The Five Spiritual Faculties
September 11, 2026
How They Meditate – S.N. Goenka
September 12, 2026
Last Updated on September 23, 2026 by Matthew Sockolov
If you’ve been meditating for some time, you’ve probably heard the word vipassana. And these days, the word mindfulness is quite ubiquitous. There can be some confusion about what these terms mean, due at least in part to both of them being used somewhat inconsistently with their original Buddhist meanings.
We’ll cover what exactly mindfulness and vipassana are, including the actual meaning of these terms and how they look when it comes to meditation and practice. We’ll also discuss how samatha fits in, and the role of investigation and wisdom!
For those looking for the short answer about vipassna vs. mindfulness, here it is: mindfulness is being present and vipassana is the insight that develops. When it comes to meditation, mindfulness cultivates awareness of the present moment while vipassana cultivates insight and understanding of what is present.
What is Mindfulness?
The term mindfulness is used widely today to mean being present. Although this is accurate, the root word in Pali (sati) is actually closer to “remembering.” It is the quality and practice of keeping something in mind, and one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path.
As a Quality
In Buddhist teachings, mindfulness is the quality of remembering to be aware or keeping something in mind. In practical terms, it is the quality of maintaining awareness of what is happening with continuity. Mindfulness means when you walk, you know you’re walking. When there’s anger, you know there’s anger.
I’m going to stop there. Mindfulness is the bare quality of being present with something. But, as you may expect, mindfulness isn’t of much use by itself. Just watching something doesn’t help us much. More on this in a bit.
As a Meditation Practice
When it comes to meditation, mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to what is arising and present. We call it mindfulness meditation because that is what we are cultivating (among other things). When we sit and bring awareness to the breath, knowing that we are breathing, we are cultivating the ability to be present with what is happening.
We might do this with any object. We can practice open awareness, mindfulness of the breath, mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of feeling tones, mindfulness of thoughts, and many other things. The object of mindfulness isn’t really important; what matters is we train the mind to be aware of what is present in our experience.
Really, most of what we consider mindfulness meditation could also be called insight meditation or vipassana. If you are recognizing what is happening and investigating it, you are cultivating vipassana.
What is Vipassana?
Vipassana means insight. It can get confusing because Goenka called his method vipassana meditation, and we have the whole insight meditation tradition in the West. For now, we’re going to leave those and focus on what the word actually means.
As a Quality
Vipassana is often translated into English as insight or clear seeing. It’s the quality of seeing clearing that comes from a combination of mindfulness and investigation (dhamma vicaya). If we know we are breathing in or breathing out, that is mindfulness. Knowing that the breath is impermanent, for example, is vipassana.
Again we can really cultivate vipassana with any object. But here’s the difference: we cannot directly train the mind in vipassana. We can train the mind in mindfulness and investigation, which gives rise to vipassana, or insight. That is, we cannot force insight. Instead, we create the conditions for wisdom and insight to arise with mindfulness and investigation.
As a Meditation Practice
As a meditation practice, vipassana is most closely associated with the Goenka-style retreats and methods. Vipassana meditation could just as accurately be called mindfulness-and-investigation meditation, as that’s what it really is. The byproduct of mindfulness and investigation is insight. So rather than just watching the breath, we investigate things like the Three Marks of Existence, which results in vipassana arising.
Samatha and Vipassana
Although the Buddhist suttas don’t clearly differentiate between mindfulness practice and vipassana practice, they do differentiate between samatha and vipassana. These are two different types of meditation the Buddha did discuss.
The Buddha often spoke of the two supporting one another, not separate practices really. Samatha is concentrative meditation that works toward states of absorption, or jhanas. Traditionally, it is held that the Buddha taught samatha meditation to create samadhi, the mind that is unified and peaceful. However, proper samadhi requires some vipassana, and developing vipassana requires some samadhi. They feed each other.
Goenka-Style Vipassana
It’s important to touch on the Goenka-style vipassana that has become very popular around the world. He called his method vipassana, and it leads to some confusion with the terms. I don’t think he was wrong to call it this or is using it incorrectly. It just can give off the idea that his method is the way to cultivate vipassana, and other forms of practice are just mindfulness meditation.
Goenka’s vipassana is a wonderful structure for developing insight and wisdom through mindfulness and investigation. He works largely with the body as the foundation, and offers a fairly structured method for building awareness and understanding. His practice, like many other forms of mindfulness meditation, helps cultivate both mindfulness and investigation so insight may arise.
We cover Goenka, his life, and his practice style more on our podcast. We have a recent series, How They Meditate, covering various influential teachers that may be of interest to you! I’ve included the video explaining the teachings below, and there’s also a guided meditation episode.
Mindfulness, Vipassana, Investigation, and Wisdom
With all of these different terms, it can get confusing. So let me lay it out more completely. There are really four words that work together:
- Mindfulness (sati)
- Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
- Insight (vipassana)
- Wisdom (pañña)
Mindfulness is what allows us to be present and aware. Simply put, mindfulness is knowing what we’re doing, what’s happening at the sense doors, and how it all feels. Imagine being in a dark room and turning on the flashlight. That flashlight is mindfulness, allowing us to see.
Investigation is the analyzing or looking at the details and nature of what we see with mindfulness. Rather than just knowing what is present, investigation is the process of looking more closely. We might investigate its true nature, where the experience comes from, or how the mind reacts. This is like moving around the room with the flashlight to look at something more closely.
Vipassana is a product of the first two qualities. With mindfulness of what is present and investigation into its nature, we directly experience the reality of nature. This is insight! Imagine investigating with your flashlight, and seeing an object break down and prove unstable. Rather than just understanding intellectually, you’re actually seeing it experientially. This is vipassana.
Finally, we have wisdom. Wisdom comes from repeated insight into the nature of things. This can be compared to turning the light on in the room. We dispel the darkness and can more naturally see the nature of reality clearly.
Cultivating These Qualities
Much like other forms of meditation, it takes time and repetition to cultivate both mindfulness and insight. We don’t sit one time and discover deep truths about the nature of reality. And furthermore, wisdom needs repeated insight in order to blossom. As such, it’s important to practice patience.
If we cling to insight, we actually hinder our progress. Don’t go looking for insights in your practice. Focus on mindfulness and investigation. These are the qualities that give rise to insight. You might be mindful of any craving for vipassana or wisdom. Return in your practice to training the mind to know what is happening and to see clearly, not the insights you want to gain or experience.
If you want support in your practice, I encourage you to check out our online meditation groups. We have several donation-based meditation groups, free programs and courses, and more! You also can reach out to me here via email or WhatsApp to ask any dharma-related questions you may have!
