Vipassana meditation technique. Vipassana Self Meditation

They also say about vipassana (which, by the way, is successfully carried out in prisons in many countries). Why is it necessary to go to a concentration camp for liberation? And is it right to go to deliverance from mental and bodily torment through violent suffering?

Only in this way - 25 centuries of canonical tradition testify - can one get the experience of monastic life, meet with oneself and achieve silence at the level of the mind. Liberation from chronic diseases, addictions, a surge of energy, weight loss, normalization of the physiological rhythms of the body is not a goal, but a consequence of practice.

WHAT IS VIPASSANA

This is an ancient technique that was known in India for several millennia BC. Its main ideas were described in the Vedas. Then, in the VI century BC, it was rediscovered by Gautama Buddha.

In the suttas of the Pali Canon, the Buddha and his disciples use the phrase "vipassana-bhavana", which means "the development of vision-as-is." Those who engage in such development must come to realize the impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and impersonality (anatta) of the phenomena of experience (dhamma). Such a practice should lead to disidentification with the elements of experience and thus eliminate the prerequisite for the appearance of psychological, and then physical suffering. Vipassana bhavana in the Pali Canon is one of the two main directions for the development of meditation along with samatha bhavana, the development of calmness, composure and concentration. The rigidity of the courses, putting conscious perception in extreme conditions, allows you to use all the resources of awareness on full power and leads to the strongest meditative experience in the shortest time.

On this moment Vipassana is most commonly referred to as the meditation techniques taught by Mahasi Sayadaw and Satya Narayan Goenka. In India, as well as in Russia and Ukraine, 10-day Vipassana courses according to Goenka have become very popular, while in traditionally Buddhist countries - Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka - you can often find Vipassana according to Mahasi Sayadaw. External difference The latest school is that meditation is practiced for the same amount of time while sitting and walking.

A string of bans

The experience of vipassana primarily consists of a series of prohibitions. Monk (and this case and a student who decides to go through vipassana) lives on alms (the practice is carried out on charitable contributions from students of previous courses), he owns nothing but clothes, he gets up at 4 in the morning with gong strikes and meditates until 21:30 in the common hall or in a cell with two hour breaks. He does not eat meat and does not take food after 12 pm (vegan food is varied, plentiful and very tasty: old students work in the kitchen). As an indulgence for beginners (the so-called "new students"), they give one piece of fruit and tea with milk for an afternoon snack. There are always teapots with decoctions of herbs in the buildings - sedative, laxative, gastric, renal, chest collection. From motionless sitting, albeit with short breaks for warm-up and rest, chronic diseases often worsen, insomnia and constipation occur. All this is proposed to be considered part of the practice, however, some leave the course due to health problems, and someone cannot stand it psychologically - on average, there are about five fugitives per course. They are released only after a conversation with the assistant teacher (my first neighbor ran away at night, secretly, in my jeans). If, years later, they decide to take the course again, they are repeatedly tested with refusal, strengthening their intention.

You can only talk about painful things with managers (practitioners with extensive experience in retreats). They solve everyday issues tactfully and with great participation (they even made a special trip to the nearest city for me to get medicine). They also act as translators in conversations with a teacher's assistant (usually they are Europeans or Indians who have received special training in meditation centers of this tradition, who speak English), monitor discipline and regimen. If you blatantly shirk your meditation hours in the room—swinging outside or simply sleeping—you will be gently brought back to practice. With their help, you can make a suggestion to a neighbor if he smells too good or hamster sausage under the blanket, which prevents you from concentrating. By the way, after a couple of days, when all organs of perception become sharper, you begin to appreciate the vow of silence, and the simplicity of food, and the bans on perfumes, aphrodisiacs that distract the attention of others from practice. Praying and performing asanas are also prohibited. It is not your duty to help employees cook and wash floors. In general, a situation has been created in which our restless mind has absolutely nothing to cling to and is doomed to a deep dive into itself. In fact, this is precisely the reason that makes Vipassana unbearable for many: it is really very difficult to be alone with yourself for so long.

10 days of silence

It was this technique, as Goenka (a successful businessman who once got rid of a painful migraine he accidentally discovered in Burma) using this ancient technique that he accidentally discovered in Burma, is broadcasting in his meditation centers around the world Goenka, led Gautama Buddha to enlightenment. Vipassana is declared as belonging to no religion, but the path of a vipassana student begins quite Buddhistically with the search for refuge in the truth - this is shila (morality), samadhi (peace of mind) and panya (intuitive wisdom). Upon arrival at the course, students fill out a questionnaire (chronic illnesses, medications taken, if there are any mental problems, what are the relationships in the family, was there a drug, healing, esoteric experience). In it, everyone promises not to step a single step outside the territory of the seminar until the end of the 10th day and to follow the requirements of moral behavior: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, give up intoxicants and any sexual activity. After settling into a quadruple room, the student receives the number of his place in the hall. This place is one meter with a striped rug.

Volitional threshold

In the evening of the first (actually "zero") day, everyone repeats the mantra in Pali - a formal request to teach Anapana meditation. This seemingly simple meditation continues for three days - students are asked to follow their breath and sensations with a gradual narrowing of the observation area to a triangle under the nose. In theory, this is how samadhi is achieved - the sharpness of the mind, the ability to concentrate on the sensations of the body. But at first you can’t stand even a minute so as not to be distracted by mind games. About this struggle for the right to be in the center of one’s own attention, my neighbor later said well: “Your left hemisphere goes to war to the right, and you seem to be out of business - you are watching your breath. Before each entry for an hour and a half of meditation, Goenka's voice in English with a terrible Indian accent voices all the instructions, and then a soft female voice there is a Russian translation.

On the screen

On the fourth day, the vipassana technique itself is given - moving the area of ​​\u200b\u200battention throughout the body. Developing balance and awareness by observing sensations throughout the body and, as a result, understanding the law of their impermanence, illusoryness (anicca) is the way to achieve intuitive wisdom. The meaning of technology is in observing the only objective reality - the reality of one's body.

The movement of attention, in theory, should become a continuous stream of subtle, that is, pleasant sensations. And rough sensations - pain, discomfort, numb legs and stiff back - go away because you do not attach importance to them. But your own ethereal body of luminous particles, and the inner vision of the chakras, and all the magic that a free flow of energy can bring (“advanced” are invited to direct it deep into the body, probing the spine) are just sensations that appear to then disappear. Because everything will pass, because the law of nature is impermanence, anicca.

ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OF YOGA AND VIPASSANA

Ilya Zhuravlev, instructor at the Moscow Yoga 108 Center:

“Awareness and observation of sensations without rejection or attachment to them was often recommended to be maintained during the performance of asana by my first teacher. Later, while studying in India with other masters, I met a similar approach. This is probably a common thing in cultures where meditation is widely known. But it happens in our country that asanas are practiced in a sharp, “sporty” style. Then fluidity disappears, energy moves inharmoniously. There is also a “hanging” on sensations, a desire to “catch a buzz” or, conversely, a panic fear of unpleasant sensations and discomfort. I think that the experience of vipassana can help to correct such obstacles in the practice of yoga. And I sincerely advise everyone: “read” and “try at home” is not at all the same. Don't be under any illusions - you will never be able to recreate an intensive retreat mode living in society."

