Buddhist Insight Meditation - Goenkaji

"Pāramīs are virtues—that is, good human qualities. By perfecting them, one crosses the ocean of misery and reaches the stage of full liberation, full enlightenment. Everyone who is working to liberate oneself has to develop the ten pāramīs. They are needed to dissolve the ego and to reach the stage of egolessness. A student of Dhamma who aspires to attain the final stage of liberation joins a Vipassana course in order to develop these pāramīs.

Little by little, one develops these pāramīs in every course. They should be developed in daily living as well. However, in a meditation course environment, the perfection of the pāramī can be greatly accelerated.

A human life is of limited duration, with limited capabilities. It is important to use one’s life to the best purpose. And there can be no higher purpose than to establish oneself in Dhamma, in the path, which leads one out of defilements, out of the illusion of self, to the final goal of ultimate truth. Therefore no effort is more worthwhile for a human being than the exertion of all one’s faculties to take steps on this path. ..."

Buddhist Insight Meditation - by Sayagyi U Ba Khin

".... I am telling you all not to preach. If there is anything that you want to ask, ask me. If there is anything that you want to say, tell me. If you progress in your practice, just stay quiet and proceed with your own meditation."

"... The eighth soldier of Māra [personification of negative forces] is becoming proud and arrogant when the meditation is successful. When the meditation improves, one can feel it inside. The defilements become lighter and one tends to get conceited and arrogant, and think, “That fellow does not seem to be doing too well. I’d better help him.” I am saying this from my personal experience.

"... A long time ago when this meditation centre was started, there was no Dhamma hall. There was a ten-foot square hut that was here when we bought the land. One day one student came out after the morning sitting and said, “Look.” He hitched up his longyi and there were little lumps all over his thighs and legs just like the skin of a plucked duck. The kick from within was so strong that all those lumps appeared. He hitched his longyi up and showed us saying, “Please look. See how strong the kick from within was. You too, please try hard, please try hard.” The next day he could not meditate. He could not feel any sensations and had to approach Sayagyi for guidance. When he preached, there was ego in it, the “I” was in it, “I am doing well. These people don’t seem to be getting anywhere.” He played very good soccer, was very short-tempered, ready to hit, strike and punch. When a very bad-tempered person with a lot of heat has a kick from inside, it shows up on the body surface."

The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka by William Hart

"[One who practises right speech] ... speaks the truth and is steadfast in truthfulness, trustworthy, dependable, straightforward with others. He reconciles the quarrelling and encourages the united. He delights in harmony, seeks after harmony, rejoices in harmony, and creates harmony by his words. His speech is gentle, pleasing to the ear, kindly, heartwarming, courteous, agreeable, and enjoyable to many. He speaks at the proper time, according to the facts, according to what is helpful, according to Dhamma and the Code of Conduct. His words are worth remembering, timely, well-reasoned, well-chosen, and constructive."

~ The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka by William Hart

Buddhist Insight Meditation - The Essence of Compassion." ---S.N. Goenka

"The Essence of Compassion." ---S.N. Goenka.

Compassion (karuṇā) is a very noble state of the human mind.

Like selfless love(mettā), sympathetic joy(muditā) and equanimity(upekkhā), compassion is also a brahmavihāra (sublime state of mind).

Merely discussing compassion or praising it is far away from the practice of true brahmavihāra.

It is good to accept compassion at the intellectual level as an ideal sublime state. But this is also far away from true brahmavihāra.

🌷 Brahmavihāra means the nature of a brahma (the highest being in the order of beings). It is the practice of superior qualities, the practice of Dhammic qualities.

Only when the mind is suffused and overflows with such brahmic qualities can we call it brahmavihāra.

The mind can overflow with compassion as well as mettā, muditā and upekkhā only when the mind is completely free from all defilements at the deepest level.

This purity of mind and the resultant sublime states born out of it is the fruit of practice of Dhamma.

🌷 What is the meaning of living a Dhamma life?

It means living a life of morality (sīla), that is, to abstain from performing any vocal or physical action that will disturb the peace and harmony of others and harm them.

In order to live a moral life, it is necessary to have complete mastery over one’s mind. For this, it is necessary to practise concentration of mind (samādhi) with a neutral object of meditation.

A neutral object of meditation neither generates rāga(attachment) nor dosa (aversion). It is based on direct experiential truth and is free from ignorance.

However, it is not sufficient to concentrate one’s mind with the help of such a neutral object of meditation.

