The Essence of Vipassana: Observing Your Mind

The mental process is like a waterfall, the water flowing endlessly.
It is how the reality of mind working, the thought process unceasingly
bombards the mind and body for the whole life without our knowing!
Only when we are mindful, to observe how mind makes us suffer, due
to its uncontrollable nature (non-self). It is the essence to understand that,
mind is not you, what we can do is only to watch the mental process, like
waterfall, we can't stop the water from flowing down. This is the nature.
(Photos are taken by Tan Tai Peng, my brother, a photographer. Tq and appreciated for sharing)

The following article is excerpted from Ajahn Chah's book: 'A Still Forest Pool', which depicted the essence of vipassana meditation. The word 'meditation', which always confused and misled people, one way or another. There are two categories: concentration & insight meditations.

Mostly people talk about meditation, they quite often refer to concentration type of meditation. This method is emphasizing more to calm the mind by focusing on a fixed object. So it is not inclined to develop wisdom or insight by understanding this mind & body. The result is: you have a calm mind and blissful feeling, but it is temporary only, and lack of wisdom.

Insight meditation or vipassana meditation, its purpose is to develop insight, or wisdom (智慧) by observing this mind and body. In other words, it makes you understand the reality on what happen, moment to moment, within this mind and body process, which is going on endlessly since we are born. This method of meditation is to understand the process of mind, how it changes from time to time; such as from happy mood to sad, boring to excitement, up and down of mental process with all kinds of thoughts, good and bad. It means, to practice this insight meditation is to be aware of all mental activities that we feel and think during our daily life. As we know, mind is the root to all troubles, that creates suffering, at the same time, if we train the mind with mindfulness, it leads us to wisdom and happiness. So it depends on how we use it.

The deeper we understand this mind, the deeper wisdom we develop; then the result is more detached and letting go of things. This helps on daily life that we face with many personal problems, which make us angry, worried, sad, and also involved with other associated mental activities. So the untrained mind is always involved with greed, hatred and delusion. Form a loop, encircling eternally. Without mindfulness or awareness, we keep on accumulating all these negative impressions onto this mind and body. The more we involve with these negative mental states, such as angry thoughts, worries, without awareness (or mindfulness) and understanding of its reality, then we are caught to this vicious cycle of thought process. With this strong delusional mental state, then we are always in the loop, no way to escape! In the end we create more and more mental suffering, and yet we still cannot see the root or the cause of suffering.

The practice is to get out from the loop or break away from this vicious cycle by simply being aware within us. Then only we understand and see the reality, with this realization, insight developed. With this insight or wisdom we are less and less clinging to these negative mental activities that create our personal problems. Subsequently, it will help us to lessen the intensity of suffering.

That is the result of practicing this meditation, the wisdom that we develop, helps us to see thing as it is, so we are able to let thing go. This will certainly save us from unnecessary and adverse impacts to our life, therefore the suffering will be minimized.

Of course, suffering is always there in our daily life, whether you like it or not, but the insight will change your perspective. In other words, we no longer looking at things in a fixed way. Through out life, without our knowledge, we are cultivating the habitual pattern of reacting when dealing with things. With these reactions that shape our personalities, which decide our so called 'fate'. With mindfulness and wisdom, it helps us not to cling to a fixed idea, or pet view; that is a disease of mind, which obstructs the mind from seeing thing as it is (reality). A flexible mind, which is inclusive mind, is as wide as a blue sky, it covers all. It accepts thing as what it is, without trying to change thing which cannot be changed.

The practice takes years for the wisdom to develop and matured. It means, you are constantly being aware and mindful of things happening within this mind and body. As mindfulness growing stronger, the concentration also follows. If practice rightly, concentration and mindfulness go hand in hand with the practice, as it is associated with one to another. Eventually, you have both, the concentration and insight. When concentration and wisdom work together, the mind is always calm and balanced, even when it faces with ups and downs of daily life. Simply because the developed wisdom and calmness can absolve the negative mental state when it arises.

This is the only refuge we have, not from the Buddha, not from the God, not even from whatever religion, but from the wisdom, which is built-in your mind as you practice, you cannot lose it! It will with you even when you die. It is a true blessing in life, to have this kind of wisdom. No one can protect you when come to mental suffering, not even your dearest ones, but only the mindfulness and insight will!