The secret of the third planet Vipassana is based on the thesis that the structure of the psyche consists of consciousness, perception, sensation and reaction to sensations. Responding to external impressions - whether it's a nice meal, a football team victory, a betrayal loved one, - we create certain "notches", the so-called sankaras of attraction and aversion. And over time, we begin to unconsciously react at the level of these programs, we become hostages of sankar and act mechanistically all our lives, chasing pleasures and avoiding suffering, stepping on the same rake. The pain that we have not lived through remains a thorn in the heart (and a muscle block in the body), unrealized intentions remain illusions. The meaning of technology is in the "cleansing" of personal sensual history. When the mind is calm, it does not create new sankaras, and old ones begin to rise from the bottom of consciousness. Their exact image is the mirror flowers in "The Secret of the Third Planet", which "peeled off" what they saw in reverse chronology.

Sitting in agony

Not to react to physical sensations is taught by Additana meditation (the firm intention with which the Buddha sat under a tree to meditate on the night of his enlightenment: “I will not get up from this place and will not change my posture until I know the cause of suffering”). Starting from the fourth day, for three hours of meditation, you will have to stop trying to change your posture every five minutes, sitting comfortably in your nests of pillows, sleeping bags, cushions, benches, and sitting motionless with your eyes closed. No matter how the lower back burns and itches behind the ear, it is worth enduring - and discovering new, unexplored limits in yourself. Do not be naive: even though the thousand-year history of Hatha Yoga shows us four poses in which you can sit with a straight back for a long time (Padmasana, Siddhasana, Sukhasana, Vajrasana), no matter how you fidget, the most comfortable one will probably be the “undercut” on the pillow (judging by his popularity in the hall and my experience). In general, for new students, vipassana becomes primarily the practice of these four asanas. And it is at the long-awaited moment of the sounding of the final mantra that the final one comes - at the level of the body! - understanding how our emotions turn into muscle blocks, how our physical and mental bodies continuously create each other. It seems to me that the observation of one student is accurate: “When practicing Vipassana, you perform only one sitting posture, but for significant periods of time. Personally, my state changed from euphoria to deep depression, but in the end the mind calmed down. It’s like I found that mental muscle that I can pull in to achieve the desired result.”

In a new life

On the 10th day after training new technology Metta Bhavana, the final meditation that sends love and compassion to all living beings, ends the silence and sexual segregation, although all "no" is still in force. It is worth visiting Vipassana at least once in order to visit this feast after nine and a half days of distant internal emigration, to find out the price of each word, to see with an inner eye how souls - already relatives, but still unfamiliar - literally open up towards each other. After completing the first vipassana, I was unable to take my eyes off the young couple: they could not even hug after a 10-day separation, he barely touched her wrist, tears flowed down her face. Everything becomes the equivalent of absolute, unconditional love on this day: air, nature, food, stories of classmates about their experiences, words, business cards, telephones, calls home with repentance and confessions, an appointment for cleaning the territory ... The need to rejoice and give is limitless (after all, now your life will finally change!) - so take exactly as much money with you to Vipassana as you want to donate.

COURSE STUDENTS - ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

“I have not stopped wanting beautiful things, a new car and happiness in my personal life, but I think about it calmly, without anguish.”

“I improved my vision by half a diopter, significantly straightened my back, lost three kilos and, apparently, corrected my stomach well. He returned with a lot of energy and seemed to be much more balanced than he was.

“For the first time I felt inner peace - and understood how it differs from the states of“ bad ”,“ good ”and“ all the same.

“Due to the lack of an iPod, with which I have been sleeping for the last year, my dreams have become deeper and more vivid.”

“In this state, the heart opens and the fear of pain goes away. After a year of continuous practice (between two courses of Vipassana), I sit and feel like a Christmas tree with iridescent lights on the surface and almost stopped time inside.

“Vipassana allows you to discover the other half of the world. In modern society, there is no practice of observing oneself and immersing oneself inward. All tasks, all life, all dreams and aspirations are aimed at the external - where do we care about the internal.

Adaptogen

Life will really change: it will not be easy to adapt to big city, to work and transport, to prove in response to the jokes of friends that "this is not a sect." Then it will seem that there is not even a trace left of the honestly hatched balance, that it is no longer possible to dismiss the unevenness of fate with the word “anicca”. But you will never be the same again. In my life, it so happened that the suffering from which I fled to Vipassana did not disappear, but aggravated, and it came to what the opponents of Vipassana call personality dissociation - the detachment of the mind from the reaction to the outside world. And if it were not for the strange indifference to what recently brought me to tears, I would never give up, would not quit my job, would not accept my depression, would not dare to undergo a course of psychotherapy, would not change my profession, would not make an effort to want to be happy not as you dreamed, but somehow differently, would not be strengthened in practice, would not overestimate your attitude towards people, would not see your monstrous pride and your illusions. All I needed then was to give up. And vipassana, with which I initially fought to the victorious “weakly”, with full pockets of gingerbread stolen from breakfast and with the expectation of a dirty trick in my soul, nevertheless deceived me. Not when I watered the painted floor of the gym with unshed tears in school; not when, at the end of a particularly painful Additana, she was tired of suffering, and I was sharply struck in the mideyebrow by a flaming fireball that had flown in from inside, and my whole being was drawn into it, like a measuring meter into a tape measure, and began to fall into the abyss along the spine (the body remained motionless!); and not when, in an unbearable situation, such patience opened up that I did not recognize myself. She deceived me when I came to the second retreat, which turned out to be very different. My internal TV did not show any cartoons, they just gave me a mirror - how much has already been passed, and again I am at the very beginning of the journey.

FOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE EXPERT: ALEXANDER ADUSHKIN

Co-founder Russian fund vipassana, psychotherapist, trainer, director of the project "Institute of Consciousness" (Moscow)

How is Goenka's Vipassana different from the Vipassana practiced in other Buddhist traditions?

First, the structure of the retreats. Secondly, the form of teaching - the course is recorded on electronic media. Thirdly, the practice is adapted to the thinking of a Western person: the subtleties are explained with the help of authentic phraseological phrases inherent in the language of the country in which Vipassana is held. Unlike other schools, Vipassana according to Goenka promotes only meditation in a sitting position, where in the initial stages only observation of sensations in the body is taken as the basis.

Although the duration, intensity, and objects of contemplation may be different in other schools of Vipassana, the essence of meditation remains the same: impartial observation of phenomena, which include sensations in the body and objects of the mind. All this inevitably leads to the development of one-pointed attention, forms a balance, non-conditionality of consciousness, reveals the "emptiness" (non-substantiality) of all phenomena and what we call "I". And, most importantly, leads to the cessation of suffering.

Is there a criticism of Goenka's Vipassana in modern world?