It is necessary to develop wisdom (paññā) at the depths of the mind on the basis of direct experience and to become established in this experiential wisdom.

By this practice it is possible to eradicate the habit-pattern of the mind of reacting blindly with craving and aversion.

As we gradually learn to recognize and weaken this habit of blind reaction, the old accumulated defilements are eradicated and new ones do not arise.

Ultimately, the mind is completely freed of all defilements and becomes pure.

Then the mind is naturally filled with the brahmic qualities of mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā.

As long as the old stock of defilements is present in the mind and new defilements are added to it, it is not possible for the brahmavihāras to arise in the mind.

Ego plays a role in the arising of all defilements.

As long as the mind is ego-centred, self-centred, one may talk about the four brahmavihāras and praise them highly, but one is not able to cultivate them.

The more the mind becomes free from defilements the more the development of the four brahmavihāra.

When a meditator is fully liberated, he dwells continuously in the pure brahmavihāras.

Therefore, for development of the brahmavihāras of mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā, it is absolutely essential to become established in sīla, samādhi and paññā.

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Acharya Goenkaji: Understand Dhamma with your own experience by meditating daily

Acharya Goenkaji:

Understand Dhamma with your own experience by meditating daily, morning and evening.

Also it is advisable to periodically attend a 10-day, 20-day, 30-day or even a longer meditation course as time permits, to go deeper into the truth.

Keep checking to see if Dhamma is deepening within, if it is manifesting in your daily life.

Check if the mind is growing more wholesome, or are you just misleading yourself that you are growing in Dhamma?

Also check that your daily sittings have not turned into an empty ritual by asking yourself, “Am I really feeling the sensations?”

And if yes, “Am I really seeing and appreciating them as impermanent, (anicca)?”

And if yes, “Am I getting established in equanimity?”

🌷 These are the benchmarks.

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Vipassana Gave Me a New Life by Shravan Kumar Agarwal

In 1975, when I was thirty years old. I was diagnosed as having progressive muscular dystrophy. This disease attacks the muscle cells so that the protractile muscles gradually weaken and degenerate. The patient loses control of his limbs and is forced to live as an invalid confined to bed. No cure has yet been found for this painful malady. The news of my illness threw me into turmoil. A future of unrelieved darkness seemed to await me, and faced with this prospect I developed great tensions within.

In desperation I tried all sorts of treatments—ayurvedic, homeopathic, and nature-cure—but nothing gave me any relief. Instead the malady worsened day by day. By 1979 I had trouble standing up, walking, and using my hands. It was clear that I would soon be bed-ridden.

At this point some friends who had learned Vipassana urged me to join a course, and I did so in November 1979. The ten days’ work produced slight but unmistakable signs of improvement in my condition.

Greatly encouraged, I undertook many courses in succession. The process of revivification became all the more clear, inspiring me with hope. I struggled hard to meditate as I was told, in order to gain a new lease on life.

Now, after several years of meditation practice, the changes that have come seem almost miraculous. Previously, walking a few steps had been a painful ordeal. Now I can easily walk as much as a kilometer, though at a slow pace. Climbing stairs had been very difficult; now I can easily climb flights of 25-30 stairs. Traveling by bus or train for two or three hours used to exhaust me; now I can take much longer journeys without becoming tired. The circulation in my legs has improved. The atrophy of bodily extremities has been reversed. The joints of my legs have expanded and the muscles have begun to regenerate and gain in strength, rendering me capable of easier movement.

Doctors are baffled by the improvement in my condition, but I have no doubt that it is the result of the process of Vipassana at work within me. I can describe the process only in terms of my experience in meditation. As I sit with eyes closed, I feel a flow of subtle vibrations like wavelets, a mild and soothing electric current throughout the body, including

the parts affected by my disease. Wherever there are blockages, these waves seem to strike against the ipediments in the muscle fibers, nerve tissues, and bony structures, causing them to open and expand. It is like the current of a river striking against a rock that blocks its course. The rock deflects the water, causing it to flow over, around, or under the obstruction. Gradually, however, the water succeeds in shaking and moving the rock, in pulverizing and finally disintegrating it. When it is gone the river flows smoothly, unimpeded.

The process of Vipassana has affected me in other ways as well. Mental tensions have subsided to a great extent, and my dread of the future has lessened. I used to become agitated when I encountered difficulties in life, making myself more and more unhappy. Now I have acquired the strength to face problems smilingly. Within me there is a constant feeling of good will for others. My tolerance and working efficiency have increased greatly. Relations with my family, which had been strained, now have improved as Vipassana has improved my behavior pattern.

