Tracing the Untraceable Buddha

The essential teachings of the Buddha for students of vipassana meditation. Born into a Bengali Buddhist family in 1915 and trained in Buddhist practice by the Burmese master Mahasi Sayadaw, Anagarika Munindra became a beloved and influential meditation teacher who contributed significantly to the dawn of Western Buddhism and the insight (vipassana) meditation movement. He taught many Western students in the 1960s and 1970s, and among them was Uffe Damborg, who lived with Munindra-ji in Bodh Gaya, India, for six years. Here, Damborg distills everything he learned from Munindra-ji and from his subsequent decades of practice and teaching to present the Theravada path of vipassana meditation in modern language. Damborg unpacks the story of the Buddha’s spiritual journey and his core teachings on non-self, karma, perception, meditation, and the four noble truths—not as ideas to be intellectually understood but as meditative insights to be cultivated as one approaches the Buddhist goal of stream entry, a profound shift in consciousness that orients one’s life toward nibbana, or enlightenment. With reflections on Damborg’s formative years with Munindra-ji, whose teaching style emphasized direct experience over dogma, this uniquely personal work illuminates the path of vipassana meditation for beginners and experienced practitioners alike.