Introduction To Insight Practice

Introduction to insight meditation. Why we do it, benefits, why it developed as it is. How to meditate. Basic breath meditation. How to use our body to master our minds. History of Buddhism. What to do with thoughts. Calmness, awareness, insight.

Transcript

Welcome to this introduction to meditation,

Specifically Insight Meditation,

Also known as Vipassana,

Which is rooted in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism.

When the Buddha began his search for enlightenment,

There were many different traditions that he tried and that were available at the time in that part of India and southern Nepal where he was born and lived his life.

At that time there was a lot of spiritual seeking and that took many different forms.

There were ascetic practices of self-deprivation,

There were practices of indulgence,

Practices of sleeping a lot or not sleeping at all,

Practices of fairly severe physical trials,

And a lot of philosophies on the nature of God and what is God and what is the best pathway to moksha,

As it's called in the Hindu tradition,

Or Nibbana as the Buddha called it.

Slowly over the years he gradually developed the techniques that we know today and through this process of trial and error he found a very useful practice that's extremely helpful today for everyday people that has lots of benefits such as helping with sleep,

Helping with stress,

Helping with addictions,

And generally helping with one being a better human being.

There are lots of meditation teachers and practices out there today,

Just like in the time of the Buddha,

But he specifically sought to find what we call enlightenment or a way out of the constant mental stress primarily that people experience.

So the point of this particular meditation,

There's two basic main points to vipassana or insight meditation.

And that's one,

The use of the breath and two,

The use of the mind.

And the word in Pali,

Vipassana,

Means to see in a special way.

And so we would do well to remember that as we do this practice.

So generally it's found that it's best if you find a seated position on the ground or floor with your spine erect but not stiff and your belly soft.

And I know that not everyone can take that position or find something else more comfortable,

But I do encourage you if at all possible slowly to work yourself into a practice where you do sit on the floor or ground in a cross-legged position.

But for now,

I'll concentrate on the most important part,

Which is the breath.

And why did the Buddha choose the breath?

He chose the breath because it's constantly here when you're alive.

For every split second that a human being is alive,

They're breathing.

Now obviously there's some medical instances in which a person actually does stop breathing,

And those are generally life-threatening.

But just in general,

In terms,

Certainly the breath is a constant thing that everyone has all the time.

And so for that reason,

It's used to concentrate the mind.

So the first step really in a meditative practice is to become calm with a concentrated mind.

So take your position in a chair or on the floor.

And also,

It is possible to stand or to lay down,

Take other positions,

But generally a seated one is the best.

And start to breathe naturally without controlling your breath.

And we do this deep from the belly and the diaphragm.

Most people,

As they grow into adulthood,

Stop doing this deep diaphragm breathing that a baby does.

We get into high school and middle school and don't like to be judged by our bodies.

And so a bulging abdomen coming in and out due to breathing is something that's kind of socially developed out of us.

But for meditative practice,

Definitely a deep diaphragm,

Abdominal breathing is what we should do.

And so loosen up our body,

Allow that belly to move out as much as possible naturally without pushing it,

And then in,

And just watch the body do what naturally comes to it.

Do that for a few moments.

And as we observe the sensations in our body,

We'll notice that we notice the breath,

And we do close our mouth for the breath or for the meditation,

And typically hold our tongue up above the bottom of the mouth and up to just barely touch the hard palate.

And we'll notice shortly after a little bit of this breathing that we notice the sensation of the breath coming in and out of the body.

Often times right around the nostrils or possibly deeper in the nose or in the hard palate or the back of the throat.

And so this is the anchor point that the Buddha used,

A simple everyday thing.

Now for many people,

Simply sitting and observing their breath is incredibly boring and incredibly difficult.

It's on one hand the most simple and easy thing in the world,

But on the other hand is extremely difficult.

Goenka,

The Burmese businessman who went on to really promote Buddhism,

And has a number of meditation centers throughout the world I recommend you visit,

He loved the philosophical teaching of the Buddha,

But the actual day-to-day practice of meditation was just really extremely difficult for him,

And I think there's a lesson there,

And that really this practice is about simply doing it every day.

And while I'm on that topic,

Let me go into some advice as far as that.

I recommend you start and meditate for as long as you can at first.

It may only be two minutes or three minutes,

And that's fine.

Just try that two times a day in the morning and then in the evening.

And then in time,

Try to do five minutes and then ten and fifteen and up further until you get about forty minutes.

Forty minutes has been kind of the standard to be the most productive and most practical for most meditators,

And that's done early in the morning and then in the evening has been what the tradition has been.

So now that you've been watching your breath for a while,

You should have some calmness.

And as that calmness comes,

What we realize is that there's all kinds of ideas going around in your head.

And what do we do with these ideas?

That's really the question.

And again,

The answer is really quite simple.

We simply acknowledge the thought or idea.

Sometimes a feeling or a sensation in the body can distract us from our breath.

And once we acknowledge that,

We go back.

And in that way,

The Buddha created a very simple,

Very understandable practice that has incredible benefits.

So let's go ahead and meditate for a little while.

Just let your abdominal muscles,

Your diaphragm slowly go up and down.

Naturally,

You don't control your breath.

We're not looking to get anything or push anything away.

Watch that sensation of the coolness of the breath in and out of the body,

Either at your nostrils,

Your nasal cavity,

The heart palate,

Or back of the throat,

Most likely.

And once we've concentrated our mind on that,

We then notice all the phenomena,

The feelings,

Sensations,

Emotions that come up.

And we acknowledge those and then go back to the breath.

And that really is the beginning of what I would hope would be a lifelong pursuit of an incredible practice.

I'll leave you to try that for the next day or a few days or week,

And then hopefully get back to some of my more advanced teachings.

Thank you and good luck.