December 19, 2016 By Admin

Vipassana Meditation Practice an Introductory Journey

Vipassana Meditation Practice – Introductory Journey 1

This is the first of a series of posts on vipassana-based meditation practices. The introductory journey set will not be pure vipassana; rather this set of meditations will be about practice with core principles and learning experiences in regular vipassana meditation. Rather than explain background information, I will guide a brief meditation on central principles and experiences within the vipassana framework of meditation. This process will be more difficult than simply verbally presenting information; however, it will also be far more effective relative to experiencing.

Begin by settling in on your cushion or chair. Focus on calm, deep, slow breathing practice. Notice closely the movement of air into and out of the body. Pay closer and closer attention to this experience with the breath. Become highly intimate with the experience.
Using your imagination, contemplate about insights or flashes of insight related to the reality of impermanence of all things and experiences. Go to that reality now and meditate on it with close attention. This is a difficult process, but approach it with a strong intention.
Now move your attention to misperception of relative reality. Focus on the necessary knowledge required to understand via meditative experience that things are really NOT as they appear to our minds. Liberating mind and natural mind may allow you to be in true experience with a more true reality of being human. Our happiness in life will depend on how we learn to use our mind to understand at deeper levels the true nature of things and impermanent reality.
Now shift gently to the topic of greed, and how our sense-pleasure desires (attachments, cravings) provide us with short-term pleasure but NO long-term happiness. Such happiness based on grasping at sense-pleasures cannot last long. Impermanence is at work once again. Thus a general dissatisfaction is the outcome.
Meditate on your own reality of holding on to and clinging to sense-pleasures as a key source of your own suffering. Grasping happiness cannot last long. Be with that reality now.
Buddhist psychology, especially specific Abhidhamma teachings, allow us to better understand HOW the mind work, and HOW all experience is broken down into smaller and smaller irreducible components all the way to atoms and beyond. In the end of this analysis, we experience emptiness of independent arising of things/experiences and the dearth of concrete separation among all things and experiences. This is a difficult reality to grasp, intellectually, let alone experientially.
The endless search for sense-pleasures to make us happier, as well as the endless effort to avoid pain and suffering, end in the same place – more suffering. Conditioned life in samsara, where we spend most of our “awake” time trying to gain satisfaction via experiencing sense-pleasures and avoiding pain and suffering, fails all the time. So WHAT, then, is the path to joy and happiness – or at least a sense of personal satisfaction in life? Contemplate this for yourself.
Vipassana may begin with deep meditation on the breath, sensations, thoughts, and the letting go of the same. However, it certainly does not end there. As we learn to let go of concepts and mind in deep vipassana meditation, we begin to see glimpses of a more ultimate reality. This insightful experienced knowledge leads us to true impermanence, emptiness (non-voided emptiness), dependent origination, and ultimately to no-self as the experiencer. There is no space between the object of attention the the experiencer of it.
Now very slowly bring your attention and concentration back to the here and now – in this room. Take a few deep, slow, calm breaths. Prepare to end this meditation.

For more information refer to Catherine, S. (2011). Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana. Boston: Wisdom Publications, pp. 253-431.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

Tips on Practice During These Troubling Times Some people are religious, and I am sure turn to those sources for support and hope. Others are spiritual, and I hope also pursue those sources for emotional stability and closeness to the “their” divine. Other people may be Agnostic or Atheist; I am certain such people also […]

Counseling/Psychotherapy with Self-Compassion Please begin by ending all conversations, and PLEASE shut-off your phones and/or laptops. Simply be for a moment in the quietude of your inner self. Please close your eyes if you wish to do so. Contemplate the sacred nature of your profession – saving lives, reducing suffering, being a constant object, practicing […]

“i Rest” Yoga Nidra Practice (Richard Miller, Ph.D.) All regular meditation and yoga practices are capable of bringing us closer to our true self and our relationships in the world. A by-product is deep relaxation and equanimity. Richard Miller, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychologist, yogic scholar, spiritual teacher), has created a yoga nidra practice that promises to […]

Mediation: Conscious or Not? A true, in depth understanding about what human consciousness is and how it works has eluded mind and brain scientists for many years. A few very interesting ideas have been presented by Stuart Hameroff, professor emeritus and director of the University of Arizona’s Center for Consciousness Studies. Consciousness rests in the […]

