Volume Three: The Practice of Vipassanā and the Path to the Deathless State

Meditation is a vast field, in the same way that music is for example. It will always be the case that while some are learning to master concert pieces, others will be getting to grips with their scales.

Please do not be disconcerted by the descriptions of the more advanced practices if you are relatively new to meditation. It is hoped that there is material contained within this book that will relate to all people interested in meditation regardless of their level of experience, but it is always recommended that one seek instruction directly from a qualified teacher in a suitable and supported environment.

This book follows on from volumes one and two, and refers to much of the content from these previous volumes. The reader should not expect this book to be complete in itself, but rather a completion of the previous work.

We recommend you read the editor’s note and introduction before beginning the main text to get some context to the way in which this material has been presented.

EDITOR’S NOTE

The material in this volume has been presented as an account of the way in which insight emerges when practising insight meditation with Burgs. The book attempts to capture the flavour of the process of awakening, as one transcends a self-focused experience towards a more genuine state of being.

It begins with a look at both the direct and systematic paths to demonstrate the inclusive quality of Burgs’ teaching. Burgs wanted to present the teachings to the practitioner in a way that would suggest that whilst it is absolutely necessary to practise the preparatory work thoroughly, at a certain point it is absolutely appropriate to let go this systematic reviewing of states, so that a deeper experience that is beyond the mind can appear. However, this should only be done once you have practised enough of this reviewing to get beyond doubt in the Dhamma and to not seek a refuge for self either in any of the five aggregates or in Nibbāna.

The book begins with a thorough session on the preparatory work for insight practice and then goes on to the practice of vipassanā proper. Burgs wished to develop the key point of no-self thoroughly throughout these discourses as it is the fading away of self from our experience that brings about real freedom from affliction moment-to-moment. The other key issue that is tackled throughout this volume is the tendency for some practitioners to conceptualise their experience and seek to fabricate mental models of the Dhamma which they then try to see in their meditation.

The final session of this volume, The Wider Scope, is an account of the latter stages of the path which takes the practitioner beyond the mind, looking towards the fruits of practice. The book culminates with a discussion on the awakened experience, hinting at a deeply complete state where the awakened mind comes to the decisive experience of the nature of reality.

We hope you have enjoyed the journey throughout all the three volumes and are inspired to practise Dhamma for liberation right now and in the future.

Burgs https://www.theartofmeditation.org

Volume Three: The Practice of Vipassanā and the Path to the Deathless State

Table of Contents

IMPORTANT NOTE

EDITOR’S NOTE

Introduction - Various Experiences of Awakening