คนไทย 99% สับสน "วิปัสสนา" กับ "สมาธิ" ต่างกันยังไง?
Summary
The common confusion is treating samatha and vipassanā as the same thing, or assuming one must choose between them.
The glass of water is the clearest image: samatha lets the sediment settle until the water is clear; vipassanā looks through that clear water to see what is there.
Whether they can be trained together is answered in the Yuganaddha Sutta, within the framework of the eightfold path and the threefold training.
Key points
They do different jobs
One prepares the instrument, the other uses it. Asking which is better is the wrong question.
The glass of water actually works
It is easy to hold and can be checked against your own experience immediately.
Jhāna is where the confusion concentrates
Jhāna belongs to the samatha side. It is not the destination of vipassanā, and the two get swapped constantly.
The suttas already answer the pairing question
The Yuganaddha Sutta sets out several possible orders rather than mandating one.