Find the Answer with Meditation
We recommend this vipassana technique for everyone. Adopt one of the sitting postures.
Choose a sitting position, place your hands in your lap, palms facing upward, the right hand on top of the left. If doi...ng the exercise lying down, put your hands on the abdomen, one on top of the other, or at your sides. Close your eyes. If you are disabled or have a chronic illness you can do the exercise lying down.
Next, direct your attention to the abdomen, an inch or two above the navel. Find the point that seems clearest to you. Don't actually look at the spot. Just place your mind there. The point should lie along the vertical midline of the body.
As you breathe in, the abdomen expands; as you breathe out, it contracts. In meditation these movements are called, respectively, "rising" and "falling." They never cease to alternate as long as you live.
As the abdomen rises, observe the motion from beginning to end with your mind. When the abdomen falls, do the same. That's all there is to it. Just keep watching the rising and falling movements. You don't have to do anything to them. Just know the movements without judging or describing them.
If it is difficult to perceive the rising and falling motions, put your hand on your stomach in order to feel them clearly.
Instead of making a continuous loop, the rising and falling motions are actually separate movements. Imagine a rock thrown straight up in the air. When reaching the highest point the rock stops for a fraction of a second before falling. Likewise, the abdomen stops rising for a moment before falling back.
As you do the exercise, restrict your attention to what is occurring in the immediate present moment. Don't think about the past or future—don't think about anything at all. Let go of worries, concerns, and memories. Empty your mind of everything except the abdominal movements occurring right now. But don't think about them; just know them.
It's important to understand that knowing bodily motion (or knowing anything) as it actually is in the present moment is entirely different from thinking about it. In insight meditation the aim is not to think, but only to know.
To know an object during vipassana meditation means to experience it with bare, nonverbal awareness. You merely register the sensation with impartial attention, without identifying, naming, judging or describing it. You don't have to comment on the movements: "That falling motion lasted longer than the previous one. That rising movement wasn't as clear as the others," and so on.
As soon as there is bare awareness of the rising or falling movement, you are already knowing it. The same is true of everything you might observe during meditation practice. No matter what appears, just know it with bare attention for one moment and then let it go.
Keeping your mind on the rising and falling movements may not be as easy as you'd think. Be patient and don't judge yourself, even if the mind wanders out often. Remember that you're learning a new skill. When learning to play the piano, for example, you wouldn't expect perfection right away. Likewise, you shouldn't expect it in meditation. Don't get discouraged if your progress seems slow. As long as you stick with the practice, results are sure to come.
http://www.vipassanadhura.com/howto.htm
We recommend this vipassana technique for everyone. Adopt one of the sitting postures.
Choose a sitting position, place your hands in your lap, palms facing upward, the right hand on top of the left. If doi...ng the exercise lying down, put your hands on the abdomen, one on top of the other, or at your sides. Close your eyes. If you are disabled or have a chronic illness you can do the exercise lying down.
Next, direct your attention to the abdomen, an inch or two above the navel. Find the point that seems clearest to you. Don't actually look at the spot. Just place your mind there. The point should lie along the vertical midline of the body.
As you breathe in, the abdomen expands; as you breathe out, it contracts. In meditation these movements are called, respectively, "rising" and "falling." They never cease to alternate as long as you live.
As the abdomen rises, observe the motion from beginning to end with your mind. When the abdomen falls, do the same. That's all there is to it. Just keep watching the rising and falling movements. You don't have to do anything to them. Just know the movements without judging or describing them.
If it is difficult to perceive the rising and falling motions, put your hand on your stomach in order to feel them clearly.
Instead of making a continuous loop, the rising and falling motions are actually separate movements. Imagine a rock thrown straight up in the air. When reaching the highest point the rock stops for a fraction of a second before falling. Likewise, the abdomen stops rising for a moment before falling back.
As you do the exercise, restrict your attention to what is occurring in the immediate present moment. Don't think about the past or future—don't think about anything at all. Let go of worries, concerns, and memories. Empty your mind of everything except the abdominal movements occurring right now. But don't think about them; just know them.
It's important to understand that knowing bodily motion (or knowing anything) as it actually is in the present moment is entirely different from thinking about it. In insight meditation the aim is not to think, but only to know.
To know an object during vipassana meditation means to experience it with bare, nonverbal awareness. You merely register the sensation with impartial attention, without identifying, naming, judging or describing it. You don't have to comment on the movements: "That falling motion lasted longer than the previous one. That rising movement wasn't as clear as the others," and so on.
As soon as there is bare awareness of the rising or falling movement, you are already knowing it. The same is true of everything you might observe during meditation practice. No matter what appears, just know it with bare attention for one moment and then let it go.
Keeping your mind on the rising and falling movements may not be as easy as you'd think. Be patient and don't judge yourself, even if the mind wanders out often. Remember that you're learning a new skill. When learning to play the piano, for example, you wouldn't expect perfection right away. Likewise, you shouldn't expect it in meditation. Don't get discouraged if your progress seems slow. As long as you stick with the practice, results are sure to come.
http://www.vipassanadhura.com/howto.htm
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