> > A Sri Lankan monk once gave a lecture in Canada ... claimed that
> the word "vipassana" doesn't occur in the Tipitaka (it
> > does, after all).
> >
> >
> Dear Yuttadhammo,
>
> I find this word, Vipassana, not only is very seldom
> mentioned in the SN and SA, but also in the principal four
> nikayas/agamas (cf. also Pali English Dictionary, p. 627).
> Why? Is it not an important word being used at the time of
> the Buddha? Or is it actually created at a relatively late
> period (after the death of the Buddha)?
>
> Regards,
>
> Thomas Law

Dear Thomas,

I am not able to say when certain words arose. It seems clear from this
group's posts that many catch words were around long before the Buddha arose
in the world (of course dharma and karma are obvious examples). I can give
some examples of how the Buddha surely used the words vipassanaa, vipassati,
vipassako, etc quite frequently:

Aaka"nkheyya ce, bhikkhave, bhikkhu- 'sabrahmacaariina.m piyo ca assa.m
manaapo ca garu ca bhaavaniiyo caa'ti siilesvevassa paripuurakaarii
ajjhatta.m cetosamathamanuyutto aniraakatajjhaano vipassanaaya samannaagato
bruuhetaa su~n~naagaaraana.m.

MN 6


Ime kho te, vaccha, dve dhammaa uttari bhaavitaa-samatho ca vipassanaa ca-
anekadhaatupa.tivedhaaya sa.mvattissanti.

MN 73 (Note the frequency with which these two terms are found in the MN and
AN)


"Atiita.m naanvaagameyya, nappa.tika'nkhe anaagata.m;
yadatiita.m pahiina.m ta.m, appatta~nca anaagata.m.
Paccuppanna~nca yo dhamma.m, tattha tattha vipassati;"

MN 131-4(this seems definitely an important teaching of the Buddha, as it is
repeated four times in a row)


Tatra, bhikkhave, yvaaya.m puggalo laabhii ceva hoti ajjhatta.m
cetosamathassa laabhii adhipa~n~naadhammavipassanaaya, tena, bhikkhave,
puggalena tesu ceva kusalesu dhammesu pati.t.thaaya uttari aasavaana.m
khayaaya yogo kara.niiyo.

AN 4.10.3


Puna capara.m, aavuso, bhikkhu vipassanaapubba"ngama.m samatha.m bhaaveti.
Tassa vipassanaapubba"ngama.m samatha.m bhaavayato maggo sa~njaayati. So
ta.m magga.m aasevati bhaaveti bahuliikaroti. Tassa ta.m magga.m aasevato
bhaavayato bahuliikarotosa.myojanaani pahiiyanti, anusayaa byantiihonti.

AN 4.17.10 (This one shows how samatha and vipassana can be coupled in
different ways)


Tasmaatiha te, bhikkhu, eva.m sikkhitabba.m- 'indriyesu guttadvaaro
bhavissaami, bhojane matta~n~nuu, jaagariya.m anuyutto, vipassako
kusalaana.m dhammaana.m, pubbarattaapararatta.mbodhipakkhiyaana.m
dhammaana.m bhaavanaanuyoga.m anuyutto viharissaamii'ti. Eva~nhi te,
bhikkhu, sikkhitabba.m.

AN 5.6.6


"Yoniso vicine dhamma.m, pa~n~naayattha.m vipassati;"

AN 7.1.3


andhabhuuto aya.m loko, tanukettha vipassati;
saku.no jaalamuttova, appo saggaaya gacchati.

Dhp 174.


Su~n~naagaara.m pavi.t.thassa, santacittassa bhikkhuno;
amaanusii rati hoti, sammaa dhamma.m vipassato.

Dhp 373.


"Aaki~nca~n~nasambhava.m ~natvaa, nandii sa.myojana.m iti;
evameta.m abhi~n~naaya, tato tattha vipassati;
eta.m ~naa.na.m tatha.m tassa, braahma.nassa vusiimato"ti."

SN 5.14


And of course it is found in the Abhidhamma:

Katamaa tasmi.m samaye vipassanaa hoti? Yaa tasmi.m samaye pa~n~naa
pajaananaa vicayo pavicayo dhammavicayo sallakkha.naa upalakkha.naa
paccupalakkha.naa pa.n.dicca.m kosalla.m nepu~n~na.m vebhabyaa cintaa
upaparikkhaa bhuurii medhaa pari.naayikaa vipassanaa sampaja~n~na.m patodo
pa~n~naa pa~n~nindriya.m pa~n~naabala.m pa~n~naasattha.m pa~n~naapaasaado
pa~n~naa-aaloko pa~n~naa-obhaaso pa~n~naapajjotopa~n~naaratana.m amoho
dhammavicayo sammaadi.t.thi- aya.m tasmi.m samaye vipassanaa hoti.

DhS


sa"nkhaare aniccatodukkhato anattato vipassati.

Patthana


The path of Vipassana is also found in detail in the Patisambhidamagga, but
this is generally attributed to Sariputta.

Suma"ngalaani,

Yuttadhammo