Seeing clearly, seeing things as they truly are

Many of us want to contribute to the world. But how can we help and make peace?

We can begin by giving and contributing to ourselves. When we find peace and wisdom within, we can become a radiant light for many others who are also looking for peace and happiness.

Generally, we have perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Often, this perception is distorted by greed, anger, doubt, fear and delusion. We are not able to see these hindrances very clearly.

As we practice Vipassana, we are witnessing the arising of these hindrances. Instead of trying to avoid them or push them out of our mind, we see (acknowledge) them by making a mental note of them and then letting them go by bringing our attention back to the meditation practice.

If we react out of greed, anger and delusion, we are fighting fire with fire. But without reacting, we fight fire with water.

Here, we can begin to find peace and allow the Insights to arise showing us that all these experiences are transient (impermanent).

The practitioner engages in mindfulness of movement in walking meditation. In seated mediation, the practitioner is mindful of the breath. We start by paying attention to inhaling and exhaling. In both forms of meditation, one becomes mindful to any arising mental or physical phenomenon. Ultimately, we engage with anything that arises by noting and labeling them, without attaching any further conceptual thinking.

Vipassana is based on four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana):

1. Mindfulness of the Body,
2. Mindfulness of Feelings,
3. Mindfulness of the Mind, and
4. Mindfulness of the Mind Objects.

By noticing the transitory nature of physical and mental phenomena, the meditator becomes aware of the continuous evaluation of these experiences. Thus allowing wisdom to arise and observe the three characteristics of phenomena. i.e. Impermanence, Suffering and Non Self.

When the meditator comprehends Impermanence, Suffering and Non Self; thinking subdues and mere observation stabilizes without evaluating thoughts or experiences.