The Essence of Vipassana

The Triple Gem🌱:
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Buddha - Anyone who is fully enlightened
Dhamma - The law of nature; The teaching of an enlightened person; The way to liberation
Sangha - Anyone who has practiced Dhamma and has become a pure-minded, Saintly person

The three trainings🌱:
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Sīla - Morality
Samādhi - Concentration, Mastery of the mind
Paññā - Wisdom, Insight that purifies the mind

Sila🌱:
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To abstain from killing any being

To abstain from stealing

To abstain from sexual misconduct

To abstain from wrong speech

To abstain from all intoxicants

The three roots of all mental defilements🌱:
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Rāga/Lobha - Craving
Dosa - Aversion
Moha - Ignorance

The Four Noble Truths🌱:
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1.The fact of suffering 
2.the origin of suffering (craving) 
3.the cessation of suffering 
4.the path leading to the cessation of suffering 

The Noble Eightfold Path🌱:
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sammā-vācā - right speech
sammā-kammanta - right action
samna-ājīvā - right livelihood
sammā-vāyama - right effort
sammā-sati - right awareness
sammā-samādhi - right concentration
sammā-saṅkappa - right thought
sammā-diṭṭhi - right understanding

Kamma - action; specifically, an action one performs which will have an effect on one's future (Sanskrit karma)

The three kinds of wisdom🌱:
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suta-mayā paññā - wisdom gained by listening to others
cintā-mayā paññā - intellectual, analytical understanding
bhāvanā-mayā paññā- wisdom based on direct personal experience

The three characteristics of phenomena🌱:
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aniccā - impermanence
anattā - egolessness
dukkha - suffering

The five aggregates of which a human being is composed🌱:
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rūpa - matter; the physical body composed of subatomic particles (kalāpa)
viññāṇa - consciousness, cognition
saññā - perception, recognition
vedanā - sensation
saṅkhārā - reaction; mental conditioning

The four material elements🌱:
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pathavī - earth (solidity, weight)
āpo - water (fluidity, cohesion)
vāyo - air (gaseousness, motion)
tejo - fire (temperature)

The four causes for the arising of matter🌱:
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food 
environment/atmosphere 
a present mental reaction 
a past mental reaction 

Nibbāna - the unconditioned, the ultimate reality which is beyond mind and matter (Sanskrit nirvāṇa)

Satipaṭṭhāna - the establishing of awareness; synonym for Vipassana

The four satipatthanas are🌱:
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kāyānupassanā - observation of the body
vedanānupassanā - observation of bodily sensations
cittānupassanā - observation of the mind
dhammānupassanā - observation of mental contents

The five hindrances or enemies🌱:

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kāmacchanda - craving
vyāpāda - aversion
thina-middha - physical sloth and mental torpor
uddhacca-kukkucca - agitation and worry
vicikicchā - doubt, uncertainty

The five strengths or friends🌱:
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saddhā - confidence
vīriya - effort
sati - awareness
samādhi - concentration
paññā- wisdom

The ten parami or mental perfections🌱:
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nekkhamma - renunciation
sīla- morality
vīriya - effort
khantī - tolerance
sacca - truthfulness
adhiṭṭhāna - strong determination
paññā - wisdom
upekkhā - equanimity
mettā - selfless love
dāna- generosity; donation

The four qualities of a pure mind🌱:
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mettā - selfless love
karuṇā - compassion
muditā - sympathetic joy
upekkhā - equanimity            

Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ🌱- May all beings be happy!

Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu🌱- weIl said, well done; we agree, we share this wish

Desire

I reached in experience the nirvana which is unborn, unrivalled, secure from attachment, undecaying and unstained. This condition is indeed reached by me which is deep, difficult to see, difficult to understand, tranquil, excellent, beyond the reach of mere logic, subtle, and to be realized only by the wise.
The Buddha, on attaining enlightenment 


Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
The Buddha is sometimes quoted as saying that desire is suffering. A more accurate translation is that selfish desire is suffering – in fact, the source of all suffering. But desire itself is simply power, neither good nor bad.

Without the tremendous power of desire, there can be no progress on the spiritual path; there can be no progress anywhere. The whole secret of spiritual transformation is turning selfish desire into selfless desire, transforming personal passions into the overwhelming desire to attain life’s highest goal. This is not repression; it is transformation. 

The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy? 
Bhagavad Gita 

Eknath Easwaran's Commentary

Today’s mania for speed strikes right at the root of our capacity for an even mind. How often we find ourselves locked into behavior and situations that force us to hurry, hurry, hurry! By now, most of us are aware that compulsive speed – “hurry sickness” – can be a direct threat to our physical health. But hurry has another alarming repercussion: it cripples patience.

When we lack patience, even a few moments’ delay, a trivial disappointment, an unexpected obstacle, makes us explode in anger. We are not hostile people; we are just in such a hurry that keeping the mind calm is impossible. Without peace of mind, how can we enjoy anything, from a movie to good health?

When we go slower, we are more patient, and when we are more patient, we are capable of enjoying life more. All these benefits can come from just learning to slow down. 

Eightfold path

1. Right View
2. Right Intentions
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Efforts
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Mediation