Criticism of Osho is widely known, which you can read about on the Internet. The dismissive attitude towards vipassana by some modern Western followers of Mahayana, Vajrayana and Dzogchen can also be attributed to criticism. In these branches of Buddhism, it is believed that the path of vipassana is the path of renunciation for people with average abilities, while practitioners of the Mahayana, Vajrayana and Dzogchen are people with higher abilities, and therefore vipassana is nothing for them.

In my opinion, this point of view is mainly held by narrow-minded people who do not have real experience of self-observation, without which the practice of higher levels of initiation is impossible. Arguing about "whose practice is better" in Buddhism is a waste of time, because any experience that leads to the highest perfection and enlightenment is perfect.

Has the Vipassana technique been lost?

In lectures, Goenka talks about the fact that vipassana was lost and survived only in Burma, where it was passed down from generation to generation from teacher to student in its original purity. Goenka argues that it is precisely because of the concealment that Vipassana has retained its effectiveness, because it has not been corrupted by modern interpretations. Since I myself was not personally present at the transfer of the technique by the Buddha to his disciples (more than 2600 years have passed since then, according to the sources), I cannot answer this question with all certainty. However, it is known that monasteries where Vipassana is practiced are scattered all over the world. Among the countries are Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam. And some of them are hundreds of years old. But whether the practice really remained there for all these centuries a living teaching, and not a blind adherence to tradition, is another question.

Is vipassana dangerous for the practitioner's mental health?

Today, Vipassana is one of the most powerful, useful, effective and at the same time quite safe practices of “self-regulation”. But this is only on condition that the student is really interested in the practice, follows the instructions of the teacher, does not engage in amateur activities, and does not violate discipline during the retreat. Motivation is important here. And if a person came only because “it is fashionable to go to Vipassana now”, then he will not derive any benefit from this experience.

I can say that the positive results of even one 10-day retreat appear immediately, and they are so overwhelming that they cannot be overlooked by others. The skill of realizing one's reactions, which was formed during the course of vipassana, remains with a person forever, although it requires regular supportive practice throughout life. As, however, the whiteness of teeth requires the use of a toothbrush and toothpaste every morning and evening.

THEORY AND PRACTICE

www.ru.dhamma.org - official site Russian society vipassana where you can apply for a course

www.dhamma.ru/lib/authors/mahasi/mahasi.htm – textbook of Mahasi Sayadaw technique

unreadable.name/vipassana-critique-rus.html - an informative scientific article criticizing Goenka's technique from a practitioner

esoteric.kiev.ua/osho/vipassana.html – Osho on Vipassana and criticism of Goenka

lordaphex.livejournal.com/86602.html - an amazingly frank story about the vipassana of a psychic healer

"vipassana>

Introduction to technology.

Vipassana is one of the oldest meditation methods in India. Lost in antiquity, it was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha over 2500 years ago. Vipassana means "seeing things as they really are": it is a process of self-purification through self-observation. First, we observe natural breathing in order to achieve concentration of the mind. With this heightened awareness, we continue to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experience the universal truth of impermanence, suffering, and egolessness. This attainment of truth through direct experience is the process of purification. This path (Dhamma) is the universal cure for all problems, it has nothing to do with any religion or sect. Therefore, it can be practiced by all - freely, without conflict with race, caste or religion, in any place, at any time, this method will prove equally beneficial for everyone.

What Vipassana is not:
“This is not a ceremony or ritual based on blind faith.
- This is not intellectual or philosophical entertainment.
- This is not a social club or a place of fun.
- This is not an escape from the problems of everyday life.
What is Vipassana:
“This is a technique that can destroy suffering.
- This is the art of life, which allows each person to work effectively for the benefit of society.
- This is a method of cleansing the mind, which makes it possible to calmly and balancedly solve complex life problems.
Vipassana meditation aims at the highest spiritual goal of universal liberation and full enlightenment. The goal is not simply to cure a physical illness, although many psychosomatic illnesses can go away as a by-product of spiritual cleansing. In fact, Vipassana eliminates the three [basic] causes of all misfortunes - craving, aversion and ignorance. Through continuous practice, meditation releases the tensions of everyday life and loosens the knots associated with the old habit of reacting unbalancedly to pleasant and unpleasant events.
Although Vipassana as a technique was developed by the Buddha, not only Buddhists can practice it. People of many religions have experienced the benefits of Vipassana meditation without finding any conflict with their creed. There is no need to adapt anything: the technique is based on the fact that all people have the same problems, and therefore the very technique that can solve these problems is also applicable to everyone.
Vipassana is a meditation technique that has made more people enlightened than any other, for vipassana is the essence itself. In all other techniques there is the same essence, but in different forms; they also include something insignificant. But vipassana is pure essence. You cannot take anything away from it and nothing can be added to it.
Vipassana can be done in three ways - you can choose the one that suits you best.
First way: awareness of your actions, your body, mind, heart. When walking, you must walk with awareness. As you move your hand, move it with awareness, firmly knowing that you are moving your hand. Because you can do it quite unconsciously, like a mechanical device... you are on a morning walk - you can walk without being aware of your legs.
Be alert to your body movements. When you eat, be alert to the movements required to eat. When you take a shower, be alert to the coolness, to the water falling on you, to the great joy that flows out of it - just be alert. This should not happen in an unconscious state.
The same is true for the mind. Whatever thought crosses the screen of your mind, remain a watcher. Whatever emotion passes over the screen of your heart, remain a witness - don't get involved, don't identify, don't judge what is good and what is bad; it should not be part of your meditation.
Second way: breath, breath awareness. When you inhale, your belly rises, and when you exhale, it falls. Therefore, the second way to do vipassana is to be aware of the abdomen: its rise and fall. Just be aware of the belly rising and falling, and the belly is very close to the life sources, because the child is connected to the life of the mother through the navel. Behind the navel is the source of his life. Therefore, as the belly rises and falls, with each inhalation and exhalation, the vital energy, the source of life, rises and falls. This is also not difficult, and perhaps even easier, since it is a separate technique.
In the first way, you have to be aware of the body, be aware of the mind, be aware of your emotions, your mood. Therefore, the first method includes three steps. In the second method, there is only one step: only the stomach - rising and falling, and the result is the same. As you become aware of your belly, the mind becomes silent, the heart calms down, emotions disappear.
Third way: is to be aware of the breath as it enters the body. Feel it at this point - at the polar point of the abdomen - feel it as it passes through the nostrils. The breath as it enters cools your nostrils. Then it goes out... goes in, goes out.
This is also possible. This is easier for men than for women. A woman is more aware of her belly. Most men do not know how to breathe with their stomachs. Their chest rises and falls because the wrong kind of sport has taken over the world. Of course, if your chest is high and your stomach is almost flat, it gives your body a more beautiful shape.
The man switched to chest breathing, so his chest is getting bigger, and his stomach is shrinking. He thinks it's more athletic.
Everywhere in the world, with the exception of Japan, athletes and their coaches emphasize the need to breathe by expanding the chest and drawing in the stomach. Their ideal is a lion with a large chest and a small belly. "Be like a lion!" - for athletes, gymnasts and everyone who works with the body, it has become the rule.
The only exception is Japan, where they don't care about a wide chest and a retracted belly. Pulling in the abdomen requires a certain amount of discipline; retraction of the abdomen is unnatural. Japan chose natural way, so the Japanese Buddha statue may surprise you. Thus, you can easily determine whether the statue in front of you is Indian or Japanese. The Indian statues of Gautama Buddha have a quite athletic body: the stomach is very small, and the chest is wide. The Japanese Buddha is completely different: his chest is almost inactive, because he breathes with his stomach, but his stomach is big. It doesn't look very pretty -- because the world's prevailing ideal of a big belly is very old; and yet belly breathing is more natural and more relaxing.
At night, when you sleep, you breathe not with your chest, but with your stomach. That's why you manage to relax at night. In the morning, after sleeping, you feel refreshed and rejuvenated, because all night you breathed naturally ... you were in Japan!
These are two points: if you are afraid that breathing into your belly and carefully watching how it rises and falls will ruin your athletic form… and men can be very preoccupied with their athletic form, then you better focus your attention on the nostrils. The breath comes in, watch; the breath goes out, watch.

