Vipassana Articles *

Many talks of Mr. Goenka is posted at: http://www.vri.dhamma.org/archives/

Purpose and Method of Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana is a word in the Pali language, one of the ancient languages of India along with Sanskrit. Sometimes Vipassana is translated as 'insight meditation' because one of the main effects of the practice is that you get deep understandings about deep universal issues such as how it is that pain turns into suffering, how it is that pleasure either becomes satisfaction or becomes neediness, and how it is that the sense of self arises.

Vipassana meditation is also called 'mindfulness meditation' because we are very attentive. The main technique is to become extraordinarily attentive to ordinary experience. Unfortunately the word mindfulness can be a bit misleading if you interpret mindfulness to mean that you are constantly thinking about what you're doing. Mindful in the proper sense of the word simply means to be attentive and conscious about what's happening. ((((Like awareness))))

The word 'insight' can be a little misleading too because it's not only a word from Buddhism, but also is a word used in psychotherapy. When you do psychotherapy you get insights. Of course those insights are very important, but they are typically insights into your own personality, and the specific issues of your life. The insights that come as a result of Vipassana are deeper and more general than those that are ordinarily encountered in psychotherapy. They deal with very broad issues that are multiply rather than singularly applicable. In science, a deep theory augers many specific applications. Out of a single fundamental breakthrough in science you may have dozens — or even thousands — of specific applications. So in the same way, the insights that come from Vipassana practice let us understand the very nature of personality itself, not just things about our own personality. So Vipassana is "insight" in the sense of deep insight and it is "mindfulness" in the sense of extraordinary attentiveness.

The basic premise of this practice can be stated rather simply. Whenever one brings an extraordinary degree of mindfulness and equanimity to ordinary experience this produces insight. And it also produces something called purification. Now, every word I just used is a technical term in Buddhism. Buddhism is a kind of inner science. The West developed an outer science with a technical vocabulary to describe, in a way that no other culture did, the external physical reality. In the East they have an analogously precise and technical vocabulary, but it is applied to the inner world. That is to say, the world of subjective experience: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, the feeling body and the thinking mind. They developed a science of these six senses and it's called Vipassana.

I find in science a very appropriate metaphor for this particular kind of meditation. When you study science you know that you are going to encounter technical terms. When you encounter a technical term you should not project your own meanings onto it. You have to listen very carefully to the exact words that the teacher uses in defining that term. For example, in ordinary colloquial English, force, power, and energy are often used as synonyms, but for a physicist they are defined in specific — and very different — ways. (Force is proportional to acceleration and mass; energy is force applied over a distance; and power is the rate of which energy is being generated or consumed.) In a similar way, I'm going to give you some technical vocabulary from the Vipassana tradition.

One such term is 'equanimity.' It does not mean a cooled out, passive or indifferent attitude. Rather, it means an attitude of not interfering with the operation of the six senses. If you have a sensation in your knee and it's painful and it wants to spread, you let it spread. Why? Because you discover that it is precisely the interference with that sensation that causes suffering, not the sensation itself. Equanimity literally means "balance." It means not to push and pull the flow of the senses. It does not for a moment imply that one would fail to take action with respect to external circumstance, nor does it imply passivity, apathy or anything like that. Equanimity is radical permission to feel. Equanimity is a dropping of internal friction with respect to the flow of these six senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, the feeling body and the thinking mind. As a state of radical openness, equanimity is equivalent to love.

Whenever one brings mindfulness and equanimity to ordinary experience, an evolutionary process takes place, consisting of two aspects. One aspect is insight and the other is purification. Let's talk first about what we mean by purification. We all have within us sources of unhappiness. You notice that very quickly when you sit down to meditate. You'll feel just fine and then there will be something that will make your world less than perfect. You get sleepy, or your mind wanders, or this or that emotion comes up, negative tapes start to come up, traumatic memories appear, you feel angry, you want to jump out of your skin, you're running all sorts of fantasies, doing things to divert yourself, you're aware of inner conflicts. We are chock full of sources of unhappiness which are completely foreign to our being. It is not in the nature of consciousness to suffer. However, we have acquired certain limiting forces: cravings and aversions, painful memories, inappropriate yet habitual behavior patterns, and so forth. ((At this moment, you do not know how to process them.))

When we sit down and do this practice that's all going to come up. So you don't always feel good while doing Vipassana meditation. In fact you might feel lousy. I know, having heard that, some of you may want to leave right now. You say, "I thought meditation is supposed to make a person feel great." Yes, in the long run, but an important aspect of meditation is to sit down and start working through the sources of not feeling great, whatever they may be. You literally eat your way through them, one after another, after another, after another. How? By just being mindful and having equanimity, that's all. Whatever comes up, you'll observe it and you'll do nothing. You'll be very aware and that's all.

