Vipassana Meditation

The technique of Vipassana is a simple, practical way to achieve real peace of mind
and to lead a happy, useful life. Vipassana means "to see things as they really
are"; it is a logical process of mental purification through self-observation.

From time to time, we all experience agitation, frustration and disharmony. When we
suffer, we do not keep our misery limited to ourselves; instead, we keep
distributing it to others. Certainly this is not a proper way to live. We all want
to live at peace within ourselves, and with those around us. After all, human
beings are social beings: we have to live and interact with others. How, then, can
we live peacefully? How can we remain harmonious ourselves, and maintain peace and
harmony around us?

Vipassana enables us to experience peace and harmony: it purifies the mind, freeing
it from suffering and the deep-seated causes of suffering. The practice leads step-
by-step to the highest spiritual goal of full liberation from all mental
defilements.

Historical Background

Vipassana is one of India�s most ancient meditation techniques. It was rediscovered

2500 years ago by Gotama the Buddha, and is the essence of what he practiced and
taught during his forty-five year ministry. During the Buddha�s time, large numbers
of people in northern India were freed from the bonds of suffering by practising
Vipassana, allowing them to attain high levels of achievement in all spheres of
life. Over time, the technique spread to the neighbouring countries of Myanmar
(Burma), Sri Lanka, Thailand and others, where it had the same ennobling effect.

Five centuries after the Buddha, the noble heritage of Vipassana had disappeared
from India. The purity of the teaching was lost elsewhere as well. In the country
of Myanmar, however, it was preserved by a chain of devoted teachers. From
generation to generation, over two thousand years, this dedicated lineage
transmitted the technique in its pristine purity.

In our time, Vipassana has been reintroduced to India, as well as to citizens from
more than eighty other countries, by S.N. Goenka. He was authorized to teach
Vipassana by the renowned Burmese Vipassana teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Before he
died in 1971, Sayagyi was able to see one of his most cherished dreams realized. He
had the strong wish that Vipassana should return to India, the land of its origin,
to help it come out of its manifold problems. From India, he felt sure it would
then spread throughout the world for the benefit of all mankind.

S.N. Goenka began conducting Vipassana courses in India in 1969; after ten years,
he began to teach in foreign countries as well. In the thirty-five years since he
started teaching, S.N. Goenka has conducted many ten-day Vipassana courses, and
trained over 800 assistant teachers who have conducted many courses worldwide. In
addition, many Centres have been established in India for the exclusive practice of
Vipassana. Centres for exclusive practice have been established across the world as
well. The invaluable gem of Vipassana, long preserved in the small country of
Myanmar, can now be practiced in many places throughout the world. Today ever-
increasing numbers of people have the opportunity to learn this art of living which
brings lasting peace and happiness.

In the past, India had the distinction of being regarded as a World Teacher. In our
time, the Ganges of Truth is once again flowing out from India to a thirsty world.

The Practice
To learn Vipassana it is necessary to take a ten-day residential course under the
guidance of a qualified teacher. The courses are conducted at established Vipassana
Centres and other places.For the duration of the retreat, students remain within
the course site, having no contact with the outside world. They refrain from
reading and writing, and suspend any religious practices or other disciplines. They
follow a demanding daily schedule which includes about ten hours of sitting
meditation. They also observe silence, not communicating with fellow students;
however, they are free to discuss meditation questions with the teacher and
material problems with the management.

There are three steps to the training. First, the students practice abstinence from
actions which cause harm. They undertake five moral precepts, practicing abstention
from killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and the use of intoxicants. The
observation of these precepts allows the mind to calm down sufficiently to proceed
with the task at hand. Second, for the first three-and-a-half days, students
practice Anapana meditation, focusing attention on the breath. This practice helps
to develop control over the unruly mind.

These first two steps of living a wholesome life and developing control of the mind
are necessary and beneficial, but are incomplete unless the third step is taken:
purifying the mind of underlying negativities. The third step, undertaken for the
last six-and-a-half days, is the practice of Vipassana: one penetrates one�s entire
physical and mental structure with the clarity of insight.

Students receive systematic meditation instructions several times a day, and each
day�s progress is explained during a taped evening discourse by S.N. Goenka.
Complete silence is observed for the first nine days. On the tenth day, students
resume speaking, making the transition back to a more extroverted way of life. The
course concludes on the morning of the eleventh day. The retreat closes with the
practice of metta-bhavana (loving-kindness or good will towards all), a meditation
technique in which the purity developed during the course is shared with all
beings. Pictorial representation of a 10 day retreat at Dhammagiri

The Courses

Vipassana courses are held regularly at permanent centres and rented sites in
different countries. In addition to frequent ten-day courses, special courses and
long courses of 20, 30, 45 and 60 days are offered for advanced students at long
course centres like Dhamma Tapovan established for this purpose.

Short, courses in Anapana, the introductory part of the Vipassana technique, are
courses offered for children in India and in other countries. The courses last for
one to three days and serve children in two age groups: eight to eleven, and twelve
to fifteen years.

All courses throughout the world are run solely on the basis of freely-offered
donations. No fee charged: the courses are financed totally by donations from
students who have completed a prior course and wish to share the benefits they
themselves received by giving donation for the students who come after them.
Neither the Teacher nor the assistant teachers receive remuneration; they and those
who serve the courses volunteer their time. This practice is consistent with the
pure tradition, whereby the teaching is to be offered freely, free from any taint
of commercialism, and supported solely by donations stemming from the wholesome
volitions of gratitude and generosity.