All these changes add up to a greater feeling of happiness. It is as if a dead person has come to life again, and all through the blessing of the Dhamma.

I am deeply indebted to my great benefactor Goenkaji for giving me the Dhamma and guiding me on the path.

Now I strive to the best of my ability to lead a life of Dhamma.

May all sentient beings of the world be happy and peaceful!

(Vipassana International Newsletter. June'87) posted by SD

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Truth is God - by S. N. Goenka

Not long after I started teaching Vipassana in India, a course was organized at Sevagram. This is the village founded by Mahatma Gandhi as a place for people to carry out his ideal of a simple life of service. Among those who participated in the course were several who had been close to Gandhiji in his lifetime. Near the end of the course one of these people, an elderly man, came to me and said, “Now at last I understand what Gandhiji was doing, after all these years!” And he told me the following story.

It had been the custom of Gandhiji to hold mass prayer meetings to which tens of thousands of people would come. At these meetings he would tell all the people to chant prayers or hymns and to clap their hands. But while they did so he would sit silently in front of them, with closed eyes and hands folded in his lap. He did not clap his hands not utter a word himself.

“One day,” this man told me, “I asked Gandhiji, ‘Why don’t you chant and clap with everyone? What are you doing as you sit there with closed eyes?’ He replied, ‘I am witnessing God within me.’

‘You witness God within yourself! That is wonderful! Please tell me what form God takes in your inner vision.’

‘Well, throughout my body I can sense change taking place, a constant flux or flow. This is the true nature of this body. I observe this truth. And for me this is God. Whether it is really true that there is a supreme God I cannot say, but there cannot be any doubt that truth is real. For me truth is supreme, truth is God. I experience this truth moment by moment within me.’”

Gandhiji had never even heard the word “Vipassana”, but he had spontaneously started practicing the technique. After all, what is Vipassana except observing the truth about ourselves, the truth of our ever-changing nature? And whoever observes this truth is naturally transformed by it to become a pure-minded person who is fit to experience ultimate truth.

Source -

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Questions and Answer with Mr. S. N. Goenka

Question: If you purify the body, you purify the mind?

Mr. S. N. Goenka: "No. Even though you purify the body, the mind may remain dirty and it will again make the body impure. So the root is the mind, not the body. The body is just the base. With the help of the body, the mind is working, but the mind has to be purified. You keep on washing your body as much as you can, but the mind is not washed. Mind remains still impure. Mind has to be pure. But if you purify the mind, the body gets purified. It has an effect. The aim of Vipassana is to purify the mind."

Question: What is the difference between Vipassana and life?

Mr. S. N. Goenka: "If Vipassana is developed within us it becomes an integral part of our lives. If it is only discussed intellectually and not practiced then it is of no use to us."

Buddhist Insight Meditation - performed with a balanced mind

Goenkaji: "If equanimity is only superficial it will not help in daily life. It is as if each person carries a tank of petrol, of gasoline, within. If one spark comes, one fruit of a past reaction, immediately a great explosion results, producing millions more sparks, more sankhara, which will bring more fire, more suffering in future.

By the practice of Vipassana, one gradually empties the tank. Sparks will still come because of one’s past sankharas, but when they come, they will burn only the fuel that they bring with them; no new fuel is given. They burn briefly until they consume the fuel they contain, and then they are extinguished. Later, as one develops further on the path, one naturally starts generating the cool water of love and compassion, and the tank becomes filled with this water. Now, as soon as a spark comes, it is extinguished. It cannot burn even the small amount of fuel it contains.

One may understand this at the intellectual level, and know that one should have a water pump ready in case a fire starts. But when fire actually comes, one turns on the petrol pump and starts a conflagration. Afterwards one realizes the mistake, but still repeats it next time when fire comes, because one’s wisdom is only superficial. If someone has real wisdom in the depths of the mind, when faced with fire such a person will not throw petrol on it, understanding that this would only cause harm. Instead one throws the cool water of love and compassion, helping others and oneself.

The wisdom must be at the level of sensations. If you train yourself to be aware of sensations in any situation and to remain equanimous towards them, nothing can overpower you. Perhaps for just a few moments you observe without reacting. Then, with this balanced mind, you decide what action to take. It is bound to be right action, positive, helpful to others, because it is performed with a balanced mind.