Now that may seem trivial at best, stupid at worst. But it is actually quite powerful. Let's say that one of these blockages to happiness comes up as we meditate — a negative tape, a craving, an aversion, an inner conflict, a congealing. If we reject it and say "I don't want you," we're pushing it away. But in order to reject it we have to "touch" it, by pushing on it. If on the other hand we identify with it, buy into it and let it pull us away, then again we've "touched" it. As soon as one touches it, one recharges the energy supply of that negativity. If you try to push it away or you let it pull you, you are identifying with it, touching it. Any touch whatsoever means that this particular negativity is able to 'recharge its individual battery' as it were, from your general pool of your energy. But if we don't touch it then it has to play itself out on its own power source which is quite finite and if we continue to be alert and simply observe, eventually the intrinsic energy source of that negativity dissipates and it goes away forever. It gets worked through.

This process of "watching negativity to death" is called purification. As we work through the blockages to happiness, our intrinsic happiness — the nature of our consciousness which is effortless effulgent joy — becomes evident. If the dirt is cleaned away from the window, the sun that was always there is able to shine through. The spiritual reality which is the nature of ordinary experience is able to shine forth.

Most people would affirm such a spiritual reality, but they don't directly experience it. They experience only their own projections, wishful thinking, or beliefs about it, without ever being able to see it directly. Yet everyone has the ability to come into direct contact with the Source. Through the continued practice of attention (mindfulness) and openness (equanimity), one can work through what's in the way. It takes time, but the time is going to pass anyway, so why not live it to the max?

So the essence of this practice can be stated as a simple formula: ordinary experience plus mindfulness plus equanimity yields insight and purification. In this formula, each term is defined very precisely. Ordinary experience is defined as hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, the feeling body and the thinking mind. Mindfulness is defined as specificity in awareness, clarity in awareness, continuity in awareness, richness in awareness, precision in awareness. Equanimity is defined as not interfering with the flow of the senses at any level, including the level of preconscious processing.

When sufficient mindfulness and equanimity are brought to bear on ordinary experience, we arrive at purification and insight. And, as a result of the purification and insight, our intrinsic happiness, our true birthright and spiritual reality, gets uncovered and we discover that what we thought was the world of phenomena — the world of time, space, and matter — turns out to really be a world of spiritual energy, and that we are in direct contact with it moment by moment. Because, when the senses become purified, when the inner conflicts — at all levels — have been broken up, the flow of these ordinary senses turns into a prayer, a mantra, a sacred song, and we find that, just by living our life, we are in moment by moment contact with the Source. In the Christian contemplative tradition this is called the "practice of the presence of God." In the Jewish mystical tradition it is called "briah yesh me ayn" — the experience of things (yesh) being continuously created (briah) from no-thing (ayn), that is, from God.

For most people the senses are "opaque." Do you understand what I mean by the word opaque? A window is opaque if it is covered by soot; light can't come through. The soot is craving, aversion, and ignorance. When that's cleared away, the ordinary senses become literally transparent. It is very hard to describe what this is like. Hearing returns to being part of the effortless flow of nature, seeing returns to being part of the effortless flow of nature, and likewise with smelling, tasting, the body sensations whether they are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, they all go back to being part of "God's breath" so to speak.

Even the thinking process returns to being part of this effortless flow. At the beginning stages of meditation one is very concerned with overcoming the wandering thoughts in order to develop enough calm and concentration to be able to practice mindfulness. But when you get further along in the process there will be no necessity whatsoever to have a still mind because the ordinary flow of thought will be experienced as not different from the activity of the Source.

So to do Vipassana practice means simply to be very precise and accepting moment by moment with regard to what is happening in your sense door. That may seem like a trivial practice. One might think,"What's the big deal. I'm sitting here, so now I'm clearly aware of an itch in my tush, or now I know that the sound is calling my attention. So what?" But when all the components of experience become distinct enough, when there's crystal clarity about exactly what's happening moment by moment, then the senses become literally transparent, i.e., insubstantial. And a reality that is beyond time and space can shine through. One is able to contact the Source as a pure "doing" continuously molding time, space, self and world moment by moment. Technically, this is referred to as "insight into impermanence." Well, once you've reached that point you'll never be bored again, I promise you.

Now let's talk a little more about this technical term: insight. In Vipassana you get insights and understandings into the most fundamental aspects of our being. Here we have another analogy from science.