Those are the three ways, any of them will do. If you want to do two ways at once, you can do it, your effort will become more intense. If you want to perform three methods at once, you can do this too, in which case the probability of success will increase even more. It's up to you which way you choose; choose the one that is easier for you.
Remember: what is simpler is more correct.
When meditation takes root and the mind becomes silent, your ego will disappear. You will remain, but there will be no sense of "I". So the doors are open.
Now with love thirst, with open heart wait for that great moment -- the greatest moment in anyone's life: wait for enlightenment.
It will come... it will certainly come. It never lingers for a single moment. As soon as you tune in to the right wave, it will suddenly burst into you and transform you.
an old man died, a new one came.

seat

Find a comfortable position in which you can remain vigilant for 40-60 minutes. The back and head are straightened, the eyes are closed, breathing is normal. Try not to move, change position only if it is really necessary.
The main thing while sitting is to observe how, at a point just above the navel, inhalation and exhalation raises and lowers the stomach. This is not a concentration technique, so while observing your breath, your attention will be distracted by various extraneous things. But in vipassana nothing can be a hindrance, so when there is any hindrance, stop watching the breath and pay attention to it, and then return to the breath again. A hindrance can be a thought, a feeling, a judgment, a bodily sensation, an impression from the outside world, etc.
The very process of observing is important, but what you observe is no longer so important, and therefore remember: do not identify yourself with everything that comes to you; in questions and problems you can see the sacraments that bring you pleasure!

Vipassana walking

This is a normal slow walk based on the awareness of the feet touching the ground. You can walk in a circle or in a straight line, 10-15 steps back and forth, indoors or outdoors. Eyes should be lowered, look at the ground a few steps ahead. While walking, attention should be directed to how each foot in turn touches the ground. If there is any obstruction, switch your attention from your feet to the obstruction and then back to your feet.

The same technique as when sitting, only the object of observation is different. Walk should be 20-30 minutes.

standing. Column of energy.

If you stand still, immediately a certain silence comes to you. Try standing in the corner of your room. Just stand quietly in the corner, doing nothing. Suddenly, the energy within you also stops. When you sit, this is the posture of the thinker; when you stand, the energy flows like a column and is distributed evenly throughout the body, standing is beautiful. Try this, maybe someone will be fine. You can stand for an hour, it's just wonderful. Just standing and doing nothing, not moving, you will find that something has settled in you, quieted down, centered, and you will feel like a column of energy. The body disappears.

Osho talks about the upsurge of energy that people often feel when they start doing Vipassana. In Vipassana it can sometimes happen that the person feels very sensitive because you are so quiet and the energy doesn't dissipate. Usually main part energy is dissipated and you are depleted. When you just sit and do nothing, you become a silent lake of energy, the lake is increasing all the time. It almost comes to the point where it overflows - and then you become sensitive. You feel sensitive, even sexual - as if all the senses have become fresh, rejuvenated, alive; as if the dust was falling off you, you took a bath and cleansed yourself with a shower. That happens. That's why people - especially Buddhist monks who have been doing Vipassana for years - don't eat much. They don't need it. They eat only once a day - and then very meager food and in small quantities; are you in best case call it breakfast... and only once a day. They don't sleep much, but they are full of energy. And they are not hermits - they work hard. It's not like they don't work. They chop wood and work in the garden, in the field, on the farm, they work all day long. But something happened to them, and now the energy is not dissipated. And the sitting posture is very good for conserving energy. The lotus position in which Buddhists sit is such that all the limbs of the body meet - a foot on a foot, a hand on a hand. These are the points where energy comes out and flows out, because in order for a leak to occur, something pointed is needed. That is why the male sexual organ is pointed, since it must lose a lot of energy. It's almost like a safety valve. When you have too much energy inside you and you can't do anything with it, you release it sexually. In the sexual act, the woman never releases any energy. So a woman can make love to many people in one night, but a man cannot. A woman can even store energy, if she knows how to do it, she can even receive it. No energy is released from within your head. It was made round by nature. Because the brain never loses any energy, it saves because it is the most important central controller of your body. He must be protected - and he is protected by a round skull. Energy cannot drain from any round object. That's why all the planets - the Earth and the Sun and the Moon and the stars - are all round. Otherwise, they would lose energy and die. When you sit, you become rounded: the hand touches the other hand. Therefore, if one hand releases energy, it gives it to the other hand. The leg touches the other leg, and sitting in this way, you become almost round. Energy moves within you. She doesn't go outside. You keep it, you gradually become a lake. Gradually you will feel that fullness in the abdomen. You may be empty, you may not have eaten, but you may feel a certain fullness. And increased sensitivity. But this is a good sign, a very good sign. Enjoy it.
Vipassana is a Buddhist meditation technique that is now actively spreading all over the world thanks to the activities of S.N. Goenka and his assistants. It is known that the enlightened Buddha personally passed this technique on to his disciples. The technique is simple. We must first follow the breath, and then the sensations in the body. It is easy to explain and even understand what needs to be done.

Vipassana is an increasingly popular spiritual practice (retreat) in Russia, the participants of which take a vow of silence for 10 days, refuse to communicate with outside world and remain alone. In an attempt to find out whether such practices help change their lives, Afisha Daily recorded the stories of those who have undergone Buddhist vipassana in Russia and abroad.

Julia Rudometova

About life before vipassana

In 2014, I left the office where I had worked for four years. It was a difficult period of self-discovery. I went to South East Asia with a one-way ticket, but the trip ended ahead of schedule: I broke my ankle. While she was in a cast, a friend went through vipassana in Nepal. I learned about this practice from her. By the end of the year, having regained my health and worked for half a year in a gastronomic magazine, I threw myself another challenge.

