Book excerpt: Knowing & Seeing (4th Edition) presents a series of talks and question & answer sessions at a meditation retreat by the Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw, abbot of the Pa-Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar (Burma). These sessions present the Buddha's teachings on the traditional Theravadan concentration meditation known as jhana practice. Based on the original Pali suttas, the Visuddhimagga, and later commentaries, the Sayadaw teaches yogis, step by step, how to attain the stages of mental purification and vipassana knowledge. Pa-Auk Forest Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in the Theravada tradition, with emphasis on the teaching and practice of both samatha (tranquillity) and vipassana (insight) meditation.