A Non-Sectarian Technique

Although Vipassana is a part of Buddha's teaching, it contains nothing of a

sectarian nature, and can be accepted and applied by people of any background. The
Buddha himself taught Dhamma (the way, the truth, the path). He did not call his
followers "Buddhists"; he referred to them as "Dhammists" (those who follow the
truth). The technique works on the basis that all human beings share the same
problems, and a pragmatic method which can eradicate these problems can be
universally practiced.

Vipassana courses are open to anyone sincerely wishing to learn the technique,
irrespective of race, caste, faith or nationality. Hindus, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs,
Buddhists, Christians, Jews as well as members of other religions have all
successfully practiced Vipassana. The malady is universal; therefore, the remedy
has to be universal. For example, when we experience anger, this anger is not Hindu
anger or Christian anger, Chinese anger or American anger. Similarly, love and
compassion are not the strict province of any community or creed: they are
universal human qualities resulting from purity of mind. People from all
backgrounds who practice Vipassana find that they become better human beings.

The Present-day World Environment

Developments in the fields of science and technology, in transportation,

communications, agriculture and medicine, have revolutionized human life at the
material level. But, in actuality, this progress is only superficial: underneath,
modern men and women are living in conditions of great mental and emotional stress,
even in developed and affluent countries.

The problems and conflicts arising out of racial, ethnic, sectarian and caste
prejudices affect the citizens of every country. Poverty, warfare, weapons of mass
destruction, disease, drug addiction, the threat of terrorism, epidemic,
environmental devastation and the general decline of moral values�all cast a dark
shadow on the future of civilization. One need only glance at the front page of a
daily newspaper to be reminded of the acute suffering and deep despair which
afflict the inhabitants of our planet.

Is there a way out of these seemingly insolvable problems? The answer is

unequivocally, yes. All over the world today, the winds of change are readily
apparent. People everywhere are eager to find a method which can bring peace and
harmony; restore confidence in the efficacy of wholesome human qualities; and
create an environment of freedom and security from all types of
exploitation�social, religious and economic. Vipassana can be such a method.

Vipassana and Social Change

The technique of Vipassana is a path leading to freedom from all suffering; it

eradicates the craving, aversion and ignorance which are responsible for all our
miseries. Those who practice it remove, little by little, the root causes of their
suffering and steadily emerge from the darkness of former tensions to lead happy,
healthy, productive lives. There are many examples bearing testimony to this fact.

Several experiments have been conducted at prisons in India. In 1975, S.N. Goenka
conducted a historic course for 120 inmates at the Central Jail in Jaipur, the
first such experiment in Indian penal history. This course was followed in 1976 by
a course for senior police officers at the Government Police Academy in Jaipur. In
1977, a second course was held at the Jaipur Central Jail. These courses were the
subject of several sociological studies conducted by the University of Rajasthan.
In 1990 another course was organized in Jaipur Central Jail in which forty life-
term convicts and ten jail officials participated with very positive results.

In 1991, a course for life-sentence prisoners was held at the Sabaramati Central
Jail, Ahmedabad, and was the subject of a research project by the Dept. of
Education, Gujarat Vidyapeeth.
The Rajasthan and Gujarat studies and indicated definite positive changes of
attitude and behaviour in the participants, and demonstrate that Vipassana is a
positive reform measure enabling criminals to become wholesome members of society.

In 1995, a massive course was organised for 1000 prisoners in Tihar jail with far-
reaching effects. Vipassana was adopted as a prison reform technique in the largest
jails of India. A detailed report of the scientific studies carried out to assess
the impact of Vipassana meditation on the prisoner's mental health proves that
Vipassana is capable of transforming criminals into better human beings.

The civil service career of S.N. Goenka�s meditation teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, is
an example of the transformative effect of Vipassana on government administration.
Sayagyi was the head of several government departments. He succeeded in instilling
a heightened sense of duty, discipline and morality in the officials working under
him by teaching them Vipassana meditation. As a result, efficiency dramatically
increased, and corruption was eliminated. Similarly, in the Home Department of the
Government of Rajasthan, after several key officials attended Vipassana courses,
decision-making and the disposal of cases were accelerated, and staff relations
improved.

The Vipassana Research Institute has documented other examples of the positive
impact of Vipassana in such fields as health, education, drug addiction,
government, prisons and business management.

These experiments underscore the point that societal change must start with the
individual. Social change cannot be brought about by mere sermons; discipline and
virtuous conduct cannot be instilled in students simply through textbook lectures.
Criminals will not become good citizens out of fear of punishment; neither can
caste and sectarian discord be eliminated by punitive measures. History is replete
with the failures of such attempts.

The individual is the key: he or she must be treated with love and compassion; he
must be trained to improve himself�not by exhortations to follow moral precepts,
but by being instilled with the authentic desire to change. He must be taught to
explore himself, to initiate a process which can bring about transformation and
lead to purification of mind. This is the only change which will be enduring.

Vipassana has the capacity to transform the human mind and character. It is an
opportunity awaiting all who sincerely wish to make the effort.

For more information please visit: http://www.vridhamma.org/ or

http://www.dhamma.org/

Be Happy!