When people observe under a microscope they start to discover things they could never see with the naked eye. There's no way to know that our bodies are made up of trillions of little cells. No matter how hard you look at your body with the naked eye, you'll never see them. But if you look under a microscope you will, and you will understand something deep and fundamental about the nature of all organisms: it's called the cell theory of life. This is the basis of modern biology and modern medicine. A microscope is an awareness extending tool that allows us to see something that is always there but not evident to the naked eye. The mindfulness practice is to the exploration of your internal world what the microscope is to the exploration of the external world. It allows you to see finer levels of structure that are absolutely invisible to people otherwise, but are very important.

For example, as you are observing, you'll be able to see that pain is one thing, and resistance to the pain is something else, and when the two come together you have an experience of suffering. You will get an insight into the nature of suffering (S = P x R), 'suffering equals pain multiplied by resistance.' You'll be able to see that's true not only for physical pain, but also for emotional pain and its true not only for little pains but also for big pains. It's true for every kind of pain no matter how big, how small, or what causes it. Whenever there is resistance there is suffering. As soon as you can see that, you gain an understanding of what makes pain a problem, and as soon as you gain that insight, you'll begin to have some freedom. You come to realize that as long as we are alive we can't avoid pain. It's built into our nervous system. But we can certainly learn to experience pain without it being a problem.

If you've never meditated you may be completely lost as to what I'm talking about. You may even think I'm talking gibberish. And there's a good reason for that. For most people, by the time they are conscious of a physical or emotional pain they have already turned it into suffering by resisting it. The resistance begins at the preconscious processing level of each moment of experience. So the idea that you can experience discomfort without it being a problem doesn't make sense to most people because for them every time there's discomfort there's suffering. The distinction between pain and suffering and their relationship is invisible to the average person because you have to look with a sort of 'microscope' — an awareness extending tool — to observe the pain over and over again with high states of concentration until you can begin to see that the pain is one thing and the resistance is something else and when the two come together you suffer, but when there's just pain you don't suffer. Pain is just part of nature. It's just as effortless as ripples spreading on a pond, or as the wind blowing through the trees. It is possible to actually 'go on vacation' inside your pain. You don't have to go to the mountains or the seashore. Of course you can also go on vacation inside your pleasure or inside your neutral sensations. This is an example of insight. It's something that you can not see with the naked eye. I can tell you about it and you'll either believe me or not believe me. On the other hand, if you observe long enough and hard enough, you'll see for yourself that it is actually true. And will that be important? Just wait until the next time you suffer in some way and you'll know!

Spiritual insight is like a many-faceted jewel. One facet is called freedom from suffering. What are some other facets? Well, look at the other side of the picture, how about pleasure. Does pleasure bring lasting satisfaction for most people? Does each experience of pleasure transform most people? Does more pleasure also elevate your base-line of satisfaction in life? Usually not. In fact often the opposite. Often pleasure leads to drivenness, neediness, compulsion. Does that mean there's something wrong with pleasure? Absolutely not. Just as there is grasping around pain ("resistance"), there is also grasping around pleasure ("craving"). Pleasure in and of itself is a very purifying experience, but if pleasure arises and there's any grasping or holding, even the slightest congealing around the flow of that pleasure, then that pleasure does not give much satisfaction. On the other hand, when the grasping is dropped, the pleasure gives really lasting satisfaction, something changes on the inside, and one's level of fulfillment is raised permanently. So pure pain purifies, pure pleasure purifies. What do I mean by pure pain? Pain without resistance. What do I mean by pure pleasure? Pleasure without craving. ((((Everything goes back to awareness and equanimity.))))

Another facet of insights is related to a person's sense of self. There are things that are true and useful to know about how one's sense of self arises moment by moment. We think there is a 'thing' inside us called a self, but upon closer investigation we discover that there is an activity called personality that rises and passes as part of the effortless flow of nature. That activity called personality is made up of certain ideas and certain body sensations that moment by moment give us the sense that "I am." When those ideas and body sensations are greeted with complete awareness and zero interference, then we have a wonderful paradoxical experience. Obviously if you have complete awareness and zero interference with those ideas and body sensations that in this moment give you the sense "I am," then we would have to say that you are allowing your personality to completely express itself. On the other hand, whenever you have any experience and maintain continuous awareness and zero interference, that experience becomes clear in the two senses of the English word as I described before. It becomes very distinct but it also becomes transparent. So the fully experienced personality is a transparent wave rather than an opaque particle. The fully experienced self is a 'doing' rather than a 'thing' and hence is sometimes called "no-self." Once you realize that, your sense of self becomes elastic like rubber, and you can expand and contract effortlessly with the flow of events. You can think of it as an elastic self which can get as big or as small as the circumstance requires, a bouncy and vibrant pure "doing" called personality. So you can learn how to complete your personality and in learning that you also learn how to sometimes let go of your personality. An elastic self can get as big as the whole universe and therefore can encompass all things and it can get as small as zero and therefore know a state of true rest, real peace and security.

