The First Stages Of Purity – U Silananda Sayadaw (eng)

The First Stages of Purity

(One day Retreat May 11, 1997)

Sayadaw U Silananda

Today I will tell you about the early stages of purity in the practice of meditation. There are seven stages of purity described in regard to Vipassana meditation, but the first and the second stages of purity are actually not Vipassana. But they are the bases for the practice of Vipassana and so they are included in the seven stages of purity for Vipassana meditation.

The first stage of purity is the purity of Sila or the purity of moral conduct. Purity of moral conduct is very important for those who practice meditation. Without the purity of moral conduct, they cannot hope to get concentration. Purity of moral conduct means just keeping the moral conduct pure. That means:

-Abstention from killing living beings,

-Abstention from taking by way of theft what is not given, -Abstention from sexual misconduct, -Abstention from telling lies and

-Abstention from taking intoxicants.

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