are excerpts…
I would be on the list for buying this as soon as it's published. I think it supports the trend away from "feel good" Western Dharma books to something that offers a bit heartier meal of truth and practical advice. If Wisdom or someone else doesn't pick it up, please self-publish and offer on-line. I'd be willing to pay the usual $25-30 plus some well deserved dana for all the work Steve and others have done.
I would also buy this book as well. Hopefully you'll find a publisher soon. Things like thsi should not be kept from the enlightenment-hungry masses!!
Someone hipped me to the fact that Mahasi Sayadaw's Practical Insight Meditation is available as a PDF, not just on Google Books.
Kindle friendly! http://www.saddhamma.org/pdfs/mahasi_practical_in…
I've gobbled up what information is out there on the Progress of Insight (and it ain't that much), and am so happy to find out that this book is on the way – please hurry!
I'm so glad to hear that this long-awaited work will be finally be available in English. Thank you Steve, Hla Myint, Ariya Ñani, Vira Ñani, and everyone else involved in the project. I have been a fervent student of Mahasi's writings, and would like to add some information regarding another source of some of Mahasi's works. When I returned to Bangkok from Burma in 2006 on my way back home to the US, I was turned on to the Buddhadhamma Foundation* there. At that time, eight of his works which had be re-translated and published by the BF were available. Here are seven of the titles:
Fundamentals of Vipasssana Meditation
The Great Discourse on the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma
The Great Discourse on Not Self
A Discourse on Dependent Origination
Sallekha Sutta (A Discourse on the Refinement of Character)
I believe two others were: Practical Insight Meditation and Progress of Insight.
Each of these has precious nuggets of information on practice and have been highly motivational for me.
*Buddhadhamma Foundation
87/126 Tesabahl Songkroh
Lad Yao, Chatuchak
Bangkok 10900, Thailand
(66) 025 899012 (ph#)
May this be of help..
Awesome. Thanks, Peter!
If you can't find a large publisher, I own a small religion and spirituality book publisher.
Here's a new retreat (March 2011) w' Steve Armstrong. Focus will be on the Progress of Insight.
http://cloudmountain.org/index.php?page=0311armst…
The first 72 pages of the book are available at http://www.box.net/shared/ap6lqziydu
Someone sent me a link to this article today, 2011 April 25 th, over a year later. Is there any information about the availability of this book?
Hi Steve.
I e-mailed Steve for an update in August 2011.
At the time, he said the translation team was still working to finalize its work on the Manual of Insight. He explained that the three translators were all very busy and kind of spread around the world, so they'd been unable to work on the text full-time. But Steve said they'd made a lot of progress: The Pali spell check was half done. All Pali quotes had been footnoted/sourced to Pali text editions available in the West. The English-Pali and-Pali-English glossaries were nearly done. A few final questions on meaning needed some research with scholar-monks in Burma. I'll try to post something here at BG as soon as I hear some more news from Steve. Thanks!
Practical Insight Meditation, Progress of Insight, and Satipatthana Vipassana, are all available from Wisdom Books (a London based shop) for a fraction of what they are on Amazon. See following link:
http://www.wisdom-books.com/SiteSearchResults.asp…
Here's a link to the new translation of Chapter 5 and some exercises: http://dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/…