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Meditation
- Spirituality
Vipassana
Meditation
The Technique
Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is
one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was
rediscovered by Gautam Buddha more than 2500 years ago and
was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills,
i.e., an Art of Living.
This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication
of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of
full liberation. Healing, not merely the curing of diseases,
but the essential healing of human suffering, is its purpose.
Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through self-observation.
It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body,
which can be experienced directly by disciplined attention
to the physical sensations that form the life of the body,
and that continuously interconnect and condition the life
of the mind. It is this observation-based, self-exploratory
journey to the common root of mind and body that dissolves
mental impurity, resulting in a balanced mind full of love
and compassion.
The scientific laws that operate one's thoughts, feelings,
judgments and sensations become clear. Through direct experience,
the nature of how one grows or regresses, how one produces
suffering or frees oneself from suffering is understood. Life
becomes characterized by increased awareness, non-delusion,
self-control and peace.
The Tradition
Since the time of Buddha, Vipassana has been handed down,
to the present day, by an unbroken chain of teachers. The
current teacher in this chain, Mr. S.N. Goenka, was born and
raised in Burma (Myanmar). While living there he had the good
fortune to learn Vipassana from his teacher, Sayagyi U Ba
Khin who was at the time a high Government official. After
receiving training from his teacher for fourteen years, Mr.
Goenka settled in India and began teaching Vipassana in 1969.
Since then he has taught tens of thousands of people of all
races and all religions in both the East and West. In 1982
he began to appoint assistant teachers to help him meet the
growing demand for Vipassana courses.
The
Courses
The technique is taught at ten-day residential courses during
which participants follow a prescribed Code of Discipline,
learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently
to experience its beneficial results.
The course requires hard, serious work. There are three steps
to the training. The first step is, for the period of the
course, to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual activity,
speaking falsely, and intoxicants. This simple code of moral
conduct serves to calm the mind, which otherwise would be
too agitated to perform the task of self-observation.
The next step is to develop some mastery over the mind by
learning to fix one's attention on the natural reality of
the ever changing flow of breath as it enters and leaves the
nostrils.
By the fourth day the mind is calmer and more focused, better
able to undertake the practice of Vipassana itself: observing
sensations throughout the body, understanding their nature,
and developing equanimity by learning not to react to them.
Finally, on the last full day participants learn the meditation
of loving kindness or goodwill towards all, in which the purity
developed during the course, is shared with all beings.
The entire practice is actually a mental training. Just as
we use physical exercises to improve our bodily health, Vipassana
can be used to develop a healthy mind.
Because it has been found to be genuinely helpful, great emphasis
is put on preserving the technique in its original, authentic
form. It is not taught commercially, but instead is offered
freely. No person involved in its teaching receives any material
remuneration.
There are no charges for the courses - not even to cover the
cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations
from people who, having completed a course and experienced
the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity
to benefit from it also.
Of course, the results come gradually through continued practice.
It is unrealistic to expect all problems to be solved in ten
days. Within that time, however, the essentials of Vipassana
can be learned so that it can be applied in daily life. The
more the technique is practiced, the greater the freedom from
misery, and the closer the approach to the ultimate goal of
full liberation. Even ten days can provide results which are
vivid and obviously beneficial in everyday life.
All sincere people are welcome to join a Vipassana course
to see for themselves how the technique works and to measure
the benefits. Vipassana Courses are even being conducted in
prisons, with great success and wonderful benefits for the
inmates who participate. All those who try it will find Vipassana
to be an invaluable tool with which to achieve and share real
happiness with others.
The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation
Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because these are what we
lack in our lives. From time to time we all experience agitation,
irritation, disharmony, suffering; and when one suffers from
agitation, one does not keep this misery limited to oneself.
One keeps distributing it to others as well. The agitation
permeates the atmosphere around the miserable person. Everyone
who comes into contact with him also becomes irritated, agitated.
Certainly this is not the proper way to live.
One ought to live at peace with oneself, and at peace with
all others. After all, a human being is a social being. He
has to live in society--to live and deal with others. How
are we to live peacefully? How are we to remain harmonious
with ourselves, and to maintain peace and harmony around us,
so that others can also live peacefully and harmoniously?
