Vipassana Meditation
Vyacheslav Yatsenko
Dedicated
to my daughter,
Karolina Yatsenko
1. Introduction
Vipassana is insight meditation, which means seeing things as they are. Vipassana is a method of personal transformation through self-observation. It focuses on the profound interconnectedness of mind and body, experienced personally by focusing on the physical sensations that make up the body’s life, which constantly interact with the mind and condition its state.
We will examine in six languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian) the Vipassana meditation techniques according to the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, as taught by Satya Narayan Goenka, and the Vipassana meditation practices of the ten-day group course in which I participated as a meditator, at the «Dhamma Dullabha» Vipassana Meditation Center (Avsyunino, Moscow Region, Russia).
Vipassana meditation practice is an ancient Buddhist technique of self-observation that teaches one to see reality as it is. The main goal is to purify the mind of impurities by observing one’s own thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without judgment. For deep immersion, practitioners undergo 10-day retreats during which they observe strict rules: «noble silence,» renunciation of the outside world, and a vegetarian diet.
2. Meditation of Sensations
Siddhartha Gautama (623 — 543 BCE or 563 — 483 BCE), later known as Shakyamuni Buddha or simply Buddha, was a spiritual teacher who lived in South Asia and the founder and central figure of Buddhism.
Teachers of various types of meditation existed in South Asia both before and after Gautama Buddha, but only Gautama Buddha specifically employed self-observation of bodily sensations during meditation.
In relation to bodily sensations, Gautama Buddha applied the law of impermanence (called «anicca» in Pali): sensations arise and pass away.
Anicca is the most important concept of Vipassana. It signifies impermanence, changeability and temporariness of all that exists. The inscription «Everything will pass, and this too» on King Solomon’s ring is Anicca.
3. Continuous Connection between Consciousness and the Unconscious
Unconscious processes in the human body operate independently of consciousness. When a person’s consciousness is inactive (during sleep, prostration, hypnosis, or under the influence of psychoactive substances), the unconscious continues to function and ensure the body’s functioning.
A person strives to influence their unconscious actions through consciousness. However, its capabilities are limited.
For example, a person cannot, by willpower, stop the beating of the heart or stop the digestion of food in the stomach.
A person can stop some unconscious actions by willpower, for example, the unconscious movements of an arm or leg. However, a person cannot directly change the unconscious actions of an arm or leg through consciousness. Various types of psychotherapy make it possible to indirectly correct the programs of a person’s unconscious actions.
The uniqueness of the human respiratory system, which is used in Vipassana meditation, lies in the fact that it maintains a continuous connection between consciousness and the unconscious.
A person can hold their breath for thirty seconds or more. But then the unconscious breathing process will resume, despite the efforts of consciousness to resist it.
Through this continuous connection between consciousness and the unconscious, a person can change the programs of unconscious breathing. The characteristics of unconscious breathing, such as breathing rate, are directly linked to a person’s emotional experiences and mental suffering.
By maintaining complete balance in the body and mind, observing bodily sensations patiently and nonjudgmentally, a person can reduce the degree of their emotional suffering or completely free themselves from it, regardless of the stressful situations that arise in life. Vipassana meditation, developed by Gautama Buddha, is designed to achieve this goal.
Vipassana meditation is unique in that the results of the meditation are achieved without the meditator’s words, in a state of complete silence. Therefore, the Vipassana technique is applicable to the general public, with any level of education, and even without.
The only requirement for the meditator is to understand and follow the meditation instructions given by a Vipassana meditation teacher.
4. Beginning Vipassana Meditation
To practice Vipassana meditation, it is important to maintain complete equanimity, perfect equilibrium within the body and in mind, and to remain mindfulness of the meditation process.
Complete balance in body and mind is the entrance to meditation.
When the sea is rough, the sailor does not set sail. Likewise, until perfect balance in body and mind is achieved, the entrance to Vipassana meditation is closed.
5. The mind is often distracted
To maintain mindfulness during Vipassana meditation, it is essential that the mind be undistracted during meditation.
Humans have five senses: sight (eyes), hearing (ears), taste (tongue), smell (nose) and touch (skin). These senses allow a person to perceive information about the surrounding world, transmitting signals to the brain for processing.
Any information entering the meditator’s five senses, other than sensations in the body, distracts them from Vipassana meditation.
90% of information comes through the eyes. To block this flow of information, meditate with your eyes closed.
During group meditation, sounds made by meditators (rustling, etc.) distract from the meditation process. Therefore, during meditation, profound silence is maintained in the meditation hall. Conversations between meditators are prohibited during the Vipassana meditation course.
Foods with complex, varied, and refined flavors distract the meditator’s mind. Vegetarian food is consumed during the retreat.
Any strong odors also distract meditators. Therefore, substances that emit strong odors are prohibited for meditators.
Any physical contact between meditators distracts from meditation. Therefore, physical contact between meditators is prohibited.
«Noble silence» is maintained — this is the complete silence observed during Vipassana meditation, which includes silence of body, speech, and mind.
During Vipassana meditation, the mind is often distracted by thoughts unrelated to the Vipassana meditation process. I have managed to train my mind not to be distracted by extraneous thoughts during meditation.
When monitoring breathing, I focused my attention on the process «Cool air enters on inhalation» and on the process «Warm air comes out on exhalation» During this breathing process, the mind constantly focuses on the difference between cool and warm air and does not deviate from the meditation process.
6. The Meditator’s Attitude towards Arising Sensations
When sensations arise in the body, the meditator can choose one of three attitudes toward these sensations:
(1) to perceive them, whatever the sensation, as a boon to be simply observed, patiently observed: sensations arise, sensations disappear, Anicca;
(2) to perceive sensations as pleasant sensations;
(3) to perceive sensations as unpleasant sensations.
The practice of Vipassana meditation shows that a person who has not learned Vipassana meditation usually chooses the second or third option.
When a person perceives sensations in the body as pleasant, and has not been trained in Vipassana meditation, he usually wants to experience the same sensations again. Essentially, a person develops attraction for pleasant sensations, an attachment is formed (in Pali, «sankara»).
When a person perceives sensations in the body as unpleasant, he usually wants to avoid such sensations. A person develops an aversion to such sensations and develops attachment («sankara»).
«Sankara» (or «sankhara») is a Pali term for «formations» or «conditioned phenomena,» primarily mental tendencies or volitional actions. Pali is an ancient Indo-Aryan language, the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism, closely relat
