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Introduction and Table of Contents
Vipassanā in Jhāna: A Personal Narrative and Practical Guide
Gary Buck
This is my book. It is a free publication about vipassanā meditation; specifically vedanānupassanā, as taught in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Sri S. N. Goenka. It focuses primarily on the advantages and desirability of integrating jhāna into that practice.
The suttas of the Pāli Canon tell us that the Buddha taught his monks to practice vipassanā while in the state of jhāna. Historically, this practice has become neglected, especially with the recent spread of vipassanā to the global, lay community. But now, with the wonderful opportunities for lay people to sit for longer retreats, under ideal conditions, we have the opportunity to practice vipassanā in the same manner the Buddha taught.
This book describes my attempts to do just that. I first entered jhāna by accident. Then, over the course of a number of silent retreats, and years of daily practice—while making all sorts of mistakes—I have learned to incorporate jhāna into my regular vipassanā practice, while strictly following the instructions I had received from my teachers. The results have been extremely beneficial; life changing, in fact.
The book began as a simple narrative of what happened, in order to inform and perhaps help my peers. However over the years, I have learned a great deal about jhāna, as I came to understand these states better, and realized their incredible benefit. So slowly, this book has evolved into a practical guide on how to attain jhāna, and then how to incorporate that into a normal vipassanā practice. I hope it will be helpful to other meditators.
This is just a simple introduction. If you would like a more detailed explanation of the book and its contents, then click this link to the Overview, where you will find a detailed rationale, an explanation of each chapter, and a more detailed table of contents.
How to Read this Book
If you would like to begin reading the text now, there are three ways to do that:
Read the full book online: Click here, and read in sequence from Chapter 1 to the Conclusion, by following the links at the end of each chapter.
Use the Table of Contents to select any chapter. A list of References and a Glossary of Pāli words can be found at the end.
Download a PDF of the whole book.
Although individual chapters may be read independently, the work is structured as a coherent whole, which reflects the development of my own understanding of jhāna, and its role in vipassanā.
Table of Contents
Thank you for reading Gary Buck’s Substack. Everything here is free. I do not accept donations. You are free to copy or distribute the content, as long as you give credit, and for noncommercial purposes only.
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