This is a handout from a meditation class I taught a couple of years ago. It introduces vipassana (insight) meditation and gives instructions on performing it. (Best of course with a teacher.)
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Introduction to Vipassana Meditation About Vipassana 101 In this class, you’ll learn about the meditation practice of Vipassana, or Insight Meditation. We’ll first cover the history and intention of this method of meditation, and then we’ll prac- tice with two short meditations. After each you’ll have a chance to ask questions and dis- cuss your meditation experience. Homer Christensen 298 Figueroa Street Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 220-0141 [email protected]http://TheBodyLuminous.com Overview Vipassana meditation is style of meditation taught by Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha. In everything I’ve read, Gotama never claimed to be other than a man who became enlight- ened by his own effort. He was not the first enlightened being -- there were countless other buddhas before him -- and he will not be the last -- there have been many and will be countless buddhas after him. He was not interested in followers or creating a religion (that came later), but instead wanted to teach the path to liberation that he called dhamma. Dhamma, in the language of Gotama’s India of 2500 years ago, translates to law, as in the law of nature. It was not based on faith or following anyone’s teaching, but instead by the personal experience of careful and patient observation of reality as it exists and not as one wishes it to be. By the way, there is no requirement to believe anything or change religious affiliation. No imperative to become a Buddhist, much less a monk or nun. Following the path to enlight- enment, gaining insight into the way we think and how we react and what the result is--all that Gotama learned and taught--will simply result in making one a better human being, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew or atheist. Brief History The Buddha legend tells us that Gotama was a prince destined for greatness as either a head of state or a religious teacher. Wanting a powerful heir to the throne, his father se- questered him to the palace where everything was perfect and in accord, but one day he snuck out and saw that there was great misery in the world: suffering, illness, poverty, and death. This bothered him greatly and he began to question the purpose and meaning of life. Vipassana 101 Vipassana 101 -- Introduction to Vipassana Meditation 1
Transcript
Introduction to Vipassana Meditation
About Vipassana 101
In this class, you’ll learn about the meditation practice of Vipassana, or Insight Meditation. We’ll first cover the history and intention of this method of meditation, and then we’ll prac-tice with two short meditations. After each you’ll have a chance to ask questions and dis-cuss your meditation experience.
Homer Christensen298 Figueroa StreetFolsom, CA 95630(916) [email protected]://TheBodyLuminous.com
Overview
Vipassana meditation is style of meditation taught by Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha. In everything I’ve read, Gotama never claimed to be other than a man who became enlight-ened by his own effort. He was not the first enlightened being -- there were countless other buddhas before him -- and he will not be the last -- there have been many and will be countless buddhas after him. He was not interested in followers or creating a religion (that came later), but instead wanted to teach the path to liberation that he called dhamma.
Dhamma, in the language of Gotama’s India of 2500 years ago, translates to law, as in the law of nature. It was not based on faith or following anyone’s teaching, but instead by the personal experience of careful and patient observation of reality as it exists and not as one wishes it to be.
By the way, there is no requirement to believe anything or change religious affiliation. No imperative to become a Buddhist, much less a monk or nun. Following the path to enlight-enment, gaining insight into the way we think and how we react and what the result is--all that Gotama learned and taught--will simply result in making one a better human being, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew or atheist.
Brief History
The Buddha legend tells us that Gotama was a prince destined for greatness as either a head of state or a religious teacher. Wanting a powerful heir to the throne, his father se-questered him to the palace where everything was perfect and in accord, but one day he snuck out and saw that there was great misery in the world: suffering, illness, poverty, and death. This bothered him greatly and he began to question the purpose and meaning of life.
Vipassana 101
Vipassana 101 -- Introduction to Vipassana Meditation 1
Introduction to Vipassana Meditation
He left the palace that night and wandered around for years as a ascetic monk -- one who denies himself pleasure of the flesh to develop his spirit. Nearly dead from starvation and ill-health, he realized that hurting oneself was not the way. If one wants to remove suffering in the world, it doesn’t do to increase one’s own. No, his path would be the middle way.
Gotama then sat under a tree with the intention of not moving until he gained understand-ing into the true nature of things. He sat and meditated without moving, facing the chal-lenges that his body and mind produced, until he tamed them, and then he inquired deeper into reality.
In fact, Gotama became so still and so patient of an observer that 2500 years ago he discov-ered that all matter is impermanent and without solidity. What our quantum theorists are discovering today parallels what he discovered by intense observation: that quarks (he called them kalupas) come into existence and disappear trillions of times each second.
