Satipatthana Long Course
In this course you will learn to practice Vipassana with all aspects of your experience. Vipassana means to see clearly. What do we learn to see clearly? The reality of mind & body as it is manifesting to you moment-to-moment.
Satipatthana means the presence/foundation (upatthana) of Mindfulness (Sati). The “Satipatthana Sutta” is the foundational text that Vipassana Meditation is taught from. It is also called "The Direct Path to Realization".
Course Overview
Every Week for the course duration.
Weekly Meditation Instructions (30 min walking + 30 min sitting)
Weekly Live Talk + Q&A via ZOOM (usually Sunday 10AM CET). Recorded for those who cannot attend live.
Weekly Life Practice.
Whatsapp Group for Support
Buddy Check-in with another participant (opt-in)
Overview of Weekly Topics
In the first half of the course we cover each of the four foundations of mindfulness laid out in the Satipatthana Sutta (Body, Feeling Tone, Mind, Dhammas). In the second half we apply mindfulness to contemplate the three characteristics of all experience more directly (Impermanence, Non-Self, Suffering). Throughout, we aim to discover the first 3 stages of the progress of insight (Mind Body Separation, Cause and Effect, Three Characteristics).
Week 1.
Vipassana and the Noting technique
Week 2.
Satipatthana: Mindfulness of the Body Foundation
Week 3.
Satipatthana: Mindfulness of Vedana (the Feelings Foundation)
Week 4.
Satipatthana: Mindfulness of Citta (the Mind Foundation)
Week 5.
Satipatthana: Mindfulness of Dhammas (Hindrances, Concentration + Mindfulness)
Week 6.
Three Characteristics: Anicca (Impermanence/Inconstancy)
Week 7.
Three Characteristics: Dukkha (Suffering/Dissatisfaction)
Week 8.
Three Characteristics: Anatta (Non-Self)
Final Weekend.
Review & putting it into Context.
Final Weekend Day Retreat
On the final weekend of the course you will have the option to apply and integrate what you have learnt in a more intensive, silent retreat period. This will be 6 hours of meditation spread over a day in your own home.
Course Requirements
Completed at least one 10-day basic course with Vipassana at Home.
And ideally, maintained a daily practice since the last course. This is to ensure that we are a dedicated and focused group and we don't have to spend time discussing the basics of posture and establishing a habit of daily practice.
Create the space and time to do your daily meditations
In this longer course, you will be guided less than in the 10 day course. Weekly instructions are a guide to explain you the technique but you are also expected to practice independently, without the guided meditation using a meditation timer.
Do your best to attend or watch the talks
The talks will help you understand why and how we are practising. The right understanding is the foundation for a good practice as it will help you develop your own wisdom of how to adjust the practice based on it's principles.
What is NOT required?
You don't need to have the perfect lotus posture or even sit cross-legged to practice meditation.
You don't need to maintain Noble Silence for this course. The course is designed to fit within a daily life and the value of this course is also to learn how to practice Vipassana amidst your life.
Technique
This course teaches you the basics of the “Noting” technique as popularised by Mahasi Sayadaw (Burma, 1904 - 1982).
It is one of the two widespread contemporary Vipassana techniques, the other being body-scanning, popularised by S.N. Goenka (Burma, 1924 - 2013).
In noting with labelling we use little labels to help us recognise and clearly see the current mind-body phenomena that is appearing. Whether it is breathing, hearing, sitting, thinking or remembering. In noting, there are no distractions as each phenomena, when seen clearly, becomes part of the practice.
The mental noting or labelling technique is extremely effective at establishing mindfulness and bare awareness of sensory experience at the present moment. It includes being mindful of all your sensory experiences including sensations, sights, sounds, smells, tastes and thoughts.
In the course, we utilise both walking and sitting meditation. This is to balance the development of both concentration (samadhi) and mindfulness (sati) and learn to integrate mindfulness into more than just stillness.
If you would like to do some background reading in preparation for the course, I recommend these books:
Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization
Bhikkhu Analayo
Translation & Commentary of the Satipatthana Text
Seeing that Frees
Rob Burbea
"Insight is any realisation, understanding, or way of seeing things that brings, to any degree, a dissolution of, or a decrease in, dukkha." Rob Burbea was an excellent secular Dharma teacher who outlines progressively deepening practices to familiarise oneself with the teachings of Emptiness and dependent origination.
What is Mindfulness PDF
https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WhatIsMindfulness_SY_Public_ver1.5.pdf
Shinzen Young
A comprehensive definition of mindfulness practice which covers the most important aspects.
Most important are pages 15 - 41.