Samatha vs vipassana: calm and insight compared

Samatha calms the mind and vipassana sees clearly: a point-by-point comparison from the suttas, and how to use the two together

Samatha and vipassana are the two sides of Buddhist meditation. Samatha is training the mind to be calm and settled on one object; vipassana is training wisdom to see body and mind as they really are. The Buddha speaks of them again and again as a pair. This page explains what samatha is, how it differs from vipassana, which to start with, and how to practise the two together.

What is samatha?

Samatha means calm or tranquillity, from a root meaning to grow still. In meditation, samatha is the state in which the mind gathers on one object and stops being tossed about. The texts often pair it with samādhi, concentration, because this calm comes from a collected mind. The practice that develops it is called samatha meditation, one of the two kinds of kammatthana.

In everyday Thai the word also means living simply and contentedly, which is a different sense from samatha in meditation.

Samatha can use many objects. The Visuddhimagga gathers forty of them, the 40 meditation subjects, such as the breath, a kasiṇa disc, recollecting the Buddha, and loving-kindness. What they share is that you bring the mind back to the same object again and again until the five hindrances die down, and the mind enters deeper stillness step by step, up to the full absorption called jhāna. Someone skilled in this practice has a mind that is steady, bright and not easily shaken.

A still lake at dawn reflecting the trees and sky.

What is vipassana?

Vipassana means clear seeing: using mindfulness to watch body and mind as they actually occur now, until you see that all of it is impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self. Vipassana does not try to make anything still; it follows what changes. The meaning of the word and its origins are on what is vipassana, and the practice as a system on vipassana meditation.

Two things that share in knowledge

One of the clearest discourses on how samatha and vipassana relate is in the Book of the Twos (AN 2.31). The Buddha calls them two things that share in true knowledge, then asks and answers what each one achieves when developed.

Samatho, bhikkhave, bhāvito kamatthamanubhoti?
Cittaṁ bhāvīyati.
Cittaṁ bhāvitaṁ kamatthamanubhoti?
Yo rāgo so pahīyati.
Vipassanā, bhikkhave, bhāvitā kamatthamanubhoti?
Paññā bhāvīyati.
Paññā bhāvitā kamatthamanubhoti?
Yā avijjā sā pahīyati.
Mendicants, what good does calm do when it is developed? The mind is developed. And what good does a developed mind do? Whatever greed there is, is given up. What good does insight do when it is developed? Wisdom is developed. And what good does developed wisdom do? Whatever ignorance there is, is given up.
AN 2.31

The discourse ends by saying that a mind stained by greed is not freed, and wisdom stained by ignorance does not grow. So freedom of heart (cetovimutti) comes from the fading of greed, and freedom by wisdom (paññāvimutti) from the fading of ignorance. Put simply, samatha works on craving, vipassana works on not-knowing, and a practitioner needs both.

Samatha vs vipassana: the differences

Although they work together, samatha and vipassana differ clearly in several ways. Here they are side by side, point by point.

Aim: samatha seeks a calm, steady mind; vipassana seeks wisdom that sees things as they are.
Object: samatha uses one steady object, often something the mind builds up or names, such as a kasiṇa image or the qualities of the Buddha; vipassana uses mind and matter that actually occur and keep changing.
How the mind works: in samatha it stays fixed on one thing; in vipassana it follows each moment as it comes.
Result: samatha brings calm, joy, happiness and jhāna; vipassana brings insight knowledges in sequence, up to the path and its fruit.
What it removes: samatha holds down the hindrances and greed for a time; vipassana uproots wrong view and the ignorance at the root.
The freedom the sutta links them to: samatha with freedom of heart, vipassana with freedom by wisdom.
Risk: samatha can leave you stuck in pleasant calm, unwilling to go further; vipassana without enough calm can turn into restless analysing, and some meditators mistake lights or rapture for the goal, which the texts call the imperfections of insight.

Four ways to yoke them together

In the Yuganaddha Sutta (AN 4.170), Venerable Ānanda says that every monk or nun who declares to him that they have reached arahantship has done so by one of four paths. Yuganaddha means 'yoked together', like two oxen under one yoke.

Insight preceded by calm: first settle the mind, then use that calm mind to see impermanence.
Calm preceded by insight: begin by watching body and mind, and stillness grows out of the seeing itself.
Calm and insight yoked together: the two are developed side by side throughout.
A mind once gripped by restlessness about the teaching later settles, steadies within and becomes unified.

For each of the four, he says, the path is born; the practitioner pursues and develops it, and the fetters are given up and the underlying tendencies end. The sutta does not insist on one fixed order. What matters is that in the end both calm and wisdom are there.

Should you start with samatha?

There is no single answer for everyone. The Yuganaddha Sutta accepts both the way that begins with samatha and the way that begins with vipassana. For most beginners a little samatha first helps a great deal: sit with the breath for five or ten minutes until the mind starts to settle, then turn to observing what happens in body and mind.

In the commentaries and the Visuddhimagga, someone who first develops samatha up to jhāna and then turns to insight is called a samathayānika, 'one whose vehicle is calm'. Someone who goes straight to insight, relying on momentary concentration (khaṇika-samādhi), is called a vipassanāyānika, 'one whose vehicle is insight'. Both need concentration; the difference is whether it reaches jhāna first. For those who start with insight, concentration deepens by itself as mindfulness becomes continuous.

A simple rule: if the mind is so scattered that you cannot see anything clearly, add samatha, such as counting breaths or loving-kindness. If the mind is calm but starting to cling to the comfort, turn and watch that comfort arise and pass. That is insight taking over from calm.

What samatha meditation is for

This question comes up both in study and in practice. There are three main answers.

To make the mind calm and steady, that is, to develop concentration, one of the three trainings of virtue, concentration and wisdom.
To hold down the five hindrances, so the mind becomes clear, supple and ready for work.
To serve as a base for insight. In the Connected Discourses on the Aggregates (SN 22.5) the Buddha tells the mendicants to develop concentration, because one whose mind is collected knows things as they really are.

So samatha is not for escaping the world, or for pleasure alone. The happiness of concentration does not depend on anything outside, which makes it easier to let go of sensual craving. But the final goal is still the wisdom that vipassana brings.

Samatha and vipassana in a daily practice

Begin with five to ten minutes of mindfulness of breathing or one of the divine abidings such as loving-kindness, as your samatha period.
When the mind begins to settle, turn to whatever is most prominent in body and mind, such as sensation in the legs, a sound or a thought, and watch how it changes. That is your vipassana period.
If the mind scatters again, return to the samatha object for a while, then come back to observing.
End with a short wish of goodwill for all beings.
In daily life, keep things simple and keep the precepts, which supports calm, and notice the feelings that arise during the day, which trains insight.

Over time the line between the two grows thin. Calm makes seeing clearer, and clear seeing makes calm deeper. That is the yoking Ānanda spoke of. If you are drawn to intensive practice over many days, keep in mind: intensive practice is not a treatment for mental illness; anyone with a history of serious mental illness should talk to a doctor and an experienced teacher first.

Based on: The two things that share in knowledge (AN 2.31) · Yuganaddha Sutta (AN 4.170) · Samādhi Sutta, Connected Discourses on the Aggregates (SN 22.5) · Visuddhimagga, by Buddhaghosa