In Russia, the official Vipassana retreat centers are located in the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The choice was simple: I was in St. Petersburg and Moscow, but not yet in the Urals. In December, I submitted an application for March (you need to fill out a questionnaire asking about your goals and previous experience of any practices), I was approved, and on March 8, 2015 I was already in Yekaterinburg. When I flew to Vipassana, I did not fully realize what was ahead of me. I knew it would be some kind of test. Probably, if I had found out in advance which one it was, I would have thought a hundred times whether to go or not.

How Vipassana works

Vipassana Center in the Urals leases territory children's camp V pine forest Sysert village. We got up at 4.00, went to a two-hour meditation, then breakfast, after which 1.5 hours until the next meditation - this is my favorite time. I immediately went back to sleep, full and satisfied. Lights out was at 10 pm, but six hours of sleep was negligible. Meditation took about 15 hours a day. There was nothing to do but meditation. We ate 2.5 times a day: breakfast at 6:00 am, lunch at 12:00 pm, and something like an afternoon snack at 4:00 pm, at which we were given half a piece of fruit and a glass of milk. Until the next breakfast, only table water. The food was vegetarian but varied.

You cannot take food with you to Vipassana. Searches during the settlement are not satisfied, everything is on your conscience. I remember that in the common corridor on the floor, chocolate wrappers, biscuits and even an empty pack of dry dog ​​food were sticking out of the trash can. It is not easy for everyone to endure such a diet. My neighbor dragged bread from dinner, dried it on the radiator, and crunched before going to bed. Living conditions did not frighten me. We lived in a room for 3-4 people, and there was no shower in our building: we had to go from one building to another in minus 10 degrees with a wet head wrapped in a towel.

Vipassana Rules

On the first day you accept the conditions of vipassana. You refuse all kinds of communication with the outside world and take a vow of silence for all ten days. Whatever happens in the world, you won't know about it. All valuables, documents, wallet are deposited. There is no laptop, no phone, and no way to call. There are not all those things that you used to score your free time: films, books, music, drawing. There is only you and nothing else. Getting rid of the phone and the Internet for 10 days is already a luxury these days.

Vipassana implies gender segregation: men and women lived in separate buildings. We only crossed paths in the common meditation hall, where the girls sat on the right side and the men on the left. Under the ban, not only tactile contact with anyone, but also eye contact: one random glance can unbalance for two days. I know that some winked, especially those who came in pairs. One girl confessed after vipassana that she had a comfortable seat during the general meditation and could see all the handsome guys. I honestly accepted the rules of the game: I looked at the floor all the time and did not miss a single meditation.

Not all survived. I remember two girls quarreled over the window: one was too hot, the other too cold. They broke their vow of silence and expressed their grievances to each other. This often happens in the middle of vipassana: they say that demons come out of a person, accumulated aggression spills out.

About meditation

The hardest thing is to meditate. It doesn't last 15-20 minutes, but long hours every day. It's hard not only for the body, it's hard to calm the mind. The first day was a real poker club in my head. And I could not control this process. Endless debilitating streams of thoughts. You're trying to focus on your breath, but there's a party in your head. On the second and third days, when people have been drinking and chatting for a long time, the noisy party becomes sluggish. And these people staged karaoke in my head! I did not suspect that I knew Philip Kirkorov's repertoire. You try to meditate, and in your head they suddenly turn on “Kukaracha, kukaracha ...”. On the fourth day, the thoughts finally subsided. At all.

In the middle of vipassana, we had meditations of firm determination, when you can’t move: you take a pose and sit still for 60 minutes. The first day I failed all three meditations. My legs were numb, my back ached. It seemed like an impossible task. By the way, there was no perfect silence there. More than 80 people meditate in the common hall: someone sneezed, scratched, blew his nose, someone rustled with lightning, a pillow. But you learn to ignore it. One of the main tasks of Vipassana is to learn to feel life in every cell of your body. It is difficult and at first it does not work. But towards the end of the vipassana, I succeeded. I had a feeling that I Christmas tree, glow. I could direct the energy to the little toe of my right foot, the crook of my elbow, the lobe of my ear, or the back of my head. Sounds unbelievable, but it's true.

About distrust

Every day from 20.00 to 21.00 we were given lectures, where they told general things about Vipassana. On the fifth day, the lecture was about gratitude and donations. In an instant, everything began to seem like nonsense to me: we, like sectarians, carefully listen to this nonsense. There was an idea that now I will be forced to rewrite all my property. Although there was nothing like that. As you know, vipassana works for donations: you leave as much as you see fit and can afford at the end. If you don't have money, no one will judge you. Instead, you can serve next time: cleaning rooms, cooking, or becoming a course manager. No one names the specific amount of payment. There was only one moment that I did not like: when you leave a donation, your name and the amount that you put in a special box are written in a notebook.

The next day, thoughts of dropping everything and leaving, fortunately, passed.

About the return

Close friends knew about vipassana, and I told my parents that I was leaving for a yoga camp where you can’t use the phone. I left them an emergency number with the words that it can only be called in case of an earthquake or tsunami. My parents survived, they didn’t call, although my mother still suspects that I was in a sect. And as soon as I turned on the phone, I found out that my grandmother had died, and I was also unexpectedly fired from the magazine. For me it was a shock, and it took me a long time to come to my senses. After vipassana, she got a tattoo on her wrist - the word anicca ("anicca", Pali language), meaning "everything is temporary, and there is nothing permanent."

A year and a half ago I moved to live in the Crimea. She worked as a freelancer and at the same time began to do a new business she liked - organizing excursions and parties in different cities.

Vipassana has become a logical continuation of my unfinished Asian journey. After her, I began to do what I want, and not what others expect from me. Now I'm thinking of going again, but in another country.

Igor Budnikov

About life before vipassana

In my fifth year at MGIMO, I got a job as a lawyer in an American company: a prestigious position, a big salary. It would seem that I should have been content with life. But looking back, I understand that these were the most miserable years of my life.

I learned about vipassana about a couple of years before I went to it for the first time. I started doing yoga and heard in the yoga center that there is such a thing as vipassana, but I didn’t understand what it was for and what it was about. Vipassana suggests that for ten days you do not use the Internet and phone - you completely disappear from society. And my job required me to be on call 24/7. All employees had Blackberries (we called them “electronic leashes”), which they had to keep with them around the clock. My lifestyle was incompatible with the disappearance. Yes and corporate culture does not approve of such aspirations of employees. I thought about Vipassana for two years, and then I realized that two more years would pass and nothing would change. I stopped enjoying my work. In other words, everything is enough. In 2012, I negotiated with great difficulty a three-week vacation (the longest in a six-year career) and chose vipassana dates.

How does vipassana work in Malaysia

Why did I choose Malaysia? It coincided with the vacation schedule, and I was also attracted by the climate and the opportunity to relax in Thailand after the retreat. The center in Malaysia is specially built for Vipassana. The conditions are very good: each student has a separate small room with a toilet.