So, with this practice we bring mindfulness (specificity of awareness) and equanimity (non-interfering with awareness) to ordinary experience. As a result, we get purification, which is a release of the blockages to happiness, and we get insight which is a deep, many-faceted understanding into the nature of our experience. As a result of this what happens? We become empowered, we become free. We have a sense of freedom that is not dependent on circumstances, we have a sense of happiness that is not dependent on conditions.

This process of developing a sense of happiness independent of circumstances is quite challenging but actually this is only half of the spiritual path. The other half of the path involves what you 'put out' into the world. In addition to Vipassana mindfulness, one also cultivates habitual states of Loving Kindness and Compassion, and translates these subjective states into objective actions that are of benefit to others.

One might say that through mindfulness meditation the old dirty paint is scraped off the walls of the soul and through daily loving kindness meditation a new beautiful coat is put on one layer at a time.

There is much to be said about developing Loving Kindness and Compassion and the intimate link between Insight and Love on the spiritual path. Suffice it for now to say that through mindfulness and equanimity the very substance of the feeling self becomes porous, transparent, elastic, and vibratory. Being porous it can soak up any flavor, being transparent it can take on any coloration, being elastic and vibratory it can resonate any tone. Through Loving Kindness and related meditations one intentionally imparts to one's feeling core a habitual coloration, flavor and tone of deep human warmth and beneficence. This constantly flows out and subtly but significantly influences the people around. At the level of action it translates into various expressions of effortless service to others.

Universal Spirituality for Peace

You may attempt to listen to this talk on "Real Video" at the BeliefNet Website. The Video is the 8th entry on that page - where it says click to view the video above "Bishop Reverend Fu Tieshen Christianity Vice Chairman, Chinese Catholic Conference", then "Prayer - S. N. Goenka Buddhist Meditation Master". The entire video is about 26 minutes in length and Goenakji's portion begins about 15 minutes into it.

When there is darkness, light is needed. Today, with so much agony caused by violent conflict, war and bloodshed, the world badly needs peace and harmony. This is a great challenge for religious and spiritual leaders. Let us accept this challenge.

Every religion has an outer form or shell, and an inner essence or core. The outer shell consists of rites, rituals, ceremonies, beliefs, myths and doctrines. These vary from one religion to another. But there is an inner core common to all religions: the universal teachings of morality and charity, of a disciplined and pure mind full of love, compassion, good will and tolerance.. It is this common denominator that religious leaders ought to emphasize, and that religious adherents ought to practice. If proper importance is given to the essence of all religions and greater tolerance is shown for their superficial aspects, conflict can be minimized.

All persons must be free to profess and follow their faith. In doing so, however, they must be careful not to neglect the practice of the essence of their religion, not to disturb others by their own religious practices, and not to condemn or belittle other faiths.

Given the diversity of faiths, how do we surmount the differences and achieve a concrete plan for peace? The Buddha, the Enlightened One, was often approached by people of different views. To them he would say, "Let us set aside our differences. Let us give attention to what we can agree on, and let us put it into practice. Why quarrel?" That wise counsel still retains its worth today.

I come from an ancient land that has given rise to many different schools of philosophy and spirituality over the millennia. Despite isolated instances of violence, my country has been a model of peaceful co-existence. Some 2300 years ago it was ruled by Ashoka the Great, whose empire extended from present-day Afghanistan to Bangladesh. Throughout his realm, this compassionate ruler caused edicts to be inscribed on stone, proclaiming that all faiths should be respected; and as a result, followers of all spiritual traditions felt secure under his sway. He asked people to live a moral life, to respect parents and elders, and to abstain from killing. The words in which he exhorted his subjects are still relevant today:

Emperor Ashoka represents a glorious tradition of tolerant co-existence and peaceful synthesis. That tradition lives on among governments and rulers today. An example is the noble monarch of Oman, who has donated land for churches and temples of other faiths while practicing his own religion with all devotion and diligence. I am sure that such compassionate rulers and governments will continue to arise in future in many lands around the world. As it is said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

It is all too clear that the votaries of violence primarily hurt their own kith and kin. They may do so directly, through their intolerance, or indirectly, by provoking a violent response to their actions. On the other hand, it is said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." This is the law of nature. It may equally be called the decree or way of God. The Buddha said, "Animosity can be eradicated not by animosity but only by its opposite. This is an eternal Dharma [spiritual law]." What is called Dharma in India has nothing to do with Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism or any other "ism".. It is this simple truth: before you harm others, you first harm yourself by generating mental negativity; and by removing the negativity, you can find peace within and strengthen peace in the world.

