VIPASSANA
VIPASSANA
25 Centuries ago Gautam Buddha gave this method of inner witnessing to his followers many of whom became enlightened. Vipassana is simply a way of witnessing.
2 stages
Once you're in the right tuning, it suddenly explodes in you, transforms you. The old man is dead and the new man has arrived. Osho
Vipassana means different things to different people. At its core its an insight meditation where you sit preferably with a straight spine and go in, allowing everything to come and go. We practice this meditation as learnt in India. But there are different approaches. One could spend years developing ones Vipassana. For our purposes here, we focus on the breath in the first phase just watching the intake and out take of breath within the body, nothing more and then in the final phase we move the awareness. We walk.
Traditionally and it is very alchemically connected, this meditation is accompaigned with silence. It’s one of the few meditations we offer musically unaccompained.
When you get the hang of this, it’s one for the full moon. For meeting yourself and the comsos head on. There is alot of light in this meditation and I strongly encourage you to seek out one of the many 10 day silent vipassana retreats. But any time spent in Vipassana is good time. This is something you can be doing everywhere from the London tube to a Himmalayan Cave. Going in, becoming the witness, an equonimous observer or feeler even, is at the heart of all our meditations.
It’s an invitation to watch yourself-your mind, your emotions, your body, your environment without reacting to what you observe. To get to know yourself honestly without any pretenses, to befriend yourself.
We rest with in awareness and allow what shows up to show up and pass away or not. Each moment dying to the next, and so on.
"Vipassana is the meditation that has made more people in the world enlightened than any other” Osho
Nothing is a distraction in Vipassana – go with whatever takes your attention – completely – and then when your attention is free to go back to your breathing.
It is the process of watching that is the meditation, not what you are watching. Remember not to become over identified or lost in whatever comes up.
After our sit, we walk in Vipassana, eyes down, focussing only on our feet, we walk with total awareness in walking meditation. We’re bringing this flavour of awareness to all aspects of our dynamic lives.
As you become more practiced, you can let go of the breath and simply sit in surrender of all that is passing.
“Remember: ‘easy is right’. As the meditation becomes settled and the mind silent, the ego will disappear. You will be there, but there will be no feeling of ‘I’. Then the doors are open.”