Meditation on the Feeling of Letting Go – Pacification! Pacifying the mind is a desired outcome of regular, stable meditation practice. Pacification may be done via meditating on the breath, general mindfulness awareness, vipassana, and various other forms of meditation. However, the wise mind skill of “letting go” of unhelpful, negative, and harmful thoughts and […]

Using Mindful Movement as a Form of Meditation Practice with the Body In Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction practices Hatha Yoga has been used as part of the recovery process from both psychological and physical suffering. In my own clinical use of mindful movement with children, youth and adults, I found that basic Qi Gong/Che Kung, Walking […]

Laughter to Support you in Suffering As we all know life is filled with joy, suffering, and neutrality or boredom. This is THE WAY IT IS! Or, as a very good old friend often reminded me: “It is what it is!” In Buddhism we preach a middle way in various areas of practice; the same […]

Gratitude Practices to Improve your Emotional Mood The following fourteen suggestions may improve your emotional mood. One reward from practicing gratitude is that we tend to feel a little better no matter what our causes and conditions are at the time. Here is the list. Make a habit of thanking people. “Thank you.” Appreciate […]

How to Find & Choose an Effective Therapist Recently The Harvard Health Newsletter posted some interesting questions to ask while seeking out a psychotherapist. I will add a few more details and areas of inquiry in this post. Keep in mind that these questions and inquiries do not mean you will be happy and improve […]

Concentration Vs Mindfulness? Many people new to meditation often confuse the differences between mindfulness or accepted bare attention to whatever arises in the moment and concentration or strong penetrating awareness on one thing without distraction. Concentration is a more intensely focused and engaged form of mindful attention. Concentration is sustained, powerfully focused, one-pointed attentional awareness. […]

Secular Meditation and Addictions Treatment Today we have ample research evidence (NIH, NIDA, SAMHSA, etc.) that mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and mind training all have some effectiveness in improving addiction disorders. In recent meta-analyses the primary effect was through improved emotion regulations, whereas there was a more direct positive impact on chronic pain, depression, and anxiety. […]

Very “SAD” Facts about the Addictions Field A recent issue of the Addictions Professional presented very disturbing news about how clinicians in the field are doing. NOT WELL! Addictions clinicians treat people with addictions but mainly people with co-occurring disorders – addictions with trauma, depression, anxiety and/or eating disorders. Often there is also a co-occurring medical […]

Mind Training Over Our Impulses Mindful awareness of our impulses is a very important pathway to improved emotion regulation and, perhaps, more happiness in life. It can be unusually helpful to people suffering from anxiety, depression, and substance misuse. Vedana refers to the feeling tone in our body. It is one of the foundations of mindfulness […]

Using Your Compassionate Mind in Psychotherapy For you to become a more compassionate therapist, follow the details noted below. These preconditions, skills, and practices are required as a baseline for compassionate practice. You need the ability to access calmness in an environment of emotional suffering, chaos, or conflict. Most people do this by breathing in […]

Basics of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is, perhaps, one of the major contributions to evidence-based mindfulness therapies. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s development of this model of intervention was both timely and exquisite. In clinical care of psychological and physical problems, these skills and practices are of utmost importance for improving (according to the most recent […]

Gurdjieff’s The Fourth Way Meditations: A way of Being and Knowing Although Gurdjieff developed a whole way of being and knowing, including attentional practices, dance/body movements, group processes, and meditations here I will focus only on some of the suggested meditations. In particular, I include the meditations noted by his primary student (J. DeSalzmann, 2011). […]

-Steps to Mind Training Anthony R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC To pacify your mind you need to train your mind. Mind training leads to liberation from brain-mind-heart-body automatic processes and reactions. A well-trained mind allows you to utilize executive functions (attention and concentration) to alter auto-reactions of the brain, body and heart. A trained mind liberates […]

Meditation for Health Improvement It is estimated that between 10 and 15 million Americans participate in some form of regular mindfulness or contemplative practices; secular-based meditation and yoga may be the most common of these practices. Many others practice tai chi, qi gong, forest-based contemplation, Taoism, etc. The US National Institute of Health has been […]

Stress in America – 2019 Every year the American Psychological Association ( November, 2019) conducts an extensive survey to determine the levels of stress in America. The data below does NOT include children; therefore, the already high numbers would be much higher. Here are some highlights. Stress levels are quite high but stable. Increased concerns […]

Stress in America – On the Rise – The American Psychological Association recently completed its national survey on stress in America. Stress in America for adults is on the rise! I will review below a selection of reported percentages from the 2015 survey (published in 2016). 1) Younger people are more stressed; Xers and Millennials […]