One is agitated. To come out of the agitation, one has to
know the basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering.
If one investigates the problem, it will become clear that
whenever one starts generating any negativity or defilement
in the mind, one is bound to become agitated. Negativity in
the mind, a mental defilement or impurity, cannot exist with
peace and harmony.
How does one start generating negativity? Again, by investigating,
it becomes clear. I become very unhappy when I find someone
behaving in a way which I don't like, when I find something
happening which I don't like. Unwanted things happen and I
create tension within myself. Wanted things do not happen,
some obstacles come in the way, and again I create tension
within myself; I start tying knots within myself. And throughout
life, unwanted things keep on happening, wanted things may
or may not happen, and this process or reaction, of tying
knots--Gordian knots--makes the entire mental and physical
structure so tense, so full of negativity, that life becomes
miserable.
Now one way to solve the problem is to arrange that nothing
unwanted happens in my life and that everything keeps on happening
exactly as I desire. i must develop such power, or somebody
else must have the power and must come to my aid when I request
him, that unwanted things do not happen and that everything
I want happens. But this is not possible. There is no one
in the world whose desires are always fulfilled, in whose
life everything happens according to his wishes, without anything
unwanted happening. Things keep on occurring that are contrary
to our desires and wishes. So the question arises, how am
I not to react blindly in the face of these things which I
don't like? How not to create tension? How to remain peaceful
and harmonious?
In India as well as in other countries, wise saintly persons
of the past studied this problem--the problem of human suffering--and
found a solution: if something unwanted happens and one starts
to react by generating anger, fear or any negativity, then
as soon as possible one should divert one's attention to something
else. For example, get up, take a glass of water, start drinking--your
anger will not multiply and you'll be coming out of anger.
Or start counting: one, two, three, four. Or start repeating
a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, perhaps the name of a
deity or saintly person in whom you have devotion; the mind
is diverted, and to some extent, you'll be out of the negativity,
out of anger.
This solution was helpful: it worked. It still works. Practicing
this, the mind feels free from agitation. In fact, however,
the solution works only at the conscious level. Actually,
by diverting the attention, one pushes the negativity deep
into the unconscious, and on this level one continues to generate
and multiply the same defilements. At the surface level there
is a layer of peace and harmony, but in the depths of the
mind there is a sleeping volcano of suppressed negativity
which sooner or later will explode in violent eruption.
Other explorers of inner truth went still further in their
search; and by experiencing the reality of mind and matter
within themselves they recognized that diverting the attention
is only running away from the problem. Escape is no solution:
one must face the problem. Whenever a negativity arises in
the mind, just observe it, face it. As soon as one starts
observing any mental defilement, it begins to lose strength.
Slowly it withers away and is uprooted.
A good solution: it avoids both extremes--suppression and
free license. Keeping the negativity in the unconscious will
not eradicate it; and allowing it to manifest in physical
or vocal action will only create more problems. But if one
just observes, then the defilement passes away, and one has
eradicated that negativity, one is freed from the defilement.
This sounds wonderful, but is it really practical? For an
average person, is it easy to face the defilement? When anger
arises, it overpowers us so quickly that we don't even notice.
Then overpowered by anger, we commit certain actions physically
or vocally which are harmful to us and to others. Later, when
the anger has passed, we start crying and repenting, begging
pardon from this or that person or from God: 'Oh, I made a
mistake, please excuse me!' But the next time we are in a
similar situation, we again react in the same way. All that
repenting does not help at all.
The difficulty is that I am not aware when defilement starts.
It begins deep in the unconscious level of the mind, and by
the time it reaches the conscious level, it has gained so
much strength that it overwhelms me, and I cannot observe
it.
Then I must keep a private secretary with me, so that whenever
anger starts, he says, 'Look master, anger is starting!' Since
I cannot know when this anger will start, I must have three
private secretaries for three shifts, around the clock! Suppose
I can afford that, and the anger starts to arise. At once
my secretary tells me, 'Oh, master, look--anger has started!'
The first thing I will do is slap and abuse him: 'You fool!