The First Discourse of the Buddha - by S. N. Goenka

(The following is based on Goenkaji’s article in the July 2007 issue of the Vipassana Patrika. 28 July 2007 is the full moon day of Āsālha. It is known as Guru Purnima, meaning full moon day of the teacher, because the Buddha gave his first discourse on this very day in Sarnath.)

At the time of the Buddha, there was a strong belief among some people that one can attain liberation only by leading a life of strict asceticism. In accordance with this view, the Buddha subjected himself to severe austerities for six years. Then realizing the utter futility of self-mortification, he adopted a middle way. Seeing this, his five companions—Koṇdañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Assaji, and Mahānāma—lost confidence in him and deserted him. After enlightenment, the Buddha decided to teach the Dhamma to them first.

When his five former companions saw the Buddha approaching, they decided that they would offer him a seat because he was the son of their ruler but would not show any other sign of respect. But as he came nearer, his infinite love and compassion and the glow on his face attracted them, and they paid full respect to him.

The Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma

The Buddha’s first discourse is called the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta (The Discourse of the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma). The Buddha gave this discourse to his five former companions at the Deer Park in Isipatana near Benares on theĀsālha full-moon day (July), two months after his enlightenment. In it, the Buddha expounded the Middle Path which he discovered and which forms the essence of his teaching.

At the outset of the discourse, the Buddha said that these two extremes should be avoided by recluses:

1. Indulgence in sensual pleasures, which is base, vulgar, worldly, ignoble and not beneficial. 

2. Practice of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble and not beneficial.

Abandoning both these extremes, the Buddha discovered the middle path which leads to enlightenment. This is the Noble Eightfold Path, namely,

1. Right understanding (sammā diṭṭhi)

2. Right thoughts (sammā saṅkappa)

3. Right speech (sammā vācā)

4. Right action (sammā kammanta)

5. Right livelihood (sammā ājiva)

6. Right effort (sammā vāyāma)

7. Right awareness (sammā sati) and 

8. Right concentration (sammā samādhi).

The Four Noble Truths

Then the Buddha expounded the four Noble Truths, which is the essence of his teaching.

1. The Noble Truth of Suffering

Birth is suffering, old age is suffering, disease is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and distress are suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, disassociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to get what one desires is suffering; in short, attachment to the five aggregates is suffering.

2. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering

It is this craving that causes rebirth and is bound up with pleasure and lust and finds delight now here, now there. That is, the craving for sensual pleasures, the craving for repeated rebirth and the craving for annihilation.

3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

It is the complete fading away and destruction of this very craving, its forsaking, its renunciation, the liberation from it, leaving no place for it.

4. The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering

It is the Noble Eightfold Path, namely, right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right awareness and right concentration.

Three Aspects of Each Noble Truth

The Buddha explained that he has realized each Noble Truth in three ways:

a. Acceptance of the nature of each Noble Truth (sacca ñāṇa), 

b. Intellectual understanding of the effort required for each Noble Truth (kicca ñāṇa), and 

c. Actual accomplishment of each Noble Truth (kata ñāṇa).

1. The Noble Truth of Suffering

a. One accepts the Noble Truth of Suffering.

b. One understands that the entire field of suffering should be fully realized at the experiential level—pariññeyya.

c. One explores the entire mundane field of suffering and transcends it—pariññātaṃ.

2. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering

a. One accepts the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering, namely, craving.

b. One understands that this craving should be fully eradicated—pahātabbaṃ

c. One completely eradicates craving—pahīnaṃ.

3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

a. One accepts the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.

b. One understands that the state of cessation of suffering should be directly experienced—sacchikātabbaṃ.

c. One directly experiences the total cessation of suffering—sacchikataṃ.

4. The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering

a. One accepts the Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering.

b. One understands that the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering should be fully developed—bhāvetabbaṃ.

c. One has experienced every part of this Eightfold Noble Path; one has developed it to the fullest extent—bhāvitaṃ.

The Buddha declared that he had acknowledged the attainment of the incomparable supreme enlightenment (anuttara sammāsambodhi) only after the absolute true intuitive knowledge regarding the four Noble Truths in three ways (therefore, the twelve modes), had become perfectly clear to him.

Imesu catūsu ariyasaccesu evaṃ tiparivaṭṭaṃ dvādasākāraṃ yathā-bhutaṃ ñāṇa-dassanaṃ suvisuddhaṃ ahosi.

