The practice of insight meditation or vipassana bhavana, according to Buddhism, is divided into types.The first is vipassana samadhi in which mindfulness in Satipathana 4, is the most important element. This kind of insight practice is based on the state of the mind in between khanikka samadhi and neighborhood samadhi.
The second is samadha vipassana, in which highly concentration of jhana has been already attained. In this stage, the mind is completely controlled by the force of will power into a tranquil state of absorption, which actively prepares for application in all duties including realization of the true nature through Sattipathana 4 and three kinds of wisdom, Samadhi 3.
As aforementioned, there are two types of meditation, concentration and insight. To practice concentration, a properly structured environment is required. For example, it should be relatively seclude and quiet, somewhat segregated from other activities and completely free from disturbances.
Contrarily, insight meditation does not need any of these requirements. Although concentration, in the initial stages of practice, may prove valuable, but this training employs only one object as a tool for cultivating one - pointedness of mind, whereas insight meditation in the from of vipassana samadhi, used all available experiences as the primary matrix by which mindfulness and insight may be developed.
In this way, this kind of insight meditation can take place in all experiences, physical, emotional, and psychological, as its objects of training. It also means that one can practise it in all activities and situations that concentration can not enjoy this kind of free range. So we may assert that insight meditation in this kind of vipassana samadhi is one spiritual discipline that can be practised at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances.
Concentration and insight are also different in terms of the objectives and goals each aims to achieve. The former is connected with miracles, and is used as the means to the end for vipassana, whereas the latter aims at increased awareness, knowledge, wisdom, right understanding, virtues and purification of the mind and the realization of Nibbana.
To practise this kind meditation, Satipatthana, the foundation of mindfulness is the key factor in the development of insight. This mindfulness is the quality of awareness, which is applied to four groups of experiences, namely the body, the sensations, the mind and the mental objects [ particularly in reference to moral and spiritual experience or dhama ]. Thus the discourse is divided into four principal sections, each dealing with an individual class of experience on which mindfulness should be cultivated.
Beginners may find it more practicable to begin training with mindfulness with the first section of Sattipatthana on the body, particular the breathing exercises. Once the basic technique has been mastered, it becomes increasingly more natural to " ever dwell in meditation " constantly and effortlessly observing other parts of the body, the feeling, the mind and the mental objects, even while carrying one's own duties and responsibilities in the daily life.
The first section of mindfulness deals with the body [kayanupassana ]. This include the breath, the physical postures, the body activities, the analysis of various physical components, the material elements, and death. These are the realities of life one has to deal with. One should practise constantly applying mindfulness to all these experiences founded on the body, for instance, mindful of the breath, whether short or long, shallow or deep, refined or crude, regular or irregular, and so forth. The purpose is to train the mind to dwell in the present, by being constantly aware of what is going on at that moment. The same principle may be applied to the body posture, as standing, walking, sitting or lying down as well as to other physical activities like eating or drinking.
The second section deals with feeling [ vedananupassana ], of three types, pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. These feelings keep arising one after another that mindfulness and circumspection should be applied to them at the moment they arise, understanding them objectively as conditioned phenomena that rise and fall according to the law of causality, not subjectively as " my feeling ". According to the Buddha, the false belief in the existence of soul or self is largely due to our feelings. It is therefore important that one should train oneself to perceive reality as it is, by simply observing one's own feelings for what they really are, natural phenomena that constantly arise and disappear in accordance with their conditionality. The other way to consider feelings is the careful analysis of their nature, their origination and dissolution. In order to achieve this objective by the use of Vedananupassana, one is fully mindful wheter one experiences pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feeling, and to be aware of that feeling without attachment to them.
The third section [ Cittanupassana ] deals with the mind. It is the spiritual practice involves the ability to understand and control one's own mind and thought, in various conditions such as sensual desire, hated, vacillation, liberation etc., ever mindful of their origination and conditioned. Besides observing how they change and are conditioned, the meditator should constantly apply full awareness of the present moment of experience only, not the past or the future, and simply acknowledging the existence and nature of those mental phenomena. There is no conscious intervention involved to suppress one thought or encourage another. It is a simple, uncomplicated process of recognizing the realities as they are, a pure psychological act of detached understanding and acceptance.
By continually practising according to this method, one not only comes to understand oneself better, but will eventually be able to penetrate deeply into the most remote reaches of one's own consciousness. This kind of practice is not only valuable as far as insight is concerned, but substantially contributes to peace and harmony, both within the individual and society.
The last section [ Dhammanupassana ], discusses the Dhamma as a system of ethical and spiritual experiences. In the practice term, this may also include mindfulness in contemplation, deliberation, and investigation of the Buddha's teachings in the context of one's own perception at the present moment. Because these Dhamma experiences are subjected to the contemplation and investigation of mind, they are referred to as mental objects. A few categories of Dhamma are listed in Sutipatthana Sutta such as ; the Five Hindrances, the Five Agreegates, the Six Sense Bases, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Four Noble Thrust. Detailed explanations of these kinds of Dhamma have already been discussed.
In a nutshell , Insight meditation helps us to free ourselves from greed, hated, and delusion. This is not to be done by rejecting the world, but by cultivating the sublimed state of the mind. The ideal state is to feed on joy and rapture, that can be self - generated, flowing from an ever - reliable source ; one no longer has to rely on the phenomena world and the worldly condition. Self - contained, we see ambition and acquisition to be inferior routes to spiritual happiness.
Insight meditation is the way to refine and to improve the quality of your thoughts. By practising with heedfulness, you will have little to fear from the world of present and the future.
The essence of mind
Mind precedes all things ;
mind is their chief, mind is their maker.
If one speak or does a deed
with a mind that is pure within
happiness then follows along
like a never departing shadow.
The Buddha
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teachings
No comments:
Post a Comment