Until you’ve consumed all of the best Vipassana books, can you even claim to be a true fan?
- The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation (2009)
- Beyond the Breath: Extrordinary Mindfulness through Whole Body Vipassana Meditation (2002)
- The Clock of Vipassana Has Struck: A Tribute to The Saintly Life and Legacy of a Lay Master of Vipassana Meditation (The Teachings and Writings of Sayagyi U Ba Khin) (2017)
- Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening (2016)
- Mindfulness in Plain English (2011)
- Vipassana Meditation for Beginners – The Most Effective Meditation Technique: Vipassana Meditation for Happiness, Clarity, Joy and Enlightenment … Mindfulness, Meditation for Beginners) (2016)
- Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (2005)
- THE DISCOURSE SUMMARIES Talks from a Ten-Day Course in Vipassana Meditation Condensed by William Hart (1987)
- The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga (Vipassana Meditation and the Buddha’s Teachings) (2003)
- Inward: Vipassana Meditation and the Embodiment of the Self (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries) (2019)
- Mindfulness and Insight: The Mahasi Method (2019)
- Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom (2003)
- Inward (2018)
- Satipatthana Vipassana (2016)
- Discourse Summaries (2000)
The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation (2009)
The Ancient Meditation Technique that Brings Real Peace of MindVipassand-bhavand, “the development of insight,” embodies the essence of the teaching of the Buddha. As taught by S. N. Goenka, this path to self-awareness is extraordinary in its simplicity, its lack of dogma and, above all, its results. The Vipassana technique can be successfully applied by anyone.Based on the lectures and writings of S. N.
Beyond the Breath: Extrordinary Mindfulness through Whole Body Vipassana Meditation (2002)
Beyond the Breath is one of the first books to give a complete overview and description of sensation based vipassana meditation, the form of mediation thought of as the original method of meditation as used by the Buddha 2,500 years ago. This form of meditation, brought to the West by S.N. Geoneka, provides a means to experience emotions directly and nonverbally—accessing the mind through the body.
The Clock of Vipassana Has Struck: A Tribute to The Saintly Life and Legacy of a Lay Master of Vipassana Meditation (The Teachings and Writings of Sayagyi U Ba Khin) (2017)
This collection brings the writings and teachings of Sayagyi U Ba Khin—the teacher of S. N. Goenka—together under one cover, with biographical information and a commentary by Goenka. The story of U Ba Khin and his teaching of the Dhamma is set in context through an extensive interview with S. N. Goenka, conducted by Pierluigi Confalonieri, who also edited this tribute. It was published to commemorate the centenary of Sayagyi’s birth.
Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening (2016)
The mind contains the seeds of its own awakening―seeds that we can cultivate to bring forth the fruits of a life lived consciously. With Mindfulness, Joseph Goldstein shares the wisdom of his four decades of teaching and practice in a book that will serve as a lifelong companion for anyone committed to mindful living and the realization of inner freedom.
Mindfulness in Plain English (2011)
Author Bhante Gunaratana, a renowned meditation master, takes us The book showcases Bhante’s trademark clarity and wit as he explores the tool of meditation, what it does, and how to make it work. This book is: Written for those without any meditation background, but also an essential handbook for established students, Mindfulness in Plain English is a must-have for anyone exploring the benefits of Buddhist meditation.
Vipassana Meditation for Beginners – The Most Effective Meditation Technique: Vipassana Meditation for Happiness, Clarity, Joy and Enlightenment … Mindfulness, Meditation for Beginners) (2016)
Vipassana – “To See Things As They Are”Vipassana means, “to see things as they are”. It is to “put aside whatever is evident – the visible truth – and to concentrate on the reality as it is.” Vipassana is the practice of focusing close attention to the now. In simpler words, Vipassana is a way of achieving true happiness and a peaceful state of mind.This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation, from teacher to teacher.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (2005)
When Wherever You Go, There You Are was first published in 1994, no one could have predicted that the book would launch itself onto bestseller lists nationwide and sell over 750,000 copies to date. Ten years later, the book continues to change lives. In honor of the book’s 10th anniversary, Hyperion is proud to be releasing the book with a new afterword by the author, and to share this wonderful book with an even larger audience.
