The tradition
The course is built on the threefold training of the Theravāda path: sīla (ethical conduct), samādhi (concentration) and paññā (insight). The order is not decoration. Each supports the next.
On this page
Sīla — conduct
The five precepts: not killing, not stealing, no sexual misconduct, no false speech, no intoxicants. Traditionally they come first because concentration does not settle in a mind that is acting against itself.
Samādhi — concentration
Ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breathing, is the concentration practice of the whole course and the sole practice of Parts 1 and 2. The source is the Ānāpānasati Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 118).
Paññā — insight
Vipassanā: the observation of sensation, feeling and mind as they arise and pass, revealing the three characteristics — anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and anattā (non-self). Parts 3 and 4.
The four foundations
The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 22) sets out mindfulness of body, feelings, mind and dhammas. Part 5 follows it, with the emphasis on daily life.
The Four Protections
Recollection of the Buddha, mettā (loving-kindness), contemplation of the body's unattractiveness, and mindfulness of death — the four protective meditations taught in the Pa-Auk tradition. They appear in Part 4.
What has been adapted, and why
- Sitting times are the traditional windows (04:30–07:00, 18:00–21:00), but a gentler schedule is allowed where the traditional one is not sustainable. Consistency matters more than the exact hour.
- Sittings are fifteen minutes in Part 1 rather than an hour, because at home there is no schedule carrying you: the habit has to settle first, and only then can the sittings grow longer.
- The next sitting opens when the previous one is complete; that replaces the retreat bell.
- The Detox edition of Part 1 is an optional overlay and is not part of the Theravāda training the course describes.
A residential retreat under a teacher remains the fuller form of this training, and the course says so plainly.
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