Gotama discovered what he termed as the Four Noble Truths.
• Life as we live it is suffering.
• Suffering results from desire and aversion and the law of cause and effect (Karma).
• There can be an end to suffering.
• Practicing proper morality, concentration, and wisdom is the way to eliminate suffering.
Essentially, his four Noble Truths (noble as in they apply to every person, regardless of status or age) stated that life is suffering because we desire something and do not have it, or we have something and do not want it. Good things happen and we want more good things. When they don’t occur, we are miserable to a greater or lesser extent. Or we have it and then it is taken away.
If a bad thing happens to us, we want it to end. We’re not at peace with the reality of our situation, and instead project our version of reality over top of the actual reality. We want it to be one way but it is another way, and the disparity is what makes us suffer.
The good news is that there is a way to eliminate the suffering, and the path to achieve that is laid out pretty clearly.
The other good news is that we are each responsible for our own peace or unrest, happiness or misery. We have the power to ignore it or to change it.
The Law of Karma is one of cause and effect. Everything that occurs has its origin in some-thing that happened before it. For example, to walk through a door, it must first be opened. To drive a car, it must first be started. And everything that is will cause some other thing to occur. If you shoot a bullet at someone, that person may get hit. If he gets hit, he may die. If he dies, you may go to prison. That sort of thing.
Physicists and quantum theorists tell us that matter is here for a trillionth of a second, and then it is gone for a trillionth of a second (or there abouts). We don’t know where it goes, but when it reappears, chances are that it will be identical or pretty nearly identical to what it was before it disappeared. Matter that is gold when it disappears will more than likely reappear as gold.
And so it is with thoughts and deeds. Both have a consequence; and both are usually con-ditioned from some prior occurrence. This is what makes the intention of thoughts and ac-tions so important. A thought will manifest into words, which will develop into a deed. That deed can become a habit and the habit, then becomes the character of a person.
As the shadow follows the bodyAs we think, so we become
Since matter is impermanent and all matter arises and then disappears, the state of the mat-ter when it disappears determines what it will be when it arises again. Much like a seed produces a plant of the same species.
The mind shares the same characteristics - it arises and passes away. Actually everything shares that characteristic, because everything is energy. So a mind that is one way -- angry, sad, happy -- will produce a like mind when it comes back.
All this arising and passing away happens so quickly that we tend to think of things as per-manent and solid. A block of steel seems pretty solid. But the reality of it is that it is mostly space (the space around and between atoms is greater than the actual physical particles) and not there half of the time.
Now, think of the mind as something organic, not some concept. If your mind is happy in this moment, it will tend to stay happy.
The Buddha explained that we experience our reality through six sense doors -- touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste, and the mind. A sensation occurs and the mind interprets it and determines the response. The body then reacts accordingly in a biochemical fashion, creat-ing hormones or other compounds, taking action, or some other instinctive response.
Our body is receiving sensations through each of the sense doors at every moment on every part of our body. Whenever a sensation is received, it is noted (in a manner of speaking) with more or less permanence. Some sensations are forgotten almost as soon as they occur -- the feel of smooth cloth on your skin, a pleasant smell, gentle heat--and some are etched deeper in our conscious mind: someone we know dies or perhaps we get divorced, injured, or slandered.
Sensations are constantly happening to us, so our subconscious is constantly recording our reactions to these sensations. Good, bad. Very Bad.
Feed the Body; Feed the Mind
Much like our body needs food to keep it alive, our mind and subconscious needs fuel, too. And this fuel is provided by these recorded sensations. (Gotama called them samskaras.) I tend to think of samskaras as that which we use to define ourself; I am this kind of person because this horrible thing happened to me or I performed such-and-such action. We store these samskaras and reuse them again and again.
In a very real way, these samskaras are what keep us believing that we’re different (better/worse/etc) than others; they keep us separate. They keep us suffering.
Notice when you think about some defining moment -- particularly when someone did you wrong. Your breath increases, your heart beats faster, and in almost every way, biochemically you relive that moment. Your mind/subconscious is fed and that samskara is re-etched and you’re good to go for a while longer.
