Use Vipassana Meditation to Understand Yourself

Using Vipassana Meditation to Learn About Yourself

Meditation is good for you. There is little debate about that. Some forms of meditation say that only meditation on scripture, affirmation, sound or objects are helpful and others say that such meditation is against their religious beliefs. The fact is as little as 5 minutes of your day spent in quiet reflection can have benefits that can be observed in improved health, direction and stamina.

Vipassana meditation is unlike other forms of meditation because it uses only concentration on the framework of your own body. This technique uses sensations within the body as the focal point of the meditation. There is no chanting, affirmation, scripture or object on which you focus your attention. Vapassana is a form of meditation passed down for over 2500 years directly from Buddha. "Vipassana," means to see things as they really are. It is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It has been taught for all these years as a remedy for universal troubles which all stem from craving toward things we find pleasurable and aversions to things we find painful. Some people who have attended these meditation courses have become free of addictive behaviors including drug use and cigarette addiction.

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Vipassana is considered a process of self-purification by self-observation. It is an intense learning experience. There is a 10 day program to learn the fundamentals of the meditation technique. It involves 9 days of noble silence; no speaking, eye contact or any form of communication with other students or the outside world. Vegetarian food is included as you are not allowed to kill, use intoxicants, have sexual relations and a few other sensual pleasures during the 10 day course.

A Vipassana student begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. This takes about 3 days of meditation study focused on the skin around the nostril and above the upper lip. Then, with a sharpened awareness, one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness by observation of these truths on the level of their own body. Pain comes and goes, itching comes and goes, cold, heat and other sensations all come and go just like the changes in the world around us. This is known as "The truth." . This truth-is realized by direct experience and results in mental purification.

The technique is not affiliated with any organized religion or sectarianism. It can be freely practiced by people of any religion, race, community or nationality and it will help a person get rid of some deep rooted stumbling blocks. It can also be a great way to define what is important to you. Spending 10 days with yourself is something most of us never do. To listen to the chatter in your own mind, to actually hear what you tell yourself and to overcome those voices and still the mind can have long ranging effects.