Do you think you are paid to teach me?' I am so overpowered
by anger that no good advice will help.
Even supposing wisdom prevails and I do not slap him. Instead
I say, 'Thank you very much. Now I must sit down and observe
my anger.' Yet it is possible? As soon as I close my eyes
and try to observe the anger, immediately the object of anger
come into my mind--the person or incident because of which
I become angry. Then I am not observing the anger itself.
I am merely observing the external stimulus of the emotion.
This will only serve to multiply the anger; this is no solution.
It is very difficult to observe any abstract negativity, abstract
emotion, divorced from the external object which aroused it.
However, one who reached the ultimate truth found a real solution.
He discovered that whenever any defilement arises in the mind,
simultaneously two things start happening at the physical
level. One is that the breath loses its normal rhythm. We
start breathing hard whenever negativity comes into the mind.
This is easy to observe. At subtler level, some kind of biochemical
reaction starts within the body--some sensation. Every defilement
will generate one sensation or another inside, in one part
of the body or another.
This is a practical solution. An ordinary person cannot observe
abstract defilements of the mind--abstract fear, anger, or
passion. But with proper training and practice, it is very
easy to observe respiration and bodily sensations--both of
which are directly related to the mental defilements.
Respiration and sensation will help me in two ways. Firstly,
they will be like my private secretaries. As soon as defilement
starts in my mind, my breath will lose its normality; it will
start shouting, 'Look, something has gone wrong!' I cannot
slap my breath; I have to accept the warning. Similarly the
sensations tell me that something has gone wrong. Then having
been warned, I start observing my respiration, my sensation,
and I find very quickly that the defilement passes away.
This mental-physical phenomenon is like a coin with two sides.
On the one side are whatever thoughts or emotions are arising
in the mind. One the other side are the respiration and sensations
in the body. Any thought or emotion, any mental defilement,
manifests itself in the breath and the sensation of that moment.
Thus, by observing the respiration or the sensation, I am
in fact observing the mental defilement. Instead of running
away from the problem, I am facing reality as it is. Then
I shall find that the defilement loses its strength: it can
no longer overpower me as it did in the past. If I persist,
the defilement eventually disappears altogether, and I remain
peaceful and happy.
In this way, the techniques of self-observation show us reality
in its two aspects, inner and outer. Previously, one always
looked with open eyes, missing the inner truth. I always looked
outside for the cause of my unhappiness; I always blamed and
tried to change the reality outside. Being ignorant of the
inner reality, I never understood that the cause of suffering
lies within, in my own blind reactions toward pleasant and
unpleasant sensations.
Now, with training, I can see the other side of the coin.
I can be aware of my breathing and also of what is happening
inside me. Whatever it is, breath or sensation, I learn just
to observe it, without losing the balance of the mind. I stop
reacting, stop multiplying my misery. Instead, I allow the
defilement to manifest and pass away.
The more one practices this technique, the more quickly one
will find one will come out of negativity. Gradually the mind
becomes freed of the defilements; it becomes pure. A pure
mind is always full of love--selfless love for all others;
full of compassion for the failings and sufferings of others;
full of joy at their success and happiness; full of equanimity
in the face of any situation.
When one reaches this stage, the entire pattern of one's life
starts changing. It is no longer possible to do anything vocally
or physically which will disturb the peace and happiness of
others. Instead, the balanced mind not only becomes peaceful
in itself, but it helps others also to become peaceful. The
atmosphere surrounding such a person will become permeated
with peace and harmony, and this will start affecting others
too.
By learning to remain balanced in the face of everything one
experiences inside, one develops detachment towards all that
one encounters in external situations as well. However, this
detachment is not escapism or indifference to the problems
of the world. A Vipassana meditator becomes more sensitive
to the sufferings of others, and does his utmost to relieve
their suffering in whatever way he can--not with any agitation
but with a mind full of love, compassion and equanimity. He
learns holy indifference--how to be fully committed, fully
involved in helping others, while at the same time maintaining
the balance of his mind. In this way he remains peaceful and
happy, while working for the peace and happiness of others.