Chain Chain Chain
What Vipassana meditation allows one to do is break that chain of reaction. It creates a shortage of fuel for the mind. You simply sit quietly and observe sensations. You notice them, acknowledge them, and then you let them go without reacting. An uncomfortable feeling occurs-- you note where it occurs and how it feels but you do not react to shift your weight or identify with the pain. And a wonderful thing happens. Unrecognized, it simply goes away.
Like all matter, it arises and passes away.
Another sensation will occur and you note that, too.
Usually there are enough sensations happening all of the time to us that just noting them may not add to the store of samskaras that your subconscious mind is holding on to as a reserve. But after a period of practice and quiet observation, something wonderful happens. The subconscious mind, now starved, serves up a plate of memory for your mind to react to and feed upon. When you don’t react, that memory loses its power and is not re-etched.
If you react, the mind eats a meal, re-etches the event on your subconscious and you’ll need to face it again. You’ve created the conditions where that samskara can arise again.
As you practice and learn Vipassana meditation, the first time this happens to you will catch you unawares; but the first time you’re aware of it will be enlightening. You’ll be meditating and sitting still and focusing on your breath and then suddenly you’re thinking of some event where someone did something wrong to you and what you should have said, or how you did something wrong to someone and what you should have said.
At some point you become aware of the pattern. You notice your breath quickening and your pulse racing. You remember that you’re meditating and you can see how reliving it is simply a trap. It doesn’t do any good to dwell on it. It isn’t the reality; your reality is that you are meditating at this moment.
The feeling and memory is not permanent; it will go away on its own. And so you sit there, noting that that thought occurred. You go back to focusing on your breath and after a while, the memory fades and all is still again.
The Payoff
If one uses up the store of samskaras, you free yourself from having to repeat them. Freed of repeating the events, you’re now freed from the cycle of rebirth, if you believe in that. And perhaps even if you do not. But at any rate, you’re no longer reacting to sensations; no longer ruled by craving and aversions. You find that you’re more peaceful, living in harmony with what you have and seeing reality very clearly.
There may be pain in life, that’s true and unavoidable, but suffering is optional.
The goal of Vipassana meditation is liberation from suffering. Peace. Harmony. Enlighten-ment. Now that’s a goal worthy of some effort!
If you believe in reincarnation, it also has the benefit of release from the cycle of rebirth, or if one is not successful in achieving liberation, eradication of some or all of your past kar-mic debts so that the next lifetime can begin at a higher stage and in a location where the dhamma is taught.
But a very practical benefit that one notices immediately after practicing meditation for a short time is an increased sense of well-being and a sensation of belonging on the earth, right where you are.
With continued practice, one develops balance and equanimity. Equanimity is a quality of living within the reality of the experience. One accepts the reality without wishing it to be otherwise. No clinging to the hope that things will be otherwise; no aversion to what is. In that place of equanimity, there is peace and no struggle.
One may experience this equanimity for a moment or for a longer time. That’s OK, too. It’s important that one doesn’t get attached to the feeling of peace or the desire for the feeling of peace. Because then if one isn’t experiencing peace, there will be suffering. Pain and pleasure may be the mainstay of our living in the physical world, but suffering is a byprod-uct of mind.
This doesn’t mean that one does not work to change reality. One can still wish to better one’s financial situation, work to ease the suffering of others, hope to find a life partner, and so on. The difference is that one isn’t attached to any single outcome. If you want to pur-chase a new car but can only afford a used one, you are happy with the car you have and do not pine for the one you didn’t buy. You also realize that the reality of the now is not con-fused with the future or the past.
One final note: achieving control over your mind, developing balance and equanimity, and experiencing lasting peace and harmony may take some time. Don’t expect it to happen with one sitting; it is a way of life. A way of life that brings increased happiness and joy over time.
Gotama Buddha taught that the eight-fold path was the way out of suffering and towards liberation. Vipassana is a technique of only one part of that. There are three parts:
Morality, including Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood.
Concentration, including Right Effort, Right Thought, and Right Meditation.
Wisdom including Right Understanding and Right Purpose.
Sure, it’s a tall order for us to adhere to each of them. But if we are mindful and pay atten-tion, and our aim is to not hurt anyone, then it will follow naturally that we will not be harsh in speech or action to others or engage in an occupation that harms others (Morality), and we will automatically be developing our concentration through our effort and thoughts as we meditate (Concentration). Then the wisdom also develops naturally. Isn’t that great?
The path is clearly marked. And only you can walk there yourself.