Peace of Mind For World Peace
Every religion worthy of the name calls on its followers to live a moral and ethical way of life, to attain mastery over the mind and to cultivate purity of heart. One tradition tells us, "Love thy neighbor"; another says, Salaam walekum-"May peace be with you"; still another says, Bhavatu sabba mangalam or Sarve bhavantu sukhinah-"May all beings be happy." Whether it is the Bible, the Koran or the Gita, the scriptures call for peace and amity. From Mahavir to Jesus, all great founders of religions have been ideals of tolerance and peace. Yet our world is often riven by religious and sectarian strife, or even war-because we give importance only to the outer shell of religion and neglect its essence. The result is a lack of love and compassion in the mind.

Peace in the world cannot be achieved unless there is peace within individuals. Agitation and peace cannot co-exist. One way to achieve inner peace is Vipassana or insight meditation-a non-sectarian, scientific, results-oriented technique of self-observation and truth realization. Practice of this technique brings experiential understanding of how mind and body interact. Every time negativity arises in the mind, such as hatred, it triggers unpleasant sensations within the body. Every time the mind generates selfless love, compassion and good will, the entire body is flooded with pleasant sensations. Practice of Vipassana also reveals that mental action precedes every physical and vocal action, determining whether that action will be wholesome or unwholesome. Mind matters most. That is why we must find practical methods to make the mind peaceful and pure. Such methods will amplify the effectiveness of the joint declaration emerging from this World Peace Summit.

Ancient India gave two practices to the world. One is the physical exercise of yoga postures (Asanas) and breath control (Pranayama) for keeping the body healthy. The other is the mental exercise of Vipassana for keeping the mind healthy. People of any faith can and do practice both these methods. At the same time, they may follow their own religions in peace and harmony; there is no necessity for conversion, a common source of tension and conflict.

For society to be peaceful, more and more members of society must be peaceful. As leaders, we have a responsibility to set an example, to be an inspiration. A sage once said, "A balanced mind is necessary to balance the unbalanced mind of others."

More broadly, a peaceful society will find a way to live in peace with its natural setting. We all understand the need to protect the environment, to stop polluting it. What prevents us from acting on this understanding is the stock of mental pollutants, such as ignorance, cruelty or greed. Removing such pollutants will promote peace among human beings, as well as a balanced, healthy relationship between human society and its natural environment. This is how religion can foster environmental protection.

Non-Violence: the Key to a Definition of Religion
There are bound to be differences between religions. However, by gathering at this World Peace Summit, leaders of all the major faiths have shown that they want to work for peace. Let peace then be the first principle of "universal religion". Let us declare together that we shall abstain from killing, that we condemn violence. I also urge political leaders to join in this declaration, given the key role they play in bringing either peace or war.. Whether or not they join us, at least let us all make a vow here and now: instead of condoning violence and killing, let us declare that we unconditionally condemn such deeds, especially violence perpetrated in the name of religion.

Certain spiritual leaders have had the sagacity and courage to condemn violence committed in the name of their own faith. There may be different philosophical and theological views of the act of seeking forgiveness or regretting past violence and killing; but the very acknowledgment of violence performed in the past implies that it was wrong and that it will not be condoned in future.

Under the aegis of the United Nations, let us try to formulate a definition of religion and spirituality highlighting non-violence, and refusing to countenance violence or killing. There would be no greater misfortune for humanity than a failure to define religion as synonymous with peace. This Summit could propose a concept of "universal religion" or "non-sectarian spirituality", for endorsement by the UN.

I am sure that this Summit will help focus the world's attention on the true purpose of religion:

I congratulate the organizers of this historic Summit for their vision and efforts. And I congratulate the religious and spiritual leaders who have had the maturity to work for reconciliation, giving hope to humanity that religion and spirituality will lead to a peaceful future.

May all beings be free from aversion and be happy.

May peace and harmony prevail.

In the course of his Dhamma work, begining in 1969, Goenkaji has been asked thousands of questions, by Vipassana students and others all over the world.

The questions range a fascinating spectrum from what is Dhamma, Vipassana meditation, aim of life, human misery, God, rebirth to insomnia....