I went through Vipassana with my girlfriend. This made the task more difficult, because such retreats involve individual work: men and women live in different parts of the center, and they sit on opposite sides in the meditation hall and in the dining room. We caused a lot of inconvenience: we often looked at each other, exchanged signs and smiles, for which we were twice called to the carpet to the teacher and sternly warned: it would happen again - and we would be kicked out. Any look, gesture or note can become an obsession for several days: “She smiled at me. What does it mean, what did she mean by that? Natasha and I met for a year and a half, and, apparently, there was that stage of the relationship when it was unbearable to be apart.

There were no more Russians besides us: a few Europeans, Chinese, most of all Malaysians. The discipline is tough: getting up at 4.00 in the morning and meditation until 21.00. It was the classical Vipassana of the Goenka system, which includes one type of meditation: sitting and still. In other traditions, sitting meditation alternates with walking. Having tried various retreats for myself, I can say for sure that it is very difficult to spend the whole day sitting on the floor in Turkish style. Often it was just the agony of waiting for the signal to go off to get up, get a drink, and go to the bathroom. After 15 minutes we came back and sat for another hour. Of the 12 hours of meditation per day, at best, only 4–5 hours were effective. The rest were just misery varying degrees gravity. Once a day we listened to a lecture on tape. For me and Natasha, the recording was separately included in Russian. Real vipassana is free, but you can leave a donation at the end.

About the pain

Before the trip, my back hurt. I regularly went to the massage therapist. It seemed to get better, but on the plane the pain returned. I was worried: who will set my back in vipassana and how will I meditate at all? I went to the teacher to complain about my back, and he said, "Watch this pain, and in four days it will disappear." The first few days were like hard labor, but on the fourth day, coincidence or not, the pain subsided. Vipassana is suicide for the mind, so from the first day he was looking for a thousand reasons and excuses why he should run away. In my case it was back pain.

Toward evening we had an hour break for evening tea. It took about 10 minutes for the tea itself, and there were still 50 that needed to be occupied with something. I don't remember before feeling such a fundamental boredom: you can't read, write, listen to music. No entertainment at all. I no longer have the strength to meditate, I'm tired of sitting, I don't want to sleep. At this time, everyone went crazy in their own way. Someone studied the life of ants. In Moscow, on my free evening, I either met friends or went to the cinema. Being alone with yourself without turning on music or TV or entertaining yourself with food is almost impossible. I had no idea how restless my mind was. During the meditations, there was a chaotic stream of thoughts: about work, whether I will be fired or not, about food, about sex, about how much time is left to sit, about pain, about parents, friends, songs that you accidentally heard on repeat in your head are spinning in your head. radio. And you can't do anything with this mess in your head. We were told that thoughts reflect how you live. And as long as such a head, life will also be a mess.

The first productive meditation was on the sixth day. Last session in the evening before bed. I stopped feeling pain and lost the sense of time. I was in an unusual state for myself, as if I had smoked marijuana. Colors have become brighter. I walked from the meditation hall to my cell for 40 minutes, although the distance there is 50 meters. It seems that for the first time in my life I looked at the trees, the moon and insects with tears in my eyes. The last day - the day of liberation - was happiness. True, I did not understand what I wanted to do, but I was finally able to hug my girlfriend.

About changes

I thought vipassana was a magic pill that would instantly solve all problems. But it's not. In our company there was a special motivation to work: every year the employees were paid more. When I returned to the office after my vacation, the first thing I did was pick up my envelope. I unfolded it, looked at the figure, which was more than a year ago, and burst into tears. If you add a zero behind or multiply by two, nothing will change. The work remains the same as I left it. About six months later, I quit.

I have completed over ten retreats. Even if you do what you love and spend the whole year in pleasant places, garbage still accumulates in your head. In my opinion, a retreat once a year is a basic hygiene for consciousness. I would compare meditation to brushing your teeth daily. I brushed my teeth - the sensations in my mouth are pleasant, fresh. And if for some reason you haven’t cleaned it, you can live, but you feel discomfort. The most difficult was the 21-day retreat. It's like running on long distance. It seems that there is no more strength to meditate, but after a couple of circles a second wind opens up.

Along with the work, the attitude to everything has changed. Before, it was important for me what brand of clothes I wear and what restaurants I go to. Now I don't care. Yes, I never answered the question, what is my purpose. But perhaps there is no need to look for an answer. Just do what you like and what you believe in.

About relationships with parents

Until recently, I did not tell my parents about the dismissal. Morally prepared for the scandal: “What are you thinking?! Don't be stupid." As a result, I flew to visit them in the Volga region to celebrate my birthday. We were sitting at the festive table, and then I said: I have news. There was deathly silence. But the reaction surprised me. Mom said: “You know, I thought for a long time that you should try something else.” And dad just asked what I plan to do. Relations with parents have changed a lot. They, looking at me, became vegetarians. They are already 60 years old, but they are in the subject of everything that I do. Moreover, they themselves went through vipassana. They are farmers, grow grain. Before work they were constantly stressed: loans, salaries, something went wrong. And now they have ceased to take everything to heart. And from this, I must say, the business only benefited.

Marina Belykh

About life before vipassana

For 16 years I worked in a large media company - from a night DJ at Rock FM (then there were Love Radio, Energy, Europe Plus) and a project manager to a PR specialist and a top manager. At the peak of my career, I realized that I no longer want to do this: to sell people what they do not need.

I have three children. They, as I realized later, lacked parental love although I refused to notice it. Four years ago, I quit my job to be with the kids. Around the same time, my husband and I decided to get a divorce. Divorce is always painful when a part of you seems to be torn off and emptiness remains.

I was not exactly at a crossroads, but my coordinate system was changing: I quit my career, divorced my husband and was in search of something simple and real, I wanted to escape from the consumer world in which I lived all this time. My friend said: “Listen, go to Vipassana!” I didn’t know anything about it, but I decided to try it: maybe it will help to find peace. Children need a stable and happy mom, not a mom chasing a new car, lipstick, or impression.

What happens in vipassana

I signed up for the Vipassana Center in the Urals - these were the next dates with free places. A woman does not always manage to escape somewhere because of children and household chores. But I distributed everyone among relatives without further explanation, where I was going and why. Still, I am already an adult - and if I need to go somewhere for 10 days, then I need to.

The first day went easily. You are full of energy, there is a new environment around you. The second day you start to load - everything goes wrong, there is not enough communication. The hardest thing was to give up cigarettes. I confess: I still hid a pack with me and smoked on the third or fourth day under the pines in shock from what was happening. In general, vipassana is a very humane practice. Nobody is forcing you to do anything. Do you sleep in a room instead of meditating? Okay, this is your decision.

On the third day of meditation for 12 hours, I went outside and saw that all the stars were at different heights, different color and brightness. At first, I thought I was crazy. And not a little scared. Master said that I finally stopped thinking about myself and saw the world. These were my personal feelings, not provoked. chemicals. There was a moment when I even wanted to go to a monastery: this is true happiness! It's better than any orgasm, than money, than extreme sports, than travel. The feeling can be compared to the birth of a child: the first few minutes, when the baby is placed on the breast, are the happiest in your life. Vipassana reminded me of these feelings. Only this time it was the birth of herself.

