Saturday 26 May 2012

Samatha vs Vipassana: Is There Any Need for a Fight?

Bodhipaksa Dharmacari originally shared this post: on Google+ today.
It is a short video by the Australian monk, Ven. Sujato, discussing his impressions of what is happening today in the world of Buddhist meditation, with some unhealthy rivalries emerging, not necessarily to the benefit of aspirants. 


His video may be see here:







As Bhikkhu Sujato asserts, we need to get over pushing one meditation practice, particularly vipassana, as if other practices, namely samatha, have no benefit or validity. The Buddha did not support such exclusivity. He is right that such aspects of modern practice have developed for political and territorial reasons, rather than mental developmental ones. If we spent more time and energy on meditating and less on arguing about it, we'd be much better off.