I SPENT 12 days and 11 nights in a mango orchard in Dasmariñas, Cavite this March reflecting on my miseries and learning a meditation technique to bring back the balance in my life.
I spent 10 of those precious days and nights hugging trees, picking flowers, avoiding eye contact and literally not speaking a word, eating only vegetarian meals twice everyday (no more meals after noon, just tea and fruit at 5pm) and meditating at least 8 hours a day.
I didn’t know that learning how to meditate properly would be this lonely and difficult but I was determined to do it and have been signing myself up for this 10-day course for the last 2 years so I knew what I was getting into.
Now, 14 days later, I’m happy to report that I got more than what I bargained for.
The technique I’m talking about is Vipassana meditation. The word Vipassana is a Pali term (a language spoken in Northern India during the time of Siddharta Gautama) which means “seeing things as they really are.”
The technique teaches us to use “insight” –– to look inside ourselves and how we directly experience the world and to use this to cultivate personal wisdom.
Read more: http://www.dhammaweb.net/dhamma_news/view.php?id=274
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Learning equanimity: Being happy in spite of daily tragedies
You feel like the world is punishing you for all the bad things you've done in the past and has chosen this day to hand you retribution.
Can you imagine yourself staying balanced and "happy" even if everything in your day has gone absolutely wrong, such as the one above?
No way!
Ok, maybe for some loosing a wallet, a cellphone and a cat is not such a big disaster. Some people have lost more than these, in bigger disasters. But does it really matter?
The point is, when we experience pain or suffering, do we lose the balance of our minds such that we are overwhelmed with grief, or fear and become paralyzed? Do we become self-destructive or abusive? Do we react with anger towards ourselves and others?
Is it possible to see through this pain and suffering objectively? Is it really that hard to remain calm, peaceful? Act with love and compassion?
What if I tell you that YES, it is possible and YES, we can all learn to stay balanced and happy even when in the midst of life's tragedies, big or small.
How?
By learning a technique called Vipassana meditation.
Read more: http://www.dhammaweb.net/meditation/view.php?id=72
Can you imagine yourself staying balanced and "happy" even if everything in your day has gone absolutely wrong, such as the one above?
No way!
Ok, maybe for some loosing a wallet, a cellphone and a cat is not such a big disaster. Some people have lost more than these, in bigger disasters. But does it really matter?
The point is, when we experience pain or suffering, do we lose the balance of our minds such that we are overwhelmed with grief, or fear and become paralyzed? Do we become self-destructive or abusive? Do we react with anger towards ourselves and others?
Is it possible to see through this pain and suffering objectively? Is it really that hard to remain calm, peaceful? Act with love and compassion?
What if I tell you that YES, it is possible and YES, we can all learn to stay balanced and happy even when in the midst of life's tragedies, big or small.
How?
By learning a technique called Vipassana meditation.
Read more: http://www.dhammaweb.net/meditation/view.php?id=72
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