Benefits of Vipassana Meditation

"Vipassana" means to see things as they really are.

Vipassana meditation which was started by Gautama Buddha 2500 years ago or so. "...Buddha taught: an art of living. He never established or taught any religion, any 'ism'. He never instructed those who came to him to practice any rituals, any empty formalities. Instead, he taught them just to observe nature as it is, by observing the reality inside. Out of ignorance we keep reacting in ways which harm ourselves and others. But when the wisdom arises-the wisdom of observing reality as it is-this habit of reacting falls away. When we cease to react blindly, then we are capable of real action-action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and understands the truth. Such action can only be positive, creative, helpful to ourselves and to others." S.N. Goenka "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation".

Dear Ron Alexander,
yes, Vipassana Meditation is a art of Living because it removes all the negative energies from our all the bodies.SohiniBen.

I have started to send a comment three times already and each time have quit. I guess I don't know what to say about vipassana, other than it has been the greatest gift in my life - and I gave it to myself. ...I give it to myself. Leaving next week for another 10 days of silence.

The possibilities are infinite...

Metta,
Jeanne

I had a life-changing experience from within... not from anyones words or any source outside myself. I am forever grateful to Buddha and the lineage of practitioners who kept vipassana intact, and to Goenka and to Denny - the co-worker who told me about vipassana. (Jeanne)

Ron said: "...having a hard time sitting over 30 minutes at a time."

Funny... who would have thought that sitting is hard?
On our first course, I glanced over at my husband at the end of an hour and he had so many cushions under him, that they looked like a chair. Now he uses only a small blanket folded over... just enough to slightly raise his lower spine. He swore at the end of that first course that he would never be able to be comfortable sitting... and now he is a marathon sitter.

...patiently and persistently, you are bound to succeed... I love those words. (Jeanne)

Reply by Jeanne

Ron said: "I am trying to be equanimous, instead of getting too "rah rah" about this. I asked Anand the teacher about "why not getting really excited about things like your team winning?". Expecting a lecture about how "pleasure sankaras were just as hurtful as painful ones in the long run", instead he simply looked at me with his clear eyes and beautiful smile and said: "Why can't we be joyous every moment?"

Vipassana... As it is... and for me, sometimes, it is exciting, especially after getting up from an hour sit. Sometimes I want to break into a run - skipping and jumping... feeling good to be so alive. But I don't... I simply observe my excitement... (knowing the team is winning.)

Jeanne responds to "my struggling with the monkey mind.." It appears that I was being dualistic - what's new? I love this answer below, Jeanne, but if you feel you need to clarify more, it would make sense, as there was more than two "monkey minds diss - cussing" here.

Jeanne replies:
The monkey is the busy-ness of the mind... and it gets into everything - senses, thoughts, sensations, emotions, feelings... the many ways we elucidate and communicate our states of being... the monkey is there.
The monkey is also there in the flow... it becomes one with the nature of reality, rather than trying to understand, dissect, analyze, or interpret meaning... it loves the flow too. The flow of dhamma is soma to the soul, to the monkey and to everything within vibrational range.

And finally, other jewels from Jeanne:

... another beauty of Buddhism. God is a non-issue.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” ~Buddha

I am forever grateful for the change that Vipassana meditation has wrought in my life. When I first learned this technique I felt as though I had been wandering in a maze of blind alleys and now at last had found the royal road. In the years since then I have kept following this road, and with every step the goal has become clearer: liberation from all suffering, full enlightenment. I cannot claim to have reached the final goal, but I have no doubt that this way leads directly there.S.N. Goenka - foreword for the book VIPASSANA MEDITATION by William Hart

Vipassana is one of India's most ancient meditation techniques. Long lost to humanity, it was rediscovered by Gotama the Buddha more than 2500 years ago. Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. It is the process of self-purification by self-observation. One begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. With a sharpened awareness one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind, and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness. This truth realization by direct experience is the process of purification. The entire path (Dhamma) is a universal remedy for universal problems, and has nothing to do with any organized religion or sectarianism. For this reason, it can be praticed freely by everyone, at any time, in any place, without conflict due to race, community or religion, and it will prove equally beneficial to one and all. from the intro. pamphlet "Vipassana Meditation as taught by Goenka - Intro. to Techniques"

drmike said:
Thanks Jeanne,

The reason I knew that this organization was "the real deal" and not something "fake and schitzty" get up was the fact that it is free for the newcomer. It perpetuates itself by love and service. This was galvanized when I heard the lecture in which he describes bringing it to India and he said that though this is a free gift, but a lot of hard work is needed to get it...So even in a land of hunger and famine, only a few will really come...I know now how much hard work that takes...Best,
Mike

"(Goenka) ...said that though this is a free gift, ...a lot of hard work is needed to get it..."
Its funny... cuz people always laugh when he says that "they will work from 4 in the morning, till 10 at night"... but its a laugh born of understanding of the effort... not a laugh of reckless abandon.

Its a gift that only you can give yourself.