Then there arose in him the knowledge and insight: “Unshakable is the deliverance of my mind; this is my last birth; there is no more existence for me.” 

The five disciples rejoiced at these words of the Buddha. At the end of the discourse, Koṇdañña, the eldest of the five disciples, attaining the first stage of saintliness (sotāppana), realized that whatever is subject to arising is subject to cessation—

Yaṃ kiñci samudayadhammaṃ, 

sabbaṃ taṃ nirodhadhamman”ti.

Then the Exalted One exclaimed, “Friends, Koṇdañña has indeed understood!”

* * *

Accepting the truth merely at the devotional level because we have belief in the words of the Buddha or at the intellectual level will not liberate us. We have to realize the truth at the actual level, at the experiential level. This alone will liberate us. Of course, accepting the truth as announced by the liberated person is helpful.

A Buddha’s dassana (wisdom), a Buddha’s ñāṇa (knowledge), a Buddha’s vimutti (liberation) will give us wonderful inspiration, wonderful guidance. We must make full use of this inspiration, we must make full use of this guidance. Yet it is our own direct experience which will liberate us. Step by step, keep moving towards the final goal with direct experience. No imagination; no blind belief; no dogma; no philosophy. Observe the truth as you experience it from moment to moment—yathā-bhūta-ñāṇa-dassana. And this is Vipassana: yathā-bhūta-ñāṇa-dassana.

Keep on developing Vipassana with the base of sīla and samādhi; keep on developing Vipassana to come out of all the bondages, to come out of all the miseries. Make best use of this wonderful Dhamma, this wonderful path. One is so fortunate to get the pure path, the pure Dhamma, the pure technique. You have it; now you have to work. Continue to work diligently.

Bhavatu Sabba Maṅgalaṃ !!

—May all beings be happy !!

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Let's know the way from a big love

Every seeker on the way of religion must understand that I must understand.

An event of God's life period.

At that time in shravasti, a very big attention center. In Jēthavana Vihar, and shravasti of the days that was a very large population of India. The Country's rule of the country. So many people were able to learn.

Many big numbers, bhīkṣu, bhīkśuniyām̐, quads, quads, God teach these lore.

In the evening, some of the people of the city also come to the people who listen to the discussion of religion.

This is a national disease of India, follow the way of religion, or do not follow religion, it is good to hear religion discussion, the way to hear, it is a way of inspiration. Let's go.

Do not walk on yes, for the only sense of word, some people used to come.

A brother, a day just came up, saw God alone, he has been brought near, and he said, hello,

Maharaj is a question once in my mind. So many people are killed, he could not ask, if you are alone, please resolve my doubt.

God said, " there should be no doubt in the field of dharam. <S> the solution should get immediately. What is the problem?

He says, ' the Lord, many years, I am in this sadhana center, and those who take care on here, the way they do with their intelligence, so I saw that I saw that of a little. There are people who have reached a free stage, arihant became pure, the Buddha became free. Are ese, clear.

And some people have a great change, there is a great change, but not yet reached the last stage,.

And the maharaj is one of the class, in which there is a tabakā. No matter what he came. The same as the same.

So this is the Lord, the question in my mind, that no one came to great men like you, you came to the great power, as you came to the great kāruṇika, and the Maharaja Cora, you may remain incomplete. How did they talk?

Why do you not let us wire all your power?

Why do you not give us the wire on the force of all your kindness?

God smiled,

This is what it is, but no matter what it is.

The people who do not want to listen to the truth, do not want to listen to the truth. He said, " then, you are one of the best.

Their ways were different, sometimes asked to question him who asked questions to him, say, " where are the people who are living?

The Maharaj of shravasti.

Oh no, your face is the the that it is not gonna be here. You are one of the other state, and here is the bus.

He said, ' he said, ' by the Lord, I'm going to be a magadha country. Just been here from many years to come.

Good thing.

So now your whole relationship was broken? Wouldn't have to come there?

Not the Lord has come to go well. Just so my family is there, my friends are, relationships are business, too many times.

So, you are so often here, it comes from shravasti, comes, it comes from here till the way you know?

The Maharaj was well known. So many times.

So a word, and tell them, so many people have been known to you?

There will be some of those familiar with you? He will know that he will not be able to be here?

The Original bottom is the magadha of magadha, and the time comes here, and the time comes, it is the way you know this way. Will they know?