THE DISCOURSE SUMMARIES Talks from a Ten-Day Course in Vipassana Meditation Condensed by William Hart (1987)
First edition: 1987 Reprinted: 1989 Reprinted: 1990 Reprinted: 1994 Published by Vipashyana Vishodhan Vinyas. Pages: 123
The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga (Vipassana Meditation and the Buddha’s Teachings) (2003)
One of Buddhism’s foundational texts, the Visuddhimagga is a systematic examination and condensation of Buddhist doctrine and meditation technique. The various teachings of the Buddha found throughout the Pali canon are organized in a clear, comprehensive path leading to the final goal of nibbana, the state of complete purification. Originally composed in the fifth century, this new translation provides English speakers insights into this foundational text.
Inward: Vipassana Meditation and the Embodiment of the Self (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries) (2019)
Western society has never been more interested in interiority. Indeed, it seems more and more people are deliberately looking inward—toward the mind, the body, or both. Michal Pagis’s Inward focuses on one increasingly popular channel for the introverted gaze: vipassana meditation, which has spread from Burma to more than forty countries and counting.
Mindfulness and Insight: The Mahasi Method (2019)
A clear, simple meditation method on practicing mindfulness for insight, which takes us to our goal of liberation, the end of all suffering.Discarding any striving or ambition to attain something, the refined guidance that Mahasi Sayadaw provides in this book will lead practitioners to systematically and gradually purify their minds of attachment, aversion, and delusion and to realize the successive stages of enlightenment, culminating in the attainment of enlightenment (nibbana).
Meditation Now: Inner Peace through Inner Wisdom (2003)
Celebrated Vipassana meditation teacher S. N. Goenka interprets the Buddha’s teachings in this collection of lectures, essays, and interviews. These writings provide insights into how one of the most influential contemporary Buddhist practitioners defines Vipassana and how he uses it to achieve peace of mind and lead a happy, useful life.
Inward (2018)
From poet, meditator, and speaker Yung Pueblo, comes a collection of poetry and prose that explores the movement from self-love to unconditional love, the power of letting go, and the wisdom that comes when we truly try to know ourselves. It serves as a reminder to the reader that healing, transformation, and freedom are possible.
Satipatthana Vipassana (2016)
This 56-page booklet is a 1957 translation of an introductory discourse given by the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw on the purpose, method of practice, and benefits of the system of meditation which he taught, called Satipa h na Vipassana. The treatise includes a brief explication of Vipassana’s place in the Buddha’s teaching and its connection with the theoretical foundation in the Abhidhamma teaching, and proceeds with detailed instructions on the practice of the different aspects of insight meditation.
Discourse Summaries (2000)
Contains 11 discourses that provide an overview of the teachings of Buddha to help meditators understand what to do and why, so they work in the proper way and achieve the proper results.
Best Vipassana Books You Should Enjoy
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some vipassana books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Drifting through Samsara: Tacit Conversion and Disengagement in Goenka's Vipassana Movement (AAR ACADEMY SERIES)
Author(s): Masoumeh Rahmani
ID: 3233220, Publisher: Oxford University Press, Year: 2021, Size: 3 Mb, Format: pdf
Inward: Vipassana Meditation and the Embodiment of the Self
Author(s): Michal Pagis
ID: 3216992, Publisher: University of Chicago Press, Year: 2019, Size: 953 Kb, Format: pdf
Samatha, Jhāna, and Vipassanā: Practice at the Pa-Auk Monastery: A Meditator’s Experience
Author(s): Hyun-soo Jeon; HaNul Jun
ID: 2400415, Publisher: Wisdom Publications, Year: 2018, Size: 3 Mb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are really best-sellers according to The Wall Street Journal, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.