The answers and questions have been broadly categorized under various sections based on the nature of the question. A section at the end, under 'Vipassana Practice', provides clarifications about the practice to Vipassana students.

To Vipassana students, Goenkaji has always emphasized that the real answers can only come from continuous and correct practice of Vipassana.

The Q & A Bank, therefore, serves as a guide and inspiration to Vipassana students, and an encouragement to non-students to undertake a Vipassana course, and directly experience its immense benefits.

Questions have been classified under : Updated on 4th Sept. 2000

Addiction, Atma (soul), Anger, Anxiety, Attachment, Buddha, Cause & Effect, Chakras, Children, Concentration, Complexes, Conditioning, Craving, Dhamma, Dhamma Forces, Death, Ego, Emotion, Equanimity, Escapism, Fasting, Food, God, Happiness, Honesty, Hypnotism, Insomnia, Karma, Life, Liberation, Lokas, Mantras, Metta Bhavana, Mudita(Sympathetic Joy), Mind, Vipassana Meditation, Morality, Pain, Peace, Prison courses, Re-birth, Selfless service, Sex, Society, Suffering, Vibrations, Vipassana Courses, Vipassana Pagoda

Clarifications on Vipassana Practice (as requested from Vipassana students)

A

1. How can we avoid addictions like smoking cigarettes?

There are so many different types of addictions. When you practise Vipassana, you will understand that your addiction is not actually to that particular substance. It seems as if you are addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, paan (betel leaf). But actually, you are addicted to a particular sensation in the body, a bio-chemical flow caused by that particular substance. Similarly, when you are addicted to anger, passion etc, these are also related to body sensations. Your addiction is to the sensations. Through Vipassana you come out of that addiction, all addictions. It is so natural, so scientific. Just try, and you will experience how it works.

1. What is 'atma', 'soul' ?

Practice Vipassana, and you will find the reality of what is happening inside you. What you call soul , atma, you will notice, is just a reacting mind, a certain part of the mind. Yet you remain under the illusion that "this is 'I' ". Through practice of Vipassana, you will realize that this 'I' is not permament. It's always changing, always ephemeral. It's nothing but a mass of sub-atomic particles, always in a state of flux and flow. Only by directly experiencing this, the illusion of 'I' will go away, and then the illusion of the 'soul'. With no illusions, delusions, all miseries go away. But this has to be experienced. This does not happen by merely accepting philosophical beliefs.

1. How does one escape anger?

With the practise of Vipassana! A Vipassana student observes respiration, or the bodily sensations caused when angry. This observation is with equanimity, with no reaction. The anger soon weakens and passes away. Through continued practise of Vipassana, the habit pattern of the mind to react with anger is changed.

2.I can't supress my anger, even if I try.

Don't suppress it. Observe it. The more you suppress it, the more it goes to the deeper levels of your mind. The complexes become stronger and stronger, and it so difficult to come out of them. No suppression, no expression. Just observe.

Certainly. This is the purpose of Vipassana - to liberate you from all miseries. Anxiety and worry are the biggest miseries, and they are there because of certain impurities deep within you. With practise of Vipassana, these impurities will come on the surface and gradually pass away. Of course, it takes time. There is no magic, no miracle, no gurudom involved. Somebody will just show you the correct Path. You have to walk on the Path, work out your own liberation from all miseries.

Yes, persons also. You have true love for the person, compassionate love for this person, this is totally different. But when you have attachment, then you don't have love, you only love yourself, because you expect something -material, emotional etc - from this person. With whomever you have attachment, you are expecting something in return. When you start truly loving this person, then you only give, a one-way traffic. You don't expect anything in return, then the attachment goes. The tension goes. You are so happy.

2.How can the world function without attachment?

If parents were detached then they would not even care for their children. How is it possible to love or be involved in life without attachment? Detachment does not mean indifference; it is correctly called "holy indifference". As a parent, you must meet your responsibility to care for your child with all your love, but without clinging. Out of pure, selfless love you do your duty. Suppose you tend a sick person, and despite your care, he does not recover. You don't start crying; that would be useless. With a balanced mind, you try to find another way to help him. This is holy indifference : neither inaction or reaction, but real, positive action with a balanced mind.

3. Isn't performing a right action a kind of attachment?

No. It is simply doing your best, understanding that the results are beyond your control. You do your job and leave the results to nature, to Dhamma.

If you make a mistake you accept it, and try not to repeat it the next time. Again you may fail; again you smile and try a different way. If you can smile in the face of failure, you are not attached. If failure depresses you and success makes you elated, you are certainly attached.