The Lord knows who knows me well, he knows the fact, the people. ' '

So, there will be no one of them to ask for you, that is how the way of rājagirī is from here?

So let him know that he is secret. ?

What to keep secret in this. Well explain that

Walking towards the east, walking, Varanasi, āyēgē, and then proceed, backslide, will come here.

Go forward, then backslide, backslide, will come here. Well understood maharaj.

So good, tell me a thing?

For whom you considered, it will be reached?

How will be the maharaja?

So we made the way to understand.

Now she will be able to reach it. ?

Hey man, even if he says.

So those who come to me, the crowd of crowded crowds, know that this person is well-known as well as well as it is. On the way to salvation, know your experience. So they ask the poor.

What am i chipā'ūṁ. The big love tells them.

That is the way. Move step moving, these station āvēṅgē. Then the station will be efflorescence, they will have experience, this would be a problem.

There is no one to hear all the words, and said, Saint, Sadhu, Sadhu, bro, you will not be a step, but you will be kaisēpahum̐ca.?

How will you reach.?

There was a move, one step, one step closer to your goal. Ten Steps went closer to ten steps. A hundred steps went closer, and who took the step through the step, he reached the target.

You gotta walk.

Let's know the way from a big love.

All the seeker, every seeker should understand the way of every seeker.

Gotta walk me.

divas 2. ... Ac. sn goenka ji

Buddhist Insight Meditation - The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka

True Compassion: It is the wish to serve people, to help them out of suffering. But it must be without attachment. If you start crying over the suffering of others, you only make yourself unhappy. If you have true compassion, then with all possible love you try to help others to the best of your ability. If you fail, you smile and try another way to help. You serve without worrying about the results of your service. This is real compassion, proceeding from a balanced mind - S. N. Goenka

~ The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka

by William Hart

Key Teachings of Buddhism - Meditating When You're Sick

"There’s a story in the Canon about the Buddha suffering from an injury to his foot. Mara came up and taunted him as he was lying there and said, “Are you moping? Are you sad?” And the Buddha said, “No. I’m developing goodwill for all beings.” That’s a good exercise, so that you’re not concentrating on your own pain or concentrating on the limitations that the illness is placing on you. Spread thoughts of goodwill to all beings. Let your awareness expand out so that it’s not confined just to the body. “May all beings be happy. May all beings be free from stress and pain” — however you want to express that thought to yourself. And holding that larger frame of reference in mind is often very healing to the mind, calming for the body." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Meditating When You're Sick"

Key Teachings of Buddhism - Judicious vs. Judgmental", Meditations

"So keep reminding yourself that meditation is a long-term project. When you have a sense of that long arc of time, it's a lot easier to sit back and work very carefully at the basic steps. It's like learning any skill. If, in one afternoon, you want to gain all the skills you're going to need to play tennis, you end up doing them all very sloppily and won't get the results you want. But if you realize that this may take time, you can work on one skill at a time: How do you keep your eye on the ball? How long is your backswing? Take the skill apart step by step by step and be willing to work on small things like this bit by bit by bit so that you really understand them deep down in your bones." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Judicious vs. Judgmental", Meditations1,

Key Teachings of Buddhism - Judicious vs. Judgmental", Meditations

"So keep reminding yourself that meditation is a long-term project. When you have a sense of that long arc of time, it's a lot easier to sit back and work very carefully at the basic steps. It's like learning any skill. If, in one afternoon, you want to gain all the skills you're going to need to play tennis, you end up doing them all very sloppily and won't get the results you want. But if you realize that this may take time, you can work on one skill at a time: How do you keep your eye on the ball? How long is your backswing? Take the skill apart step by step by step and be willing to work on small things like this bit by bit by bit so that you really understand them deep down in your bones." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Judicious vs. Judgmental", Meditations1,

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Eating one meal a day, it's easier to cultivate

Eating one meal a day at noon is also a rule set up by the Buddha. If you eat and drink less, then you'll have less desire. With less desire, it's easier to cultivate. In the Dhammapada (verse 7) , "whoever lives contemplating pleasant things, with senses unrestrained, in food immoderate, indolent, inactive, him verily Mara overthrows, as the wind a weak tree."

According to the Uposatha Sutta: Bhikkhus. Ariyan disciples in this Religion reflect thus:

"'All arahants, for as long as life lasts, eat at one time only and do not partake of food in the evening. They abstain from food at the 'wrong time'."

