Samatha-vipassanā

Samatha (Pāli samatha Sanskrit: śamatha शमथ; Chinese: 止; pinyin: zhǐ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquility of awareness," and vipassanā (Pāli vipassanā; Sanskrit: vipaśyanā विपश्यना; Sinhala: විදර්ශනා), literally "special, super (vi-), seeing (-passanā)", are two qualities of the mind developed in tandem in Buddhist practice.

In the Pāli Canon and the Āgama these qualities are not specific practices, but elements of "a single path," and are "fulfilled" with the development (bhāvanā) of mindfulness (sati) and meditation (jhāna) and other path-factors. While jhāna has a central role in the Buddhist path, vipassanā is rarely mentioned separately, but is usually described along with samatha.

The Abhidhamma Pitaka and the commentaries describe samatha and vipassanā as two separate techniques, taking samatha to mean concentration-meditation, and vipassanā as a practice to gain insight. In the Theravāda tradition, vipassanā is a practice that seeks "insight into the true nature of reality", which is defined as anicca ("impermanence"), dukkha ("suffering, unsatisfactoriness"), and anattā ("non-self"): the three marks of existence. In the Mahayana traditions vipassanā is defined as insight into śūnyatā ("emptiness") and Buddha-nature.

In modern Theravāda, the relation between samatha and vipassanā is a matter of dispute. Meditation-practice was reinvented in the Theravāda tradition in the 18th–20th centuries, based on contemporary readings of the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta, the Visuddhimagga, and other texts, centering on vipassanā and "dry insight" and downplaying samatha. Vipassanā became of central importance in the 20th century Vipassanā movement which favors vipassanā over samatha.

Some critics^{[like whom?]} point out that both are necessary elements of the Buddhist training, while other critics^{[like whom?]} argue that dhyāna is not a single-pointed concentration exercise.

The Sanskrit word śamatha can be translated as "tranquility"; "tranquility of the mind"; "tranquillity of awareness"; "serenity"; "calm"; "meditative calm"; or "quietude of the heart."

The Tibetan term for samatha is ཞི་གནས་ (shiné; Wylie: zhi-gnas). The semantic field of Sanskrit śama and Tibetan shi is "pacification", "the slowing or cooling down", "rest." The semantic field of Tibetan né is "to abide or remain" which is assumed to be the meaning of the final syllable of the Sanskrit, thā. According to Jamgon Kongtrul, the terms refer to "peace" and "pacification" of the mind and the thoughts.

Vipassanā is a Pali word derived from the prefix "vi-" and the verbal root "-passanā":