Vipassana 10 days course

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 long 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.

(The text in the above paragraphs is taken from site http://www.vri.dhamma.org/general/vipintro.html)

In a 10 days residential course one has to observe certain code of discipline & strict schedule. The most important of them is Noble Silence i.e. complete silence of speech, body and mind. One abstains from any vocal communication as well as communication through gestures throughout 10 days of course. One attains the silence of mind through observing ones incoming and outgoing breath. If the mind wonders from this observation process, one has to simply accept that "the mind had wondered away" without reacting to it, without any guilt or depression and resume the observation of incoming and outgoing breath. Thus one does not struggle with his mind, rather tries to concentrate it with the help of breath while accepting its general behavior of wandering away. As a result mind gradually stops wandering. In this process, the mind becomes so scuttle that it starts noticing sensations arising and decaying on our body.

Usually our mind is accustomed to craving for pleasant situations (or sensations) and has an aversion to unpleasant situations (or sensations). When we start observing the sensations on our body, the mind behaves the way it is accustomed to. In this meditation we observe these sensations with equanimity thus we start changing the behavioral pattern of mind and gradually free ourselves from the habit of carving & aversion (raag & dwesha).

It is easy to understand the behavior of mind or the process of our reaction through this simple block diagram :

Although everybody understands this process intellectually but has never experienced it on ones own body. When one experiences this cycle of reaction of mind on ones own body and stops reacting. the mind gradually starts getting accustomed to the new behavior and thus one is able to gradually break this pattern of craving / aversion and free oneself from the miseries of the world.

What do you do in a 10 days course ?

Ist day : One pays attention to the incoming and outgoing breath. Whether it is coming out / going in through left nostril or right nostril or from both the nostrils. One simply observes that the breath is going in and coming out. If the mind wanders away in this process, one simply accepts that "the mind has wandered away" and resumes the observation of breath.

2nd day : One starts paying attention to the touch of incoming and outgoing breath. Whether it is touching the inside wall of nostrils or at the outer ring of nostrils or it is touching the area above the upper lip and below the nostrils.

3rd day : One starts observing whether one is feeling any sensation on the aforesaid areas. The sensation could be anything e.g. tingling, pulsating, vibrating, pricking, warmth, crawling of ants, coolness or any other sensation which can not be named. It is not important to name or classify a sensation rather only the acceptance / observation of the sensation is important. One does not expect a particular type of sensation, rather observes whether a sensation is present at the moment. If no sensation is present then one has at least ones breath touching the area and one simply observes the touch of breath. By the end of this day one starts noticing strong sensations on the area mentioned above.

4th day : The attention is brought to the crown (brahma-randhra) and one observes the sensation taking place at this place very attentively. Now one gradually scans the whole scalp area for whatever sensation is present. One gradually brings the awareness down to other parts ob body sequentially and observes the sensations. One does not expect a particular type of sensation. One simply accepts whatever sensation is present, be it a gross sensation ( pain, numbness, dead area etc. or any other unpleasant sensation) or a scuttle sensation (of pulsation, vibration, tingling etc.)

5th day : One continues with the practice of observing the sensations throughout body. One does not develop craving or aversion for a particular sensation. If the sensation is gross one simply observes it with an equanimious mind with accepting the law of impermanence (i.e. anything which is born is bound to die and the same hold true for these sensations too). One similarly observes the scuttle sensations too.

6th day : One continues with the practice explained on the 5th day but now apart from crown to leg one moves attention from leg to crown too.

7th day : One continues the practice of observing the sensations on the body with moving attention simultaneously and symmetrically to multiple organs at a go and covers the rest of the organs from head to toe later on. The journey of moving attention from head to toe and toe to head would continue.

8th day : The process of moving attention from head to toe continues but now one observes the whole body in one go and if there are still some gross sensation on some part of the body, one pays attention to them separately. Even if there is a flow of vibration (or scuttle sensations), one should scan organ by organ after two whole body scans. While observing these sensations (be it a flow of vibration on the whole body or a flow of vibration on some parts of body with rest of the body having gross sensations) one always maintains equanimity (i.e. no aversion to gross sensations and no craving towards scuttle sensations). Equanimity is the key-word to success and one has to continuously pay attention whether the mind is behaving with equanimity.

9th day : One now moves ones attention and tries to observe the sensations on the inside of body too and also inside the spinal chord.

10th day : One is taught a new form of meditation the "mitta-bhavana", the meditation of compassionate love or loving friendship and this day one breaks the noble silence. Although one can not leave the camp on this day but one can talk to his fellow meditators. One is allowed to leave the camp the next morning.

The first three days of meditation is called "Aana-pana" whereas the meditation from 4th to 9th day is actual "Vipassana".

Posted by BoulderDash