Vipassana Meditation

Hi,

Please read about Vipassana Meditation on this web site: www.dhamma.org

Also below are my 2 cents.

Vipassana is a meditation technique discovered and taught by Gautam Buddha 2500 years ago. Talk about Buddha,and Buddhism comes to mind. Also bald headed, saffron draped, not-interested-in-this world, monks. But Vipassana has nothing to do with Buddhism or any "-ism" for that matter.(Buddha did not establish the religion called Buddhism, contrary to popular belief). Buddha was a scientist in the true sense of the word. A super-scientist of the mind who taught pure science. The science of mind and matter. How the human mind works. How it interacts with the body and vice versa. He taught the universal laws of nature; how to train our minds to live life in tune with the eternal and universal laws of nature resulting in real peace and real happiness. He taught Dhamma (which means Truth or law of nature, in Pali language). Over generations people "tweaked" it and made "-isms" out of it. We like it this way so this is our "X-ism". They like it that way so it is their "Y-ism" etc etc. Unfortunately additions and deletions to Buddha's teachings to make "-isms" destroyed its purity and the real purpose was lost. Instead of focusing on the TRUTH, the focus was now on conforming to the "ism". The packaging became the purpose. The core essence was lost.

Fortunately for all of us, the real teachings of Buddha have been preserved in their purest form through a chain of teachers for over 2500 years !! and are
now available to us to learn. Through the great work of Sri Satyanarayan Goenka and the Vipassana Research Institute. (Details on the web site).


Vipassana teaches the real ART OF LIVING. It is a practical, scientific meditation technique, the regular practise of which leads to true peace of mind and happiness. No gurudom, no blind faiths, only pure science of mind.

We all know we are creatures of habits. Our habits make or break us. But what about the other way around? What makes or breaks the habits?. Dr. Maxwell says in his landmark book Psycho-Cybernetics, do anything consistently for 21 days and it becomes a habit. Repeating a particular good or bad behavior over a period of time becomes a habit. But how ? What is this mystery going on inside our minds that makes us automatically do some things "out of habit" so to speak. What does a habit mean in the realm of the mind ? Are they neurological pathways which gets written over and over again with repetition? With Vipassana practise, we understand the so called mysteries of the mind by actual personal experience not just through lectures and reading about behavioral research.

Like Anthony Robbins says in his book "Awaken the giant within","All actions of man are either in the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain". But what we don't know is : why man runs after pleasure and runs away from pain. Simple answer would be pleasure makes me feel good and pain makes me feel bad. But then why is it that what gives me pleasure gives pain to my best friend? My friend loves coffee. I hate it. Is it to do with cofffee? No. it has something to do with me, my mind, my conditioning, my paradigms. What is this "something" ? Vipassana answers that.

Dr Stephen Covey gives an excellent analogy in his brilliant book 7 habits. "Between stimulus and response lies the power of man to choose". "What hurts us is not what happens to us but how we react to what happens to us". What makes us react that way and how to change the reaction?? We can either work on our behaviour and consciuously control our responses to external stimulii with tremendous will power and determination. And make our responses in line with principles. Which more often than not is a quickly lost battle for many of us.

The self motivated, inspired people go ahead and do what is taught. Others(like me) do it for a few days; slowly life takes over; the motivation dies off and I go back to my previous lifestyle. And the training stays remembered as a "good experience".

There must be a practical way to make the nature's laws a integral part of our DNA, so to speak. So I don't have to every time consciously and forcibly behave in a new way against my old character. I should be able to change my character at the root level and "BECOME" the new person so the new behavior is automatic and natural. Of course bad habits can be changed by consciously practising good ones over and over again with discipline. With time new habits will be formed. But the old ones are still buried deep inside the mind like a sleeping volcano. To be really free of them, we need to eradicate them. Not just master them. So, instead of drawing a fresh picture on an old canvas, we need a method to clean the canvas first and then draw the new picture. Vipassana cleans the canvas, our minds.

We talk about stress management... but why focus on "Managing" stress at all? Why not eliminate it ..? How to eliminate stress? Cut it at the roots where it all begins. After all "Its all in the mind" !! Vipassana helps us eliminate stress from within. External circumstances might still remain the same. The same pressures, setbacks, traffic jams etc. Vipassna trains our minds to stay calm and happy inspite. Ultimately, isnt that what we all want? to be happy and peaceful? to be composed and in control even when everything seems to be falling apart?

We hear concepts like "self-awareness", "Know thyself"."The source of happiness and sorrow is within..look within" Sounds good. But the question is HOW ?? What does it mean by looking within in the first place. Look within ...but how and where???

It is like saying "Open the bonnet and fix the engine". But how ? What tools should I use? First tell me how the engine is designed. How it is supposed to work? What are its various components? What are the engineering principles behind it? Without knowing all this if I look inside the bonnet and fix the engine, I will create more problems than I solve.And to do that to my own mind without understanding the science of mind?? Dangerous, isnt it ???

Vipassana helps here. It is like a practical step by step instructional Bible of the mind. Vipassana gives us a practical method to look within. And what a wonderful method it indeed is!! Which is grounded in reality,in Truth. No imagination, no verbalization, no visualization, no blind faith, only observing the Truth as it is, not as you want it to be, not as your guru says it is, not as the religious scriptures say it is, but just as it is. Just as you experience it in the present moment. TRUTH is TRUTH. It is above all. If a guru says this is Truth, and I accept it because he is my guru. I am at risk. Because the guru might be wrong. How do I become my own guru ? Thats what Vipassana does. Vipassana teaches you to become your own master, your own guru. You still need a teacher to teach you Vipassana, to teach you the technique to experience the truth within. So that you understand the truth with practical experience and not with intellectual discussion.

We need something which is Universal. Because the problem is universal. Sorrow is universal, grief and sadness is Universal. It impacts all human beings alike whether rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim. So the solution also has to be Universal, which is common to all. Buddha said observe your breathing. Breath is there for everyone. No Hindu breath, no Christian breath. breath is breath. (more about the technique is available on the website).

Now, what is this truth? What is the technique? To understand it one needs to practise vipassana. And to learn vipassana one needs to take up a 10 days residential course. Courses are conducted at many centers across India and abroad. Explanations, articles, Q&A and information is available on the web site.

Talking about Vipassana, I feel like a new born ant describing the bigness of the Himalayan range of mountains. But, at the same time. I feel fortunate to have come across it.

Hope that helps ..
-Sajit