This is the most common question practitioners have and the one that is surrounded with a lot of controversies. In short, the answer is YES. You do not need Jhāna to practice Vipassana. Then one might question, why do we practice jhāna altogether then? We practice jhāna to achieve the most superior level of concentration because Buddha said that "a concentrated mind can know and see things as they really are", the more concentrated we are, the more our wisdom can penetrate and discern the ultimate reality (paramattha) of mentality and materiality (nāma and rūpa) in a superior manner.
Although we do not need jhāna to practice vipassana, we do need concentration before we practice vipassana. This type of concentration is called upacāra-samādhi or access concentration. One must develop access concentration first before practicing vipassana through ten of the forty samatha meditation objects such as Buddhānussati or most commonly, meditation on the four elements. The four elements meditation serves not only as the base to achieve access concentration but also as the base to progress towards the discernment of and meditation on the materiality (rūpa-kamaṭṭhāna).
The reason I encourage practitioners to develop jhāna concentration is because jhāna concentration is more superior than access concentration. This can be explained using the analogy of crossing a river from one side of the shore to the other using a speedboat and a paddle-board. When crossing a river it is faster, comfortable and more efficient with a speedboat but with a paddle-board, it can take longer, wobbly and tiresome. The speedboat's equivalent would be jhāna and the paddle-board would be access concentration. Therefore, even if it takes more effort, dedication, patience and to develop jhāna, I guide and encourage practitioners to try to attain at least up to the fourth jhāna. Nonetheless, there are still meditators who are able to practice vipassana very deeply and profoundly up until the attainment and realisation of Nibbāna despite achieving access concentration only. If you are someone who cannot develop jhāna despite years of hard work, dedication, patience and perseverance, you might be a person who may not be able to attain jhāna but there is no need to be discouraged about this. With proper guidance in the four elements meditation, you can develop up to access concentration. This type of person is called a 'vipassana-yānika': a person who practices vipassana without having attained jhāna. On the other hand, those who have attained jhāna and practices vipassana later on are called 'samatha-yānika'.
One thing every beginner in the concentration practice should know that vipassana contemplation is very profound and subtle as the objects of vipassana themselves are extremely profound and subtle. The ultimate Materiality (rūpa kalapa), for instance, are arising and perishing persistently moment by moment and the kalapa themselves are very minute and profound forms of ultimate reality that only a person with a sharp concentration and wisdom can discern easily and clearly. Therefore even if we do not have jhāna, we should at least develop a very powerful access concentration to temporarily eliminate five hindrances and purify our minds in preparation for the discernment. Just as a brilliant flashlight illuminates even the darkest room, the light (nimitta) from concentration can light up the darkness in our minds by temporarily eliminating the delusion 'moha' and five hindrances to enable us to discern with full clarity and wisdom the very subtle and profound materiality (rūpa) and mentality (nāma). Therefore, we require a powerful light of concentration to 'understand and see things as they really are'. The better and more superior the concentration is, the purer our minds are, and the sharper our contemplation and discernment will be.
May you realise the four noble truths in this lifetime.
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