“Some traditions speak of two types of meditation: insight meditation (Vipassana) and calm meditation (Shamata),” writes Ajahn Brahm, author of Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook.
Vipassana meditation brings insight through a practice of seeing and discerning. Shamata meditation, also known as mindfulness meditation, cultivates calm brought through concentration. Imagine the two as the clasped hands of a blessing.
“In fact the two are indivisible facets of the same process. Calm is the peaceful happiness born of meditation; insight is the clear understanding born of the same meditation. Calm leads to insight and insight leads to calm."