hey all, i just finished my first 10-day vipassana meditation. if you don't know what this is then a quick summ: vipassana, which means seeing things as they really are, is the meditation technique developed and taught be siddartha gotama (aka 'the' buddha).
i can highly recommend this free course which is available now throughout the world in over 100 centres in dozens of countries (www.dhamma.org). having said this it was challenging, but nearly all people are capable of completing such a course, (seriously psychiatrically ill persons should not do the courses: the effects are too volatile) all that is required is the ability to be silent and sit still for a hour at a time. the theory and practice are presented in a complementary manner which is very effective and profound. the technique is a psychological technique that is not mystical at all (though neither is it anti-mystical). at heart it is the *equanimous* awareness of mind-body phenomena. awareness without craving or aversion to these phenomena. all sense objects (including thoughts or ideas) produce an effect on the body - a sensation. this sensation may be gross or subtle, painful or pleasant, but if observed, equanimously, objectively, WITHOUT REACTION, the sensation arises and then diminishes. Reaction compounds or magnifies the sensation through a sort of mental amplification. in this way sankaras or habit patterns are ingrained more and more deeply on the unconscious. eventually addictions and complexes result. the (unconscious) mind begins to enslave the individual. by breaking the habitual reaction patterns of the mind one becomes detached from the mind-body phenomena they normally associate with themselves, that is assumed to be 'them', the 'I'. one becomes more closely aligned with awareness itself and the mind-body phenomena, pleasant or painful, are easier to dispassionately observe. for instance with addictions the object of addiction is actually secondary to the sensation caused by the object which forms the base of the craving, the craving is the reaction to the sensation. it is the craving that is really the addiction. if the sensation can be obseverved equanimously, without being magnified into craving.... if it can be observed as an impersonal phenomena, then it becomes much easier to ignore. as one becomes better at this equanimous observation more and more subtle sensations are perceived until uniform subtle vibrations can be felt all over the body. as this equanimous observation continues old habit patterns come to the surface and can be felt as painful areas or 'rushes' or other more intense sensations. this is the cleansing aspect of the meditation: the clearing of mental/emotional junk. this aspect is, as far as i am aware, unique to vipassana meditation: the ability to purify, not only quiet the mind. it becomes fairly easy to equanimously observe painful/unpleasant phenomena after a while....after one becomes more detached. it is more difficult to remain equanimous and detached to pleasant phenomena, without attaching or craving after more, but this is equally essential. all phenomena are temporary, the more subtle and pleasant the higher the frequency and the quicker they arise and pass. equanimity is key; dhamma, or dharma, the law of nature, takes care of the rest. easier said than done!---- one gets moments of equanimous meditation and gets a pleasant buzz or a rush as stuff comes out and then loses the equanimity and if you TRY and get it back you can't because you have to remain *equanimous*! the whole thing is a non-profit organisation run on volunteer labour and donations. the spread of these centres over the last two or three decades based purely on this source of finance is testament to its efficacy. anyway i'll stop before i lose my equanimity all the best gav Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
