Mahasi Sayadaw (1904 – 1982) was a leading figure the revival of Buddhism in Burma post-independence, a movement that established many centres for teaching insight meditation. The Mahasi method is specifically designed to allow lay people in the modern world to develop insight into the nature of body and mind. Vipassana meditation in this tradition is also known as ‘mindfulness meditation’ for its practice of continuous and unremitting attention to mental and physical phenomena as they appear to the meditator.
The Mahasi Centre and hundreds of branch centres inside and outside Burma teach thousands of students every year, and the Mahasi tradition is one of the most influential meditation lineages in Theravada Buddhism.
Please see Patrick Kearney’s Introduction to the Mahasi approach. For further information, please visit Insight Meditation On-line at BuddhaNet or refer to our Talks page.