Dr. (Mrs.) Sharda Sanghvi.
Vipassana meditation can be described as a technique of purifying the mind of baser instincts so that one begins to manifest the truly human qualities of universal goodwill, kindness, sympathy, tolerance.
This is achieved in a very scientific manner through a systematic cultivation of right mindfulness coupled with non-reactivity that is to develop the habit of paying attention to whatever is happening in our body and mind without reacting.
From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, anger, disharmony, hatred, animosity, envy etc and when one suffers from any of the above mentioned negativity, one does not keep misery limited to oneself but makes every one around miserable. If one is agitated then to come out of it, one has to know the basic reason for it. If one investigates the problem, it soon becomes clear that whenever one generates any negativity or defilement in the mind one becomes agitated then and there. A negativity in the mind, a mental defilement, co- exists with peace.
It becomes clear one becomes unhappy when one finds someone behaving in the manner one do not like. Unwanted things happen and one creates tension. Now one way to solve the problem is to arrange that nothing unwanted happens in one’s life or one must develop some power or somebody else must have the power and must come to aid when requested. But this is not possible. There is no one in the world whose all desires are always fulfilled. Then inspite of adverse circumstances like happening of things one do not like and not happening of things one like how not to react blindly? How to remain peacefully?
This is achieved in a very scientific manner through a systematic cultivation of right mindfulness coupled with non-reactivity that is to develop the habit of paying attention to whatever is happening in our body and mind without reacting.
From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, anger, disharmony, hatred, animosity, envy etc and when one suffers from any of the above mentioned negativity, one does not keep misery limited to oneself but makes every one around miserable. If one is agitated then to come out of it, one has to know the basic reason for it. If one investigates the problem, it soon becomes clear that whenever one generates any negativity or defilement in the mind one becomes agitated then and there. A negativity in the mind, a mental defilement, co- exists with peace.
It becomes clear one becomes unhappy when one finds someone behaving in the manner one do not like. Unwanted things happen and one creates tension. Now one way to solve the problem is to arrange that nothing unwanted happens in one’s life or one must develop some power or somebody else must have the power and must come to aid when requested. But this is not possible. There is no one in the world whose all desires are always fulfilled. Then inspite of adverse circumstances like happening of things one do not like and not happening of things one like how not to react blindly? How to remain peacefully?
In India as well as in other countries wise saintly persons of the past studied this problem. They found a solution. If something unwanted happens then generally one starts reacting by generating anger, fear or negativity. Now instead of that, as soon as possible, if one starts diverting one’s attention to something else. For e. g. suppose anger arises in the mind then to divert the attention from anger one may– drink water, start counting or start chanting. The mind gets diverted and to some extent one is out of anger. The solution was help it worked, it stills works. Practicing this the mind feels free from anger or any negativity. However the solution works only at conscious level. Actually by diverting the attention one pushes the negativity deep into the unconscious mind and there one continues to generate and multiply that negativity.
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 problem. Escape is no solution. One must face the problem. So whenever any negativity arises in the mind, one must observe it, face it. As soon as one starts observing any mental defilement then it begins to loose its strength. Gradually it withers and is uprooted.
It sounds wonderful but it is really practical? When anger arises it overpowers so quickly that we don’t even notice. Indeed it is difficult to observe abstract anger. However one who has reached to the level of ultimate truth found the universal solution Explorers of the truth found that whenever any negativity is generated in the mind two things happen simultaneously. One is breath looses it normality, rhythm and secondly at deeper level some bio-chemical reaction starts within the body –and it gets manifested itself as a sensation on the body.
If one gets training in ten days Vipassana meditation course and tries, within 10 days one can learn how to observe the breath and how to observe bodily sensation. Whenever one is observing bodily sensation one is observing that negativity only which has arisen in mind. By observing it we are neither suppressing nor we are giving it a freehand to enhance. But if just observe it without reacting then we are giving it a chance to get uprooted. The more one practices this technique the more one will realize how quickly one can come out of negativities. Gradually mind becomes free from defilements. Not only that one develops the qualities like loving, kindness, compassion, joy at the success of others and quality of equanimity that is not to loose balance of mind in adverse circumstances. When one reaches this stage the entire pattern of one’s life starts changing. It is no longer possible for one to do anything vocally or physically which will disturb the peace and happiness of others. This direct experience of one’s own reality will help this technique of self observation which is called “Vipassana Meditation”.
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 problem. Escape is no solution. One must face the problem. So whenever any negativity arises in the mind, one must observe it, face it. As soon as one starts observing any mental defilement then it begins to loose its strength. Gradually it withers and is uprooted.
It sounds wonderful but it is really practical? When anger arises it overpowers so quickly that we don’t even notice. Indeed it is difficult to observe abstract anger. However one who has reached to the level of ultimate truth found the universal solution Explorers of the truth found that whenever any negativity is generated in the mind two things happen simultaneously. One is breath looses it normality, rhythm and secondly at deeper level some bio-chemical reaction starts within the body –and it gets manifested itself as a sensation on the body.
If one gets training in ten days Vipassana meditation course and tries, within 10 days one can learn how to observe the breath and how to observe bodily sensation. Whenever one is observing bodily sensation one is observing that negativity only which has arisen in mind. By observing it we are neither suppressing nor we are giving it a freehand to enhance. But if just observe it without reacting then we are giving it a chance to get uprooted. The more one practices this technique the more one will realize how quickly one can come out of negativities. Gradually mind becomes free from defilements. Not only that one develops the qualities like loving, kindness, compassion, joy at the success of others and quality of equanimity that is not to loose balance of mind in adverse circumstances. When one reaches this stage the entire pattern of one’s life starts changing. It is no longer possible for one to do anything vocally or physically which will disturb the peace and happiness of others. This direct experience of one’s own reality will help this technique of self observation which is called “Vipassana Meditation”.
The paper read by Dr. ( Mrs.)Sharda Sanghvi on occasion of 3rd Pali Literature Conference organized by Pali Path Sanstha,Mumbai on 23 feb, 2009 at Mumbai.
Source: http://articles.palipathsansthamumbai.com/2011/06/introduction-to-vipassana-meditation.html
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