Vipassana meditation is a powerful practice to eradicate the ultimate causes of suffering and obtain true happiness resulting from complete liberation, in addition, it is one of the oldest meditation techniques in India, it is a path of transformation based on self-observation and contemplation. .
The Vipassana consists of using the mind to find the answers to the great questions that affect us and which, in a way, have accompanied us since the dawn of time: who am I?, how can I free myself from suffering?What is my relationship with the world?
- Those who dedicate their lives to teaching others in the practice of meditation often repeat the same phrase to their students: “You must understand where you are to get where you need to go.
- “”Far from being the classic and enigmatic phrase master Yoda would say contains great evidence worth thinking about for a moment.
“Meditation teaches us to heal what cannot be endured and to endure what cannot be cured. “- Allan Lokos-
In our busy modern world, many people put in their lives a thousand and one projects, desires and goals. We all do that. In fact, each of us sets great goals for the near future, however, before we achieve these goals, we must specify where we are going.
It is necessary to see clearly and objectively where we are, what is all that surrounds us and which, in some way, can condition access to these vital purposes and ultimately make us suffer.
We have a bad habit of not going further in suffering, fleeing and accepting what bothers us, we are specialists in the art of ignorance, without realizing that this is precisely what leads us to stumble and sometimes to fall into the heavy mud that causes progression. Conflicting emotions, such as hatred and anger, as well as our egocentrism, imprison us and prevent us from moving forward. Now, how can we free ourselves?
Buddhist meditation has two aspects that can help us: samatha and vipassana, although in this article we want to deepen the vipassana, it is important to clarify that the practice of samatha is fundamental, because if we are not able to stop and obtain mental clarity, we will not be able to make the deepest or most vipassana observation, a practice free of any kind of philosophy, whether religious or doctrinal , to put a personal growth strategy at hand.
Thus, it is only when the mind is calm that we can perceive many more things, reach with more security and balance the proposed objectives and, finally, discover the answers of these mysteries that sometimes govern us.
People who don’t know the world of meditation probably think we’re all the same. Meditation, for any beginner, seems to be nothing more than an exercise in which you sit in a certain position, close your eyes and relax your mind. , people who practice Vipassana meditation indicate that it is essential to differentiate it from other practices.
Vipassana meditation requires us to approach with a very particular attitude, we must set aside everything we hear or believe about meditation itself in general, we must banish prejudices, stereotypes and any kind of conception we may have of them.
It’s a way to purge our concentration, to be more receptive than ever to everything we’re going to learn and experience. We must not forget that the mind, in itself, is very misleading. Sometimes we get caught up in a complex cycle of ideas, perceptions, beliefs and patterns that prevent us from opening ourselves to those around us. What Vipassana meditation requires is this openness.
After doing this physical training of 10 to 15 minutes, we will reach our mind, our reflection, for this we can focus on a specific problem or observe an external event, we will observe what is in us, we will purify fears, ideas, thoughts, beliefs, are we going to let them go while our mind sinks, calms down, relaxes?
Pali’s ancient texts compare Vipassana meditation to the process of domesticating a wild elephant, at first it will be violent, restless and very nervous, but if we approach with kindness, calm and intuition, it will begin to be receptive to our caresses.
The benefits of Vipassana meditation are multiple, as are those that share the most basic types of meditation. It allows the vision to mature, provoking what Paravritti called “an immersion in the deepest place of consciousness. “Vipassana offers us the opportunity to achieve ultimate reality to see things as they really are.
In addition to meditation, there is the knowledge of vipassana, which can be accessed by more advanced students, who are attracted by the virtues of this practice tend to go a little further in the knowledge of the mind and its relationship with the body. , and within this ancestral approach, we find vipassana knowledge.
These theoretical pillars range from knowledge of the cause-and-effect relationship between mental and physical states (paccaya nana pariggaha), to knowledge that analyzes impurities in our minds (nana paccavekkhana). Do we certainly face a very interesting method for us to learn how to connect more positively and wisely with our mental states?An exercise that’s always good to practice.