Where does today’s insight meditation movement sit in relation to other Buddhist approaches?
One of our teachers, Winton Higgins, has written a paper on this exact topic if you are interested (click on ‘Downloads’ in the top left section of this page). The short answer is – it doesn’t identify with any of the ‘schools’ of religious Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana), although it acknowledges an historical debt to the Theravada. These three well-known currents crystallised over many centuries in various parts of Asia after the Buddha’s death around 400 BCE. Everywhere they absorbed and developed beliefs, forms of practice and institutions in line with the culture of their time and place. On his deathbed the Buddha pointedly refused to anoint a successor, which has meant there has never been any central authority or ‘apostolic succession’ in the Buddhist world. Despite this, monasticism claimed a privileged status over lay practice almost everywhere. Starting in Sri Lanka in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a movement to modernise Buddhist practice and instituti
