Vipassana is meditation
technique that allegedly come directly from the buddha's teachings.
Vipassana is often practiced as a silent retreat with minimum distractions,
the duration being normally from 10 to 23 days. During the meditation
some basic rules should try to be be followed. These rules include:
silence (or no unnecessary talking), rising before dawn, sleeping before
8pm, no eating after midday, no forms of intoxication including caffeine,
nicotine, etc, no reading, no singing, no yoga, no stretching, no writing,
etc,. Vipassana is an advanced technique and anybody interested in doing
a retreat should have a reasonably solid base in basic meditation practices.
The meditation is done in a sitting position and in Thailand walking
meditation is also used, shorts breaks are taken between sessions and
then back to the meditation.
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"Why should we be
mindful? The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are a device that stops
evil, stops bad deeds, stops defilement. 'Sati nivaranam settham' -
Mindfulness is an exceptional preventer (of evil states). During the
time when we are mindful, evil won't enter in to reach our hearts. We
will have pure hearts always.
"It is like dark and
shining light. Mindfulness is a shining light; all defilements, all
evil states, are like darkness. When the bright light shines, the darkness
disappears. For this reason, we should be mindful at all times - our
mind will be bright, clean and peaceful all of the time."
Most Ven. Phra Rajaprommajaan
(Ajaan Tong)
Ajaan Tong
Sirimangalo
About Vipassana (Insight Meditation)
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What was the Lord Buddha's
objective in teaching?
The Lord Buddha had five
objectives in mind when He taught:
1) For the purification
of beings;
2) For passing beyond sorrow
and lamentation;
3) For release from bodily
pain and mental pain;
4) For seeing the truth
of life; what is real, true life;
5) For the end of all suffering.
The manner of work we must
undertake in order to attain these five goals is Vipassana Kamatthana
(Insight Meditation) in line with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
What is Vipassana?
Vipassana means "seeing
clearly". Vi means clearly, passana means "seeing". To
see clearly in regards to what? To see clearly that, inside ourselves
and the whole world, things are uncertain, changing all the time (anicca).
To see clearly that, inside ourselves and in the whole world, things
are stressful, unsatisfying (dukkha). To see clearly that, inside ourselves
and in the whole world, things are not under our control (anatta).
To see these three characteristics
we must practice in line with The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Cattaro
Satipatthana). Sati means to "remember" or "remind"
oneself of the present moment. It is often translated as "Mindfulness".
Patthana means "foundation" or "base". Satipatthana
is thus translated as "Foundations of Mindfulness".
What are the Four Foundations
of Mindfulness?
The Four Foundations of
Mindfulness are:
Body: bowing mindfully;
walking mindfully; sitting mindfully.
Feelings: Noting aches,
pain or soreness, happy feelings or neutral feelings.
Mind: Noting thoughts about
past or future, good thoughts or bad thoughts.
Dhammas: Noting the five
hindrances - liking, disliking, drowsiness, distraction, doubt.
Noting mindfully these four
groups of phenomena in the present moment, Vipassana insight will arise
in due order, and the five aims of the Lord Buddha will be met. |
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