"All of you eat at one time only and do not partake of food in the evening. You abstain from food at the 'wrong time.' For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arahants..."

The Buddha himself said he ate only one meal a day and urged his monks to do the same as it was beneficial. This is recorded in the Bhaddali Sutta as follows:

Bhikkhus, I partake a single meal for the day, and on account of it experience few afflictions, few ailments, lightness, strength, and a pleasant abiding. Come! Bhikkhus, you too partake a single meal for the day, and on account of it experience few afflictions, few ailments, lightness, strength, and a pleasant abiding.

Buddhist Insight Meditation - The Royal Road to Liberation

In essence, everything we experience in life – sights, sounds and words, tastes, fragrances, bodily touch, and thoughts - is experienced at the level of bodily sensations. The meditator experiences the impermanent nature of these sensations. Thereby one experiences, at the deepest level, the truth that everything in life is impermanent and constantly changing.

Blind reaction to sensations generates saṅkhāras, multiplies impurities. This is the chain reaction of suffering. Now with the Vipassana training of equanimity to sensations, we change the habit pattern of blind reaction to sensations. No more new saṅkhāras, no more suffering...

If we cultivate the habit of regarding each sensation or thought as impermanent, and if the habit gets stronger by practising Vipassana, we can eradicate every defilement and not allow it to multiply or start a chain reaction. With no new defilements, or saṅkhāras, the old ones get eradicated – just as fire gradually dies out when no more fuel is added. The process of multiplication of impurities is ended.

This is the power of Vipassana; it cuts the root of misery and completely uproots it. That is why it is the royal road to liberation, to attainment of nirvāṇa. With this experiential faith we have to walk on this path step by step. Each step that we take on this road will inspire us to take the next step. Thus Mara’s hold on us will slacken, will become less and less and we are sure to reach the goal.

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Lived in Dhamma, Passed Away in Dhamma

-Guru ji (S. N. Goenka ji)

(In early April 1995, Goenkaji’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Vimala Goenka, died suddenly at the age of 52. Goenkaji wrote the following article about Vimala’s Dhamma life and death for the Hindi language newsletter. This translation has been edited and condensed.)

Vimala first joined our family as the 19 year-old bride of my younger brother, Radhe Shyam. It was 1961 and we were living in Rangoon. By then our entire family was immersed in Vipassana under the com-passionate guidance of my Teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

Vimala was from an educated family in Calcutta, but Vipassana was something new to her. Within a few months, however, she decided to try it. From the very first course she readily accepted the practice and started swimming in the Ganges of Dhamma like a fish in water.

Vimala was a graduate in science and the investigative approach of Vipassana appealed to her intelligent mind. She took many ten-day courses under Sayagyi’s instruction, and he was very pleased with her progress.

She meditated in the mornings and evenings at home with the family, and on Sundays joined the rest of us in meditating in Sayagyi’s presence at his center.

In 1965 Radhe Shyam and Vimala returned to India because of the changing political climate in Burma. In those days no other members of our extended family in India practiced Vipassana, nor was it even available in that country. Nevertheless, Vimala and Radhe Shyam maintained their daily practice. If they needed clarification regarding the technique, they received it through correspondence with Rangoon. In June of 1969 I returned to India,bringing the jewel of Vipassana back to its country of origin.

The first Vipassana courses in India were organized by some of the dedicated Vipassana family and colleagues from Burma who had previously returned to India. After the second course, in Madras, I went to stay with Radhe Shyam and Vimala in Tadepalligudam.

🌷 I was thinking that when my three-month visa expired, I would go back to Burma. But I kept remembering Sayagyi’s words: “Twenty-five centuries are over, and the time for the revival of Vipassana has come. Today in India there are many people of parami (accumulated meritorious actions) who will support you in your work.”

Vimala, along with Radhe Shyam, felt strongly that I should give up the idea of returning to Burma. She was confident of the fulfilment of Sayagyi’s belief in the revival of Vipassana.

-----------------------

A thorny problem had now arisen regarding the third course at Sarnath, the sacred place where Gotama the Buddha gave his first discourse, the Dhammacakka-pavattana Sutta, (Discourse on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma).

Sayagyi earnestly desired that a course should be given there but, whereas the finances for the first two courses had been shouldered by householders, the Sarnath course would be primarily for monks. Sufficient dana to hold the course could not be requested from the monks themselves. Nor did I feel it possible to ask my family to bear any further expenses, since, despite being non-meditators, they were already generously providing for the cost of my travel and livelihood. I began to think that holding a course at Sarnath would not be advisable.

