In the Theravāda tradition, vipassanā or insight meditation is the disciplined cultivation of direct knowledge of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and non‑self (anattā) within one’s own body and mind. Practice is grounded in ethical restraint and supported by concentration (samādhi), often developed through mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati) until the mind becomes stable and clear. Upon this foundation, mindfulness (sati) is established as a continuous, non‑reactive awareness of whatever is present, allowing phenomena to arise and pass away without clinging or aversion. This steady attention gradually reveals that all experiences are conditioned processes rather than a solid, enduring self.

The classical framework for this practice is the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna). In mindfulness of the body (kāyānupassanā), breathing, postures, movements, and bodily activities are observed carefully, sometimes including contemplation of the body’s elemental nature and its vulnerability to aging and death. Mindfulness of feelings (vedanānupassanā) turns to the tone of experience—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral—seeing each feeling as a transient event that cannot be owned or held. Mindfulness of mind (cittānupassanā) involves recognizing mental states such as greed or its absence, anger or its absence, distraction or concentration, and seeing them as shifting patterns rather than a fixed identity. Finally, mindfulness of mental objects (dhammānupassanā) examines phenomena like the five hindrances, the aggregates, the sense bases, the factors of awakening, and the Four Noble Truths as they manifest in experience.

The method is often characterized by “bare attention,” a lucid, unembellished noticing of seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking, and so on, simply as processes. In some Theravāda lineages, this is supported by gentle mental noting—quietly labeling experiences such as “rising,” “falling,” “thinking,” or “hearing”—to help sustain continuity and non‑reactivity, while other lineages emphasize silent observation without verbal labels. As mindfulness deepens, the three characteristics are perceived with increasing clarity: all phenomena arise and vanish, what is unstable cannot provide lasting satisfaction, and no enduring controller or owner can be found within these changing processes. Traditional manuals describe a progression of insight knowledges in which this understanding becomes more refined, leading to disenchantment and dispassion toward conditioned phenomena, and eventually to moments of path and fruition that correspond to stages of awakening.

In lived practice, this discipline is cultivated both in intensive retreat settings and in the midst of ordinary activities. Monastic and lay practitioners may alternate periods of sitting and walking meditation, maintaining mindfulness from waking until sleep under the guidance of a teacher. Outside formal sessions, everyday actions such as walking, eating, or working are treated as opportunities to observe the arising and passing of bodily and mental events. Over time, this integrated practice erodes deep‑seated attachment and identification, opening the way toward liberation from suffering (nibbāna).