Mahasi Sayadaw Quotes

Mahasi Sayadaw (U Sobhana, 1904-1982), Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master, developed the modern vipassana movement. His systematic approach to mindfulness meditation has influenced Buddhist practice worldwide and spawned numerous meditation centers.

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.
Mahasi Sayadaw
In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.
Mahasi Sayadaw
When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.
Mahasi Sayadaw
When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.
Mahasi Sayadaw
Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.
Mahasi Sayadaw
Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.
Mahasi Sayadaw
In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.
Mahasi Sayadaw
Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.
Mahasi Sayadaw
The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.
Mahasi Sayadaw