B

1. You keep referring to the Buddha. Are you teaching Buddhism?

I am not concerned with 'isms'. I teach Dhamma, and that is what the Buddha taught. He never taught any 'ism', or any sectarian doctrine. He taught something from which people of every background, every religion, can benefits. He taught the way with which one can to live a life fill of benefits for oneself and other. He didn't merely give empty sermons saying, ' Oh, People. You must live like this, you must live like that". The Buddha taught practical Dhamma , the actual way to live a wholesome life. And Vipassana is the practical know-how to lead a life of real happiness.

2. All Buddist meditation techniques were already known in yoga. What was new in meditation as taught by the Buddha?

What is called yoga today is actually a later development. Patanjali lived about 500 years after the time of the Buddha, and natually his Yoga Sutra shows the influence of the Buddha's teachings. Of course, yogic practices were known in India even before the Buddha, and he himself experimented with them before achieving enlightenment. All these practices, however, were limited to sila (morality) and samadhi (concentration of the mind), concentration up to the level of the eight jhana, the eight stage of absorption, which is still within the field of sensory experience. The Buddha found the ninth jhana, and that is Vipassana, the development of insight that will take the meditator to the ultimate goal beyond the misery of sensory experience. ((Is he referring to the "absolute" when he refers to the state beyond mind and matter…? Or, ninth beyond eighth jharna, or vipassana, i.e., samadhi/insight, as ninth in the sense different from "Jhana."??? According to Zen, or wilbro, it is samadhi/quiet center - insight process with absolute as unique state… but this unique state may be seen as, say, certain level of jhana, perhaps fourth jhana… ))

C

1. Aren’t there any chance happenings, random occurrences without a cause?

Nothing happens without a cause. It is not possible. Sometimes our limited senses and intellects cannot clearly find it, but that does not mean that there is no cause.

2. Is everthing in this life predetermined?

Well, certainly our past actions will give fruit, good or bad. They will determine the type of life we have, the general situation in which we find ourselves. But that does not mean that whatever happens to us is predestined, ordained by our past actions, and that nothing else can happen. That is not the case. Our past actions influence the flow of our life, directing them towards pleasant or unpleasant experiences. But present actions are equally important. Nature has given us the ability to become masters of our present actions. With that mastery, we can change our future.

Chakras are nothing but nerve centres on the spinal cord. Vipassana takes you to the stage where you can feel activity in every little atom of your body. Chakras are just a part of that. This activity can be experienced in the entire body.

The best time for that is before birth of the child. During pregnancy the mother should practise Vipassana, so that the child also receives it and is born a Dhamma child. But if you already have children, you can still share Dhamma with them. If your children are very young (below age 8), direct your metta (the technique of Metta-Bhavana to share the vibrations of goodwill and compassion to all beings, taught on the 10th morning of the Vipassana course ) to them after every sitting and at their bedtime. In this way, they also benefit from your practice of Dhamma. And when you are older, explain a little about Dhamma to them in a way that they can understand and accept. If they can understand it a little more, then teach them Anapana for a few minutes. Don't pressure the children in any way. Just let them sit with you, observe their breath for a few minutes, and then go and play. The meditation will be like play to them; they will enjoy it. And the most important is that you must live a healthy Dhamma life yourself, you must set a good example for your children. In your home, you must establish a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere which will help them grow into healthy and happy people. This is the best thing you can do for your children.

2.Could you give advice to mothers with infants, and struggling to keep up their practice?

Why should there be a problem? The child is on the lap and still you can practise. You can give metta to the child. You can give metta to others. You must learn how to carry onn your Dhamma in every situation. So use Dhamma for all your duties. A mother's duty is to look after the child in a Dhamma way.

3. Is it necessary to introduce Vipassana into education?

Certainly. Vipassana is the practical science of living. The next generation much learn this science at a very young age, so that they can live a very healthy life, a harmonious life. If they understand pure Dhamma, the law of nature, they will live according to the law of nature. When children are taught Vipassana in the schools and colleges, as it is being done now in some cities, there are very good results.

This is what Vipassana does. Every complex is an impurity of the mind. As that impurity comes to the surface, you observe it at the level of body sensations. It passes away. It arises again. Again you observe. Again it passes away. Like this, these complexes weaken and ultimately do not rise again. Just observe. Supression or expression is harmful. Vipassana helps one come out of all complexes.

