The Practice of Dhamma

The book offered to the reader is dedicated to the discussion of two main types of meditative practices in Theravada Buddhism - tranquility (samatha) and insight (vipassana). The author of the book is the Venerable Master of Meditation Phra Ajahn That Desaransi from the Hin Mark Peng Monastery in northeastern Thailand. The author presents the spiritual path as the path of a warrior who fights against the impurities of his mind. Developing this analogy, he compares the main components of the Buddhist spiritual path with various aspects of warfare.
An important feature of the approach to meditative practice presented here is the clear distinction of aspects of developing tranquility (samatha), such as absorption (jhana) and meditative concentration (samadhi). The most significant distinction of meditative concentration from absorption is its inseparable connection with the continuous mindfulness of the three characteristics - impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self.