This is what the Buddha taught; an art of living. He never
established or taught any religion, any 'ism'. He never instructed
his followers to practice any rites or rituals, any blind
or empty formalities. Instead, he taught just to observe nature
as it is, by observing reality inside. Out of ignorance, one
keeps reacting in a way which is harmful to oneself and to
others. But when wisdom arises--the wisdom of observing the
reality as it is--one come out of this habit of reaction.
When one ceases to react blindly, then one is capable of real
action--action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which
sees and understands the truth. Such action can only be positive,
creative, helpful to oneself and to others.
What is necessary, then, is to 'know thyself'--advice which
every wise person has given. One must know oneself not just
at the intellectual level, the level of ideas and theories.
Nor does this mean to know just at the emotional or devotional
level, simply accepting blindly what one has heard or read.
Such knowledge is not enough. Rather one must know realty
at the actual level. One must experience directly the reality
of this mental-physical phenomenon. This alone is what will
help us to come out of defilements, out of suffering.
This direct experience of one's own reality, these techniques
of self-observation, is what is called 'Vipassana' meditation.
In the language of India in the time of the Buddha, passana
meant seeing with open eyes, in the ordinary way; but Vipassana
is observing things as they really are, not just as they seem
to be. Apparent truth has to be penetrated, until one reaches
the ultimate truth of the entire mental and physical structure.
When one experiences this truth, then one learns to stop reacting
blindly, to stop creating defilements--and naturally the old
defilements gradually are eradicated. One come out of all
the misery and experiences happiness.
There are three steps to the training which is given in a
Vipassana meditation course Firstly, one must abstain from
any action, physical or vocal, which disturbs the peace and
harmony of others. One cannot work to liberate oneself from
defilements in the mind while at the same time one continues
to perform deeds of body and speech which only multiply those
defilements. Therefore, a code of morality is the essential
first step of the practice. One undertakes not to kill, not
to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, not to tell lies,
and not to use intoxicants. By abstaining from such action,
one allows the mind to quiet down sufficiently so that it
can proceed with the task at hand.
The next step is to develop some mastery over this wild mind,
by training it to remain fixed on a single object: the breath.
One tries to keep one's attention for as long as possible
on the respiration. This is not a breathing exercise: one
does not regulate the breath. Instead one observes natural
respiration as it is, as it comes in, as it goes out. In this
way one further calms the mind so that it is no longer overpowered
by violent negativities. At the same time, one is concentrating
the mind, making it sharp and penetrating, capable of the
work of insight.
These first two steps of living a moral life and controlling
the mind are very necessary and beneficial in themselves;
but they will lead to self-repression, unless one takes the
third step - purifying the mind of defilements by developing
insight into one's own nature. This is Vipassana: experiencing
one's own reality, by the systematic and dispassionate observation
of the ever-changing mind-matter phenomenon manifesting itself
as sensation within oneself. This is the culmination of the
teaching of the Buddha: self-purification by self-observation.
This can be practiced by one and all. Everyone faces the problem
of suffering. it is a universal disease which requires a universal
remedy--not a sectarian one. When one suffers from anger,
it is not a Buddhist anger, Hindu anger, or Christian anger.
Anger is anger. When one become agitated as a result of this
anger, this agitation is not Christian, or Hindu, or Buddhist.
The malady is universal. The remedy must also be universal.
Vipassana is such a remedy. No one will object to a code of
living which respects the peace and harmony of others. No
one will object to developing control over the mind. No one
will object to developing insight into one's own reality,
by which it is possible to free the mind of negativities.
Vipassana is a universal path.
Observing reality as it is by observing the truth inside--this
is knowing oneself at the actual, experiential level. As one
practices, one keeps coming out of the misery of defilements.
From the gross, external, apparent truth, one penetrates to
the ultimate truth of mind and matter. Then one transcends
that, and experiences a truth which is beyond mind and matter,
beyond time and space, beyond the conditioned field of relativity:
the truth of total liberation from all defilements, all impurities,
all suffering. Whatever name one gives this ultimate truth,
is irrelevant; it is the final goal of everyone.
May you all experience this ultimate truth. May all people
come out of their defilements, their misery. May they enjoy
real happiness, real peace, real harmony.
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY
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