Part 4 · 15 Days of Advanced Vipassanā — Impermanence, Non-self, Loving-kindness

Anicca, anattā and dukkha in direct experience, with mettā and the Four Protections.

This Part is in production. The curriculum is written; the guided sittings are being recorded in English, Spanish and Russian. It will open to students who have completed the Part before it.

Part: 4 of 5
Length: 15 days · 2 sittings per day
Practice: Vipassanā and mettā (loving-kindness)
Training: Paññā
Level: Intermediate
Prerequisite: Part 3
Status: In production
Languages: English, Spanish, Russian
Cost: Donation-based
Teacher: Ocean DYNN
Tradition: Theravāda

What the Part contains

Fifteen days refining insight into the three characteristics — impermanence (anicca), non-self (anattā) and unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) — as they appear in direct experience, with mettā and the Four Protective Meditations woven into the daily sittings.

The Four Protections

Alongside ānāpāna and Vipassana, the fifteen days include the four protective meditations of the Theravāda tradition, as taught at Pa-Auk:

Buddhānussati — recollection of the Buddha's qualities, beginning with the traditional formula "Iti pi so Bhagavā…".
Mettā — loving-kindness: wishing others well, not only yourself.
Asubha — contemplation of the body's unattractiveness.
Maraṇānussati — recollection of death.

The shape of a sitting

Ānāpāna first, with attention resting at the crown of the head and then moving to the centre of the mind, without going into sensation in the body — about thirty minutes, or at your own rhythm. Then the day's protective meditation. Then observing sensation at your own pace, letting whatever surfaces surface while you sit still. The guidance is deliberately sparse. By this stage the practice has to be yours, and too many words get in its way.

Silence, and mettā at the end

The rule of the Part is complete noble silence for its duration: no conversation, no messages, no reading beyond the course. Arrange your life for it in advance, as you would for a retreat.

When the mind is calm and the body quieter, mettā is radiated outward, to the people you know, one by one. The emphasis is on wishing others well rather than yourself: that is where the deeper purification comes from.

Who it is for

Students who have completed Part 3. It is advanced work and builds on a concentration that Parts 1 to 3 establish.

Before you begin, read the safety page.

← Part 3 · 35 Days into Vipassanā · Part 5 · 21 Days of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna →