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Vipāsanā Meditation

Vipāsanā means insight. It is considered to be the essence of the teaching of Buddha. It is a simple and non-dogmatic technique. It is taught in courses of ten days during which the participants remain within the area of the course site, having no contact with the outside world. They refrain from reading and writing, and suspend any religious activity, working according to the instructions provided. They observe celibacy and abstention from all intoxicants. They maintain silence among themselves for the first nine days, although they are free to discuss meditation problems with the instructor. During the first three and half days, they exercise mental concentration. After this preparation,vipassana proper is introduced on the fourth day. Further steps are
introduced each day so that by the end of the course the entire technique has been presented. On the tenth-day silence end and meditators make the transition back to a more extroverted way of life. The course concludes on the morning of the eleventh day. With meditation and self-discovery a meditator gains mental strength. They can apply the learning in everyday life for one’s own benefit and for the good of others. Sri
S.N.Goenka has made it popular (see Hart, 1987). Suffering is the inordinate attachment towards body, mind, cognition, sensations, and reactions. Clinging to unreal identity is suffering. The fact is that sooner or later I is separated from the mine. If we put an end to ignorance then there will be no blind reactions causing suffering.

Buddha talked about the noble eightfold path, which can be divided into three stages of training i.e.Sīla, Samādhi and Pānna. Sīla is a moral practice, abstention from all unwholesome actions of body and speech. Samādhi is the practice of concentration, developing the ability to consciously direct and control one’s own mental processes. Pānna is wisdom, the development of purifying insight into one’s own nature. According
to Buddha, wholesome actions produce happiness which are real blessings. There are two kinds of blessings, i.e., performing actions that contribute to the welfare of others by fulfilling responsibilities to family and society, and performing actions that cleanse the mind. This leads to mental balance and equanimity which result in other qualities of pure mind i.e. goodwill, love that seeks the benefit of others, compassion for others,
and sympathetic joy in their success. These are reflective of Metta Bhavana, the development of goodwill toward others. This is the outcome of vipāsanā meditation. Real happiness lies in peace, equanimity, and goodwill.

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