Video Meditation Course is a systematic introduction and in-depth explanation of the 62 techniques of meditation described in the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. The course comprises 25 lectures, each 30-45 minutes long, written in comprehensible English (or other languages in translations), videotaped by professional equipment in a modern style, with the aim to:

– create interest in meditation not only among those who meditate already but also among those who have heard about meditation and those who have doubts about its benefits

– elucidate all meditation techniques in accordance with the Pali scriptures of Theravada Buddhism

– answer any questions related to meditation that any advanced, beginning and potential meditators may have

– provide thorough information on the meditation practices taught and followed in Myanmar

– resolve controversies related to meditation in Theravada Buddhism

– encompass the wealth of information related to the Path toward Ultimate Happiness, including similes, stories, parables, and metaphors which are available in the Buddhist scriptures, relevant books, or shared by meditation teachers.

This is the procedure of making each lecture:

  1. I prepare the draft of a lecture in English. I use my knowledge of the scriptures, my own experience of meditation, and knowledge found in other relevant sources. The lectures include similes, stories, parables, metaphors, pointers to the modern culture and scientific knowledge, and any other tools which make the explanations comprehensible, practical, and interesting.
  2. When the draft of a lecture is finished, I publish it in docs.google.com and inform my Dhamma friends of the possibility to come and make corrections, suggestions, and comments on the lecture.
  3. I translate the English lecture sentence by sentence into Burmese language.
  4. The Burmese translation is revised and corrected by a number of Burmese natives.
  5. Well revised and corrected Burmese translation is then submitted to knowledgeable monks of Myanmar, such as Venerable Sirikañcanābhivaṃsa (Vinayapiṭakadhara, Dīghanikāyabhāṇaka) and Venerable Vajirapāṇībhivaṃsa (Vinayapiṭakadhara, Dīghanikāyabhāṇaka)݀ for thorough check of compatibility with the Theravada Buddhist scriptures.
  6. With help of two Burmese cameramen, each of who have their university degrees in filming from Czech “Prague International Filming Academy,” two professional cameras and other filming equipment, we record my presentation of the lecture, in English. I read the lecture from two teleprompters, each of which is attached to one camera. To increase the interest and attention of the audience, we employ the modern “turning” style – after each paragraph I turn my head to the other camera to present the next paragraph, when that is done I turn my head back to the previous camera to present the following paragraph, and so on.
  7. The filmed lectures are carefully examined and recorded again if we find a way how to make them better.
  8. Paintings, graphs, comprehensive lists, important words appearing in writing, important sentences popping up, quotes typed over the screen and so on are added into the recordings to make the explained matters clear, interesting, and easily remembered by the audience.
  9. Subtitles of different languages, such as English, Burmese, Czech, and Vietnamese are added into the videos and an option is created, which enables/disables and changes the language of the subtitles. We will most appreciate any support. Most importantly, we need native English, Burmese, Czech, and Vietnamese volunteers to check our drafts and translations. The drafts and translations will be published as links to docs.google.com in this Facebook Page. Apart from corrections and suggestions from the educated and experienced meditators, we need help also from those who know “nothing” about meditation, because their comprehension is our greatest challenge – our aim is to make all Theravada Buddhist meditation practices comprehensible and appealing even to an absolute beginner.
  10. When all 25 lectures are filmed and enriched with graphics and subtitles, we will publish them for free in Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Archive.org, and by USB Drives.

These are the titles of each of the 25 lectures in the Video Meditation Course:

Lecture 01: “Why Meditate?” (the introduction to the history of meditation, the attainments of the Buddha, the nature of the mind, and the Four Noble Truths)
Lecture 02: The Foundations of Meditation: The Right Attitude and Ethics
Lecture 03: The Drive: The Right Effort and Energy Management
Lecture 04: Mindfulness and meditation postures
Lecture 05: Mindfulness in daily activities (Four Kinds of Clear Comprehension, Eating Meditation)
Lecture 06: The Seven Suitables and the Ten Impediments
Lecture 07: Observing and Dealing with the Five Hindrances
Lecture 08: Loving-Kindness Meditation
Lecture 09: Compassion, Mutual Joy, and Equanimity
Lecture 10: The Four Bases of Success and the Five Controlling Faculties.
Lecture 11: Concentrating on vs. Observing Parts of the Body and its Four Elements (32 Parts of Body, 4 Elements, Ajjhatta/Bahiddhā)
Lecture 12: Concentrating on and Observing the Breath
Lecture 13: Meditation on Death
Lecture 14: Concentrating on vs. Observing the Impermanence of the Mortal Frame
Lecture 15: Meditation on Generosity, Virtue, Deities, and Peace
Lecture 16: Meditation on the Qualities of Triple Gem
Lecture 17: Kasinas
Lecture 18: The Attainments in Concentration Practice (Five kinds of Joy, Five Factors of Jhāna, Higher Jhānas and the related controversy, Psychic Powers, and Immaterial States)
Lecture 19: Observing the Sixteen Mental States
Lecture 20: Observing the Five Aggregates
Lecture 21: Observing the Seven Enlightenment Factors
Lecture 22: The Progress of Insight
Lecture 23: What is Enlightenment? (Famous Arahants)
Lecture 24: Attending a Meditation Retreat (How to Survive in a Foreign Environment)
Lecture 25: Meditation in the Daily Life

May all beings be happy and healthy,
Ashin Sarana