Anyone can practice it, with or without religious background, just by understanding the reality of mental process with mindfulness, because the reality is part of the universal truth. The truth has no name, no label; as all labels are man made, so the word 'meditation', it is for the sake of conventional communication. When you start practice, you forget about the term and label, but only with the awareness of thing happens at the present moment.

The Essence of Vipassana: Observing Your Mind - by Ajahn Chah

Begin practice by sitting up straight and paying attention. You can sit on the floor-, you can sit in a chair. At first, you need not fix your attention on much. Simply be mindful of in-and- out breathing. If you find it helpful, you can also repeat "Buddha," "Dharmo," or "Sangho" as a mantra while you watch the breath going in and out. In this awareness of breathing, you must not force. If you try to control your breathing, that is not yet correct. It may seem that the breathing is too short, too long, too gentle, too heavy. You may feel that you are not passing the breath properly, or you may not feel well. Just let it be, let it settle by itself. Eventually the breath will enter and exit freely. When you are aware of and firmly established in this entry and exit, that is correct breathing.

When you become distracted, stop and refocus your attention. At first, when you are focusing it, your mind wants it to be a certain way. But do not control it or worry about it. Just notice it and let it be. Keep at it. Samadhi will grow by itself. As you go on practicing in this way, sometimes the breath will stop, but here again, do not fear. Only your perception of the breath has stopped; the subtle factors continue. When the time is right, the breath will come back on its own as before.

If you can make your mind tranquil like this, wherever you find yourself-on a chair, in a car, on a boat-you will be able to fix your attention and enter into a calm state immediately. Wherever you are, you will be able to sit for meditation.

Having reached this point, you know something of the Path, but you must also contemplate sense objects. Turn your tranquil mind toward sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, thoughts, mental objects, mental factors. Whatever arises, investigate it. Notice whether you like it or not, whether it pleases or displeases you, but do not get involved with it. This liking and disliking are just reactions to the world of appearances-you must see a deeper level. Then, whether something initially seems good or bad, you will see that it is really only impermanent, unsatisfactory, and empty. File everything that arises into those three categories-good, bad, evil, wonderful, whatever it is, put it there. This is the way of vipassana, by which all things are calmed.

Before long, knowledge and insight into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and emptiness will arise. This is the beginning of true wisdom, the heart of meditation, which leads to liberation. Follow your experience. See it. Strive continuously. Know the truth. Learn to give up, to get rid, to attain peace.

When sitting in meditation, you may have strange experiences or visions such as seeing lights, angels, or buddhas. When you see such things, you should observe yourself first to find out what state the mind is in. Do not forget the basic point. Pay attention. Do not wish for visions to arise or not to arise. If you go running after such experiences, you may end up babbling senselessly because the mind has fled the stable. When such things do come, contemplate them. When, you have contemplated them, do not be deluded by them. You should consider that they are not yourself; they too are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not self. Though they have come about, do not take them seriously. If they do not go away, re-establish your mindfulness, fix your attention on your breathing, and take at least three long inhalations and exhalations-then you can cut them off. Whatever arises, keep re- establishing your attention. Do not take anything as yourself-everything is only a vision or a construction of the mind, a deception that causes you to like, grasp, or fear. When you see such constructions, do not get involved. All unusual experiences and visions are of value to the wise person but harmful to the unwise. Keep practicing until you are not stirred by them.

If you can trust your mind in this way, there is no problem. If it wants to be glad, you just know that this gladness is uncertain, unstable. Do not fear your visions or other experiences in practice, just learn to work with them. In this way, defilement can be used to train the mind, and you come to know the natural state of the mind, free from extremes, clear, unattached.

As I see it, the mind is like a single point, the center of the universe, and mental states are like visitors who come to stay at this point for short or long periods of time. Get to know these visitors well. Become familiar with the vivid pictures they paint, the alluring stories they tell, to entice you to follow them. But do not give up your seat-it is the only chair around. If you continue to occupy it unceasingly, greeting each guest as it comes, firmly establishing yourself in awareness, transforming your mind into the one who knows, the one who is awake, the visitors will eventually stop coming back. If you give them real attention, how many times can these visitors return? Speak with them here, and you will know every one of them well. Then your mind will at last be at peace.