1. What is the difference between Vipassana and concentration?

Vipassana is not merely concentration. Vipassana is observation of the truth within, from moment to moment. You develp your faculty of awareness, your mindfulness. Things keep changing, but you remain aware - this is Vipassana. But if you concentrate only on one object, which may be an imaginary object, then nothing will change. When you are with this imagination, and your mind remains concentrated on it, you are not observing the truth. When you are observing the truth, it is bound to change. It keeps constantly changing, and yet you are aware of it. This is Vipassana.

On the contrary, Vipassana is a process of de-conditioning. Instead of imposing anything on the mind, it automatically removes unwholesome qualities so that only positive, wholesome qualities remain. By eliminating negativities, it uncovers the postivity which is the basic nature of the pure mind.

It is wrong. You will never get enlightenment if you have a craving for enlightenment. Enlightenment just happens. If you crave for it, you are running in the opposite direction. One cannot crave for a particular result. The result comes naturally. If you start craving, " I must get nibbana, I must get nibbana", you are running in the opposite direction of nibbana. Nibbana is a state which is free from craving, and you want to reach that state with craving - not possible.

2. Is a strong desire the same as craving?

There is a difference. Whether there is craving or not, will be judged by whatever you desire. If you don't get it, and you feel depressed, then it was craving. If you don't get it, and you just smile, then it was just a desire. It didn't turn into craving. Whenever there is a craving and clinging and you don't get something, you are bound to become miserable. If you are becoming miserable, then there was some craving. Otherwise, no craving.

3. Can't there be wholesome cravings and aversions - for example, hating injustice, desiring freedom, fearing physical harm?

Cravings and aversions can never be wholesome. They will always make you tense and unhappy. If you act with craving or aversion in the mind, you may have a worthwhile goal, but you use an unhealthy means to reach it. Of course, you have to act to protect yourself from danger. If you do it overpowered by fear, then might you develop a fear complex which will harm you in the long run. Or, if with hatred in the mind, if you are successful in fighting injustice, then that hatred becomes a harmful mental complex. You must fight injustice, you must protect yourself from danger, but you can do so with a balanced mind, without tension. And in a balanced way, you can work to achieve something good, out of love for others. Balance of mind is always helpful, and will give the best results.

4. What is wrong with wanting material things to make life more comfortable?

If it is a real requirement, there is nothing wrong, provided you do not become attached to it. Whatever necessities you require, work to get them. If you fail to get something, then smile and try again in a different way. If you succeed, then enjoy what you get, but without attachment.

5. How about planning for the future? Would you call that craving?

Again, the criterion is whether you are attached to your plan. Everyone must provide for the future. If your plan does not succeed and you start crying, then you know that you were attached to it. But if you are unsuccessful and can still smile, thinking, " Well, I did my best. So what if I failed? I'll try again !" - then you are working in a detached way, and you remain happy.

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What one's mind contains, at this moment, is Dhamma. Dhamma is everything there is.

A large number of people living in slums come to Vipassana courses and find it very helpful. Their stomachs are empty, but their minds also are so agitated. With Vipassana, they learn how to be calm and equanimous. Then they can face their problems. It is noticed their lives improve. They come out of addictions to alcohol, gambling etc. Dhamma is helpful to everyone, rich or poor.

3. How can a truly Dhammic person face this adhammic world?

Don't try to change the adhammic world. Try to change the adhamma in yourself - the way in which you are reacting and making yourself miserable. For instance, when somebody is abusing you, understand that this person is miserable. It is the problem of that person. Why make it your problem? Why start generating anger and making yourself miserable? Doing that means you are not your own master, you are that person's slave; whenever that person wants to, he can make you miserable. Be your own master. Then you can live a Dhammic life, inspite of all the adhammic situations all around.

4. How do you equate religion and Dhamma?

If religion is taken in a sectarian sense, like Hindu religion or Muslim religion or Buddhist religion and so on, then it is totally against Dhamma. But if religion is taken as the law of nature, the universal law of nature, then it is the same as Dhamma.

Yes. Certainly, the Dhamma starts guiding you. As the mind gets more and more purified, your pannya, your own experiential wisdom will get stronger and stronger. When any problem comes in the world, in your life, then you just go a little deep inside and you get the answer yourself. So this becomes your guide. You should not depend on anyone else. You depend on yourself, and depend on Dhamma.

Certainly – visible as well as invisible ones. For example, people tend to associate with those of similar interest, background and character. When we develop good qualities in us, we naturally attract people who have such good qualities. When we come in contact with such good people, naturally we get support from them.

If we develop love, compasssion and goodwill, we will get tuned up with all beings, visible or invisible, that have these positive vibrations, and we will start getting support from them. It is like tuning a radio to receive waves of a certain meter band from a distant broadