Vipassana Meditation

Revised version:

Over Christmas me and three other PCVs took a 10 day course on Vipassana Meditation. Vipassana meditation is a non-sectarian form of meditation that was used by the Buddha to train the mind to see reality as it is. The reality that the Buddha saw is that cravings and aversions are the basis of our sufferings and that this form of meditation can be used to change the way our “inner” mind perceives reality.

Today Vipassana is taught by S.N. Goenke, a Burmese “house-holder,” who has actively spread the technique since he left Burma in the 1950's. Vipassana is taught as a ten day course, via tape and audio recordings of Goenke. During this period, students live as monks, observing five precepts which include noble silence and not taking intoxicants.  

In addition to the meditation technique, Goenke also gives daily discourses on the Buddha's insight and the benefits of the technique. This may seem sectarian, because we associate the Buddha with Buddhism, but the Buddha never taught conversion from one religion to another. The truths that he teaches are universal, and it has only been since the time of his death that groups have ascribed rites, rituals, and auxiliary beliefs to his teachings, forming their own religion.  

The Buddha did, however, have direct insight into his past lives. It bothered me that Goenke made reference to this teaching during the course, because either a person must have direct realization of their past lives or else it must be taken on blind faith. When I asked the assistant teacher about this, he reminded me that the Buddha directed his followers to scrutinize all of his [ the Buddha's ] teachings. If one finds a “black stone” in the porridge, remove the stone instead of going hungry and letting the nutritious portion of the food go to waste. I was satisfied with this answer, because, for me, the nutritious portions of Vipassana were far greater in quantity than the troubling components.  

While I find that already I have received some benefits, the path is long and requires a life-time (maybe life-times) of practice. In order to describe how practice may change the habit patterns of a person, Goenke tells a story during one discourse. In the story, a mother gives each of her three children money to buy oil. On the way back from buying the oil, each one trips and spills half of the bottle. One is a pessimist and tells his mother, “I have failed. I have spilled half of the oil.” The second is an optimist and says enthusiastically, “I have made you proud. I tripped but I have saved half of the oil.” The third child is a Vipassana meditator and, without becoming angry of proud, he tells his mother, “the bottle is both half full and half empty. Although I spilled it, I am capable of filling it again” and goes to earn money to replace the oil.

Anecdotal stories are nice, but most people that practice Vipassana meditation has stories from their own lives. One such story came from a man that told me instead of previously yelling ten times a month, be now yells maybe eight times per month. Another man, who volunteered ten days to serve students at the course, told us that he is the happiest man in the world. Even the structure of the course suggests how many people it has benefited; the courses run entirely off of donations, first time students are not allowed to donate until after they have completed a course, and no one that helps with the courses receives renumeration. 

For more information about Vipassana meditation, or to find a Vipassana meditation center on any continent, visit www.dhamma.org.