About the pain

I don't have a subtalar joint in my foot due to an injury. It's a miracle that I can walk at all and even occasionally get up on my heels. Of course, severe pain periodically rolls. I immediately told the course teacher that I would not be able to sit in the position they recommend - knees under me. He asked if there had been an injury for a long time and, when he found out that six years ago, he said: this is nothing, let's try. I was indignant: how is it nothing? I even had a disability certificate! But I believed him. My leg hurt to tears. I tried my best to ignore, but all my thoughts returned to the pain. At Vipassana, they teach to observe their breathing and turn off the internal dialogue. And every day the pain became less and less: first a pulsation, then a slight tingling, and then nothing at all. I sat on a sore leg for four hours - but there was no pain. Then, of course, reality hit and the pain returned. Therefore, it is worth going to Vipassana from time to time so as not to lose this skill.

About changes

Vipassana is a very physiological technique in which, unlike other practices, nothing needs to be visualized or speculated. This is a kind of physical education for the brain, with the help of the body you are taught to feel the world without value judgments.

I cannot say that vipassana has changed my life. But she was the impetus for change. I moved from a small provincial town to Moscow. I became interested in Montessori pedagogy, now I am getting an international diploma of a Montessori teacher. Vipassana has changed my attitude towards children: the four of us are all different, but this is normal. I learned to listen carefully to them, to talk slowly and to show respect. And respect is the unconditional right of a person to have an opinion different from your own.

Some people still ask me: “Marina, where do you get so much patience and strength? How do you manage to always be so calm and cheerful?” I am not agitating anyone to undergo vipassana, but I am telling what became the catalyst for these changes.

On Vipassana, my sense of smell and hearing became aggravated. I remember, after another meditation, I was standing on the street, I heard the sound of an approaching car and smelled gasoline, but there was no one there. Four minutes later, a car pulled up. Finally I was able to quit smoking after fifteen years of experience, overcome the fear of pain (I started skiing!), I established relationships with my parents. Most importantly, I stopped fighting the world.

Vipassana meditation is the practice of ten days of austerity. During this spiritual practice, people are silent for ten days, meditate and abstain from animal food. Let's talk in more detail about the meaning and methodology of Vipassana.

Official Information

Vipassana is taught by a special center of spiritual practices. For everyone, participation is completely free, all organization costs are compensated by voluntary donations from those who are already taking the course.

What is Vipassana:

• one of the oldest meditation techniques, which was formed in India two and a half thousand years ago;
• considered a universal remedy for all human misfortunes and problems;
• the literal translation is "the art of seeing reality in its true light".

How to learn Vipassana:

• There are special courses that last ten days. During this period, each participant, under the guidance of experienced instructors, masters spiritual practices in the amount they need.
• Meditation is available for both beginners and "experienced users", no prior preparation and training is needed
• To participate, you need to find the schedule of Vipassana courses, sign up for them and wait for the day when you can start training.

Where Vipassana is taught:

• In Russia, the spiritual center Dhamma Dullabha is engaged in the training of all comers. Courses are held several times a year
• On the official website of the center you can find the city closest to you where the practice is held
• It is advisable to sign up in advance, because free places are very quickly sorted out by those who wish.
• There are also international centers abroad

Financing:

• Training is provided free of charge. Accommodation and food - at the expense of the organizers
• Everyone who has already completed Vipassana courses can make a donation, strictly on a voluntary basis. These grants are used to finance
• Neither the Teachers nor their assistants are paid, they donate their time and share knowledge with the participants

It is worth noting that skeptics speak very impartially about Vipassana. Say, this is a sect, and then they will demand money from you. In fact, everything is completely different. If meditation, complete silence and austerity prove difficult for you, you can leave the courses at any time. Donations are made entirely voluntarily.

The essence of meditation

Before you start doing spiritual practices, you need to understand why you need it, what result you want to achieve.

The essence, features and benefits of Vipassana are as follows:

• Learn to see the inner nature of objects, things, phenomena, accept them as they are
• Practice self-observation, which helps to realize and accept your inner self, develop your personality and gain freedom of thought
• Become aware of the relationship between your mind, feelings and physical shell
• Thanks to complete silence and solitude, you can fully focus on your feelings and thoughts, achieve some enlightenment and peace of mind

It is believed that Vipassana is a real journey through your mental body, full awareness of your own needs, from lower to higher. As a result, a balance is achieved between mind and body, you are filled with love and compassion for others and the world as a whole, you get a lot of energy and calm your mind.

Happiness and harmony is the goal of Vipassana meditation in the first place.

And now let's talk about the techniques that are most often practiced by course participants:

1. The first technique is awareness. It is as follows: at every moment of your life, you clearly understand what is happening here and now with your body and mind. Learn to think about every movement and make it consciously. The same applies to the work of the brain - you train control over thoughts
2. The second technique is breath awareness. You learn to breathe consciously, to follow the movements of the abdomen during exhalations and inhalations. It helps to achieve a meditative state, completely free from emotions and thoughts.

If you do not have the opportunity to attend special courses, you can try to practice Vipassana meditation on your own. The effect will not be as strong as after working under the guidance of an experienced Teacher, but some results can be achieved.

To achieve good results, follow these guidelines:

• Allocate exactly 60 minutes of free time for meditation. This must be done every day, without days off and practitioners. The more regularly you practice, the fewer gaps you make, the sooner you will reach your goal.
• Refrain from a meditation session an hour before going to bed, and you should not practice on a full stomach
• Provide yourself with a comfortable place where you will be as comfortable and comfortable as possible to meditate.
• Choose a comfortable position in which you can relax and fully concentrate on your sensations. Keep your eyes closed and your back straight and straight. The ideal position is the lotus position. But if you have a bad stretch, you will quickly get tired in it, so you can just meditate while sitting.

In principle, this is all that is required for a meditation session. For comfort, you can place pillows under you or install a footrest to ensure maximum comfort during your practice.

It is important to understand that you should not expect quick results. Spiritual self-development is something that needs to be done persistently, constantly and regularly. So be patient and practice every day.

In Europe, Russia and the CIS countries in Lately many centers dedicated to teaching and studying the Vipassana technique were opened. Everything unknown and new, quite expectedly, causes us concern: is this fashionable teaching that promises to open the third eye some kind of authoritarian organization aimed solely at extracting money from its clients? We would like to assure you that vipassana in its original meaning and existence is an ancient spiritual practice that, by helping to immerse yourself in a special meditative state aimed at knowing your “I”, contributes to the achievement of enlightenment.