Note:: What I describe below is actually Anapana meditation -- concentration on the breath. Anapana meditation is the foundation and is prerequisite to practicing Vipassana. One should only go further and learn and practice Vipassana meditation under the guidance of an experienced teacher. As S. N. Goenka, a well-respected Vipassana meditation instructor points out: the practice of Vipassana is a deep surgical operation on your subconscious mind. It is important to have the proper training and enough time to go in gradually, look around and observe, and then exit gracefully.
1. Find a comfortable position, either sitting or standing. As much as possible, keep your back, neck, and head in alignment. It’s best to sit upright and erect. If you have back issues, you can support your back against a wall, in a chair, or using a back-jack or similar support. You want to be comfortable and alert, but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep.
2. Quiet your mind and state your intention to yourself. Say to yourself that you intend to meditate for the duration of the time you have allotted. The recommended length is 1 hour, twice daily. However impractical that goal is for you, adjust your time accordingly. Try to sit for at least 20 minutes. The important point is that you set regular time aside and sit the entire dura-tion that you’ve specified.
3. Notice your breath coming in and going out. Breathe regularly and without any attempt to control it. The breath is one thing that is fully unconscious; you will continue to breathe even if you forget. And it is so consistent, that it will be the point that you will return to whenever your mind wanders. And it will, seemingly without settling anywhere. That is a natural part of the process.
4. Whenever you are aware of your mind wandering, go back to the breath. Your mind has been conditioned throughout your life to think, to plan, to figure things out, to remember the past and to project the future. You will not be able to change this suddenly by sitting down and focus-ing on your breath. It will take many hours of practice. So be kind and patient with yourself. You are not alone in this. When you discover that your mind is replaying some event from the past or imagining some event in the future, simply acknowledge it and bring your focus back to your breathing. The mind is very savvy. Like any being, if it feels threatened it will protect itself.
5. Whenever you are uncomfortable, remember that it is a sensation and if possible do not react by shifting your posture or fidgeting. The more steady and concentrated you are, the deeper you can get during your meditation. You will undoubtedly move during your first sits -- maybe during every sitting. Remind yourself that the discomfort will go away and simply ob-serve it. If you still feel uncomfortable, move. But at least do so consciously and not as an un-thinking reaction. That’s the most important part.
6. Always be good and patient with yourself, no matter what thoughts occur. You might be surprised at some of the thoughts that occur during your meditation. You may think of killing someone or saying some nasty things. Maybe you relive some episode from your past. Perhaps you even think that you will be enlightened and will help bring peace to the world. Whatever you think, good or bad, just acknowledge that it is a thought and let it go without being happy or upset at its content. It’s just a thought. You’re here to sit and be quiet and observe. Go back to the breath. Always back to the breath.
Most of the resources listed below are Buddhist-centered. That just comes with the terri-tory. Without exception, however, all are open to persons of all faiths, and do not attempt to convert anyone. Let me know if your experience differs.
California Vipassana Center. http://www.mahavana.dhamma.org/One of over 130 international centers and numerous non-center sites where the technique of Vipas-sana meditation is taught and practiced. The Center is situated on a 109 acre forested property. Groves of oak, pine, cedar, and manzanita here in the Sierra foothills, reinforce the center's name of Dhamma Mahavana, Great Forest of Dhamma. The Center is located 4 hours from the San Fran-cisco Bay Area, 5-6 hours from Los Angeles and 30 minutes south of Yosemite National Park.This site has some excellent videos on it, including one of the program Goenka instituted in one of India’s most crowded and violent prisons.
Dharma Seed Archival Centerhttp://dharmaseed.comAn excellent site that contains audio recordings of live dharma talks given by some of the most well-known meditation teachers, including Jack Kornfeld, Silvia Boorstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Joseph Goldstein.
Dharma Stream http://dharmastream.org/A sister site to the Dharma Seed Archival Center; this site offers MP3 files for download. You can download the talks for free; a donation is suggested to help cover costs of creating the files and run-ning the site. Its so nice to hear the wisdom of these teachers.
Spirit Rock Meditation Centerhttp://spiritrock.orgSpirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipas-sana tradition. The practice of mindful awareness, called Insight or Vipassana Meditation, is at the heart of all the activities at Spirit Rock. The Center hosts a full program of ongoing classes, daylong programs, and residential retreats.
Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group(916) 498-8700http://www.sbmg.org/Offers day-long meditation and movement retreats at various locations in Sacramento. On Sundays, from 7-8:45 there is a group meditation sit and dharma talk.