Then a thought came to mind: Who am I to find a solution? This problem will be solved by Dhamma. I am only a vessel. If the re-establishment of Vipassana in India is to happen, some solution will automatically come to light. Relieved of this anxiety, I proceeded with my preparations for the imminent journey with a calm mind.

A few hours later, a taxi was waiting outside the house to take me to the railway station. Suddenly Vimala arrived to pay her respects. She humbly offered me something tied in a handkerchief, from which a few coins fell. It seemed that every month since coming to India she had been saving a sum from her household money. She had the entire amount in that handkerchief. With great joy, she said,“This may be of use to you in your future courses.”

How had this inspiration arisen in her mind? I had not mentioned my financial concerns to anyone. Certainly this was due to Dhamma! I knew fully well that at that time every member of the family received only the minimum needed to cover daily necessities. Yet, even from this meagre amount she had carefully saved, in order to serve Dhamma. Despite my protestations, she insisted, and packed the money in my baggage. Not only my heart, but my eyes, welled up.

Even today when I think of this, my heart and mind are suffused with mudita (sympathetic joy), and I feel: Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu!

Buddhist Insight Meditation - Balancing Tranquility & Insight

"As your skill develops in developing both tranquility and insight, the whole path comes together. Even for people for whom insight practice and tranquility practice are two radically separate things, they find that as the path begins to reach fruition, everything comes together. Ajaan Maha Boowa talks about how at that point, it’s hard to draw a line between insight practice and tranquility practice. They both reach balance. So you can’t determine ahead of time which sort of person you’re going to be, the sort with two radically separate practices, or the sort with a more integrated practice from the very beginning. But the integration is where we’re all headed." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Balancing Tranquility & Insight"

Buddhist Insight Meditation - GETTING TO KNOW THE BREATH

"You're getting to know the breath. It's like getting to know a person. As the Buddha said with regard to that kind of knowledge, you have to be observant and willing to put in a fair amount of time. Only then can you gain a sense of familiarity. Think of yourself as becoming friends with the breath. In any friendship there's got to be give and take. There are going to be awkward moments. Ups and downs. But if you stick with it, with the good‐heartedness needed to weather the downs, and the powers of observation to know when you've made a mistake, to admit your mistakes, then the friendship can grow. That's when your friend can start revealing all of his or her secrets.

~

And the breath has lots of fascinating secrets. There are lots of interesting things to find out in the energy flow of the breathing. You can start seeing how the breath affects your feelings, exactly which experience is a breath experience, and which experience is a feeling experience--feeling pleasure or pain. As you really look into these things, you begin to see that you've often drawn the lines in your body and mind in the wrong places.

~

For instance, the aggregates of form and feeling: the actual movement of the energy is form, the sense of pleasure or pain that goes along with it is the feeling, and it can be extremely fleeting. When you see how fleeting feelings are--much more fleeting than even subtle sensations of breath--that rearranges your notion about how you've been living your life. You realize how much of your life you've spent chasing after pleasant feelings and only to see more and more clearly how fleeting they are.

~

So as you really look into this process of breathing, there's an awful lot to see. If you're willing to stick with the ups and downs of that gradual slope, you find that there's always something to do, something to learn. If you're sitting around waiting for Awakening to happen, it gets pretty desensitizing after a while--putting yourself into a dead, dull mood, saying, "We'll just wait here long enough and maybe it'll come." You get so that you no longer look at what you're doing. So the end result is that you're actually desensitizing yourself to a lot of the stuff going on in the mind. You try to hide it from yourself hoping that, "If I hide it well enough, then the enlightenment will be fooled and it'll come"--like a child trying to fool Santa Claus.

~

But if you work with the breath--each breath coming in, noticing what kinds of feelings it gives rise to, what you can do to make it a more pleasurable breath--you're engaged in a process that makes you more sensitive. And what is discernment but heightened sensitivity? We often think of discernment as trying to clone our minds into seeing things the way the Buddha tells us to see them. But that ends up just adding one more layer of conjecture to our ignorance.

When the Buddha tells us to look for the inconstancy and the stress in things, he's not telling us to come to the conclusion that they're inconstant and stressful. He's telling us how to develop sensitivity: Can you sense really refined levels of inconstancy? Can you sense really refined levels of stress? What happens when you do?..."