Vipassana: the history of the technique

Vipasana (vipashyana) is translated from Sanskrit as "vision as it is", "insight meditation". Vipassana is also called the method of personality development with the help of Buddhist meditation, and certain areas of this meditation. This is one of the most ancient meditation techniques. It is believed that this spiritual practice originated in India, and about 2500 years ago it was studied by the Buddha Gautama, who taught this meditation to his students.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, this teaching is the Art of living, the path to finding harmony and health. In fact, this practice is aimed at purifying the mind and acquiring the highest happiness - freedom of consciousness. And it is through the liberation of the mind that not just treatment occurs, but the complete healing of all diseases, both mental and physical. Initially, the Buddha and his disciples used the phrase "vipassana-bhavana". The practitioner of this technique must gradually accept the impermanence, dissatisfaction and impersonality of experience. Gradually, this acceptance should eliminate the prerequisites for psychological and physical suffering associated with the experience of life. This technique of tranquility has acquired new directions and approaches over time. In Tibetan, "vipashyana" was translated as "divine vision" - "lha-tong". There are several branches of vipassana in Tibetan Buddhism, but basically they are all concerned with recognizing the emptiness of the world and mind. The main changes in the methodology were made by Buddhist monks in the 19th century. And today, vipassana is called the practice taught by Mahasi Sayadaw and Satya Goenka.

Types of Vipassana Practice

Vipasana according to Satya Goenka

In Russia and the CIS countries, the ten-day Goenka technique is especially popular. These vipassana courses are aimed at:

• teaching the practice of morality,
• observation of breathing in the region of the upper lip and nostrils,
• impartial observation of your body and its sensations,
• development and disclosure of goodwill.

Goenka courses include a daily 10-hour meditation and evening lectures where the teacher explains the nuances of the practice and answers questions. The purpose of these courses is the liberation of samskara, the development of generosity, energy, honesty, balance, kindness, self-denial, morality. The release of memory involves the destruction of incorrect, sharp reactions to events caused by previous experience. Training is not limited to 10 days. Anyone can take an additional three-day course or access longer training, which can last up to 60 days.

Vipassana according to Mahasi Sayadaw

In Thailand and Sri Lanka, the Sayadaw technique is more common. A feature of this practice is that the mediative state is achieved not only in the sitting position, but also when walking. Practice takes place almost around the clock, but does not bring much physical fatigue and stress due to the alternation of immobility and movement. The practitioner works with awareness, monitoring his sensations and reactions around the clock. This course implies a fairly rigorous approach. A person immersed in a meditative state must experience sixteen vipassana-nana realizations concerning himself and the outside world.

Vipassana originated in India and was later studied by the Buddha Gautama,
who taught this meditation to his students

Features and practice of vipassana

This meditation helps to transform the personality through self-observation. The main idea of ​​this practice is a deep connection between mind and body, according to which all mental suffering leads to physical ailment and pain. During this meditation, full concentration on the physical sensations (that is, the life of the body) and the state of mind is necessary. This exploration of oneself helps to get to the common origins of the body and mind, which means removing mental pollution and gaining balance, love and compassion. This journey into oneself helps to see the hidden processes: how and why the degradation or development of the personality occurs, the mechanism of increasing suffering. A person who has cognized these subtle mechanisms can even get rid of unconscious delusions and finds peace. It is very simple, even a child can master it. Children do this practice even more easily, as their minds are less polluted by negative experiences and vain thoughts. There are several ways to master vipassana on your own.

Ways to master vipassana on your own

1. Awareness of movement and thoughts

This method involves learning to be aware of one's own actions. Any movement must be conscious of you. You must clearly understand that your hand moves according to your will, you walk down the street according to your own decision. It may seem that this method is somewhat naive. On the contrary, have you often wondered why you pushed a lock of hair out of your face or straightened your shirt collar? All these actions are usually performed mechanically, but it is precisely the mechanics of the action that you need to get away from.

From now on, you must be aware of your every action, clearly knowing that your arms or legs move only according to your will, without automatism. This practice is aimed at the rejection of unconscious actions. Watch yourself when you chew your food, take a bath, straighten your clothes. Once you have mastered the observation and awareness of the body, move on to the awareness of your mind. Watch your every thought, feeling. No need to evaluate emotions and thoughts, no need to get involved. Just watch your mind. Gradually you will go through three steps: body awareness, mind awareness, mood awareness. Coming out of the meditative state, you will better understand the mechanism of your psychology and body.

2. Breath awareness

In this variant, your observation will be on the abdomen. After all, when breathing, the stomach rises and falls, and it is on the stomach that the navel is located - the vital source through which the child is connected to the mother. The movement of the abdomen is directly related to the vital force, on inhalation the force is added, and on exhalation it descends along with the abdomen. When you are fully aware of the movement of the abdomen, the emotions will subside and the mind will become silent. This method is easier for women, especially those who have given birth. After all, all women carefully monitor their stomach: during menstruation, during pregnancy, evaluating their beauty and smartness of the silhouette.

3. Observation of the upper lip and nostrils

Concentrate your attention on the sensations as the air enters and then exits your body. On inhalation, the nostrils feel a pleasant coolness, and on exhalation, the upper lip warms up. This method is easier for men, it is easier for them to concentrate on breathing than on the stomach. The problem is that most men are not very aware of their belly and breathe by lifting their chest. This way of breathing came from Europe, where beauty standards are wide male chest. But in Japan, people by nature are not developed in the shoulders and do not see anything terrible in a bulging belly. Therefore, the second and third variants of vipassana are equally easy for Japanese men. This cultural difference can be traced even in the image of the Buddha: the Indian deity has athletic forms and a flat stomach, while the Japanese figurine has a large belly and narrow chest. Therefore, the awareness of the nostrils is easier for European men.

Vipassana helps to remove suffering and find your own "I"

These are the three main ways to achieve a special meditative state of vipassana. In principle, they can be practiced separately, but it is better to combine all three options, then the effectiveness of spiritual practice will increase. But remember that this technique requires concentration, but not excessive effort. To begin with, it is better to master one method, then the second, and finally practice all three options at the same time.

Types of provisions for mastering vipassana

vipassana sitting

You can learn the technique while sitting. To do this, take a comfortable position in which you can sit for 40 minutes without feeling discomfort. But remember that the backs and heads must be straight. Close your eyes and breathe calmly at a pace that is comfortable for you. Try to avoid any movement. Observe the movement of the abdomen at a point just above the navel. remember, that vipassana, meditation This technique involves not concentration, but observation. If any thought or object distracts you, give it due attention, and then return to meditation.

Vipassana while walking

This is a separate direction of vipassana, the purpose of which is the awareness of the feet that touch the ground. You can walk in the park or at home. Choose a site that suits you and start practicing. You can walk in a circle or in a straight line, taking 15 steps forward and backward. Lower your eyes and look at the ground ahead of your burdens. Watch how your feet alternately touch the ground, how the foot moves, watch the sensation in your legs: how the knee bends, how the sole tramples the ground, how the foot rises into the air. If something distracts you, remove the interference and watch your feet again. After some time of spiritual practice, you will achieve complete freedom, the sense of "I" will dissolve, the mind will be silent, and emotions will go away. This is enlightenment. And your personality will be transformed, along with the ego, fears, resentments, pain, greed and other vices will go away, but kindness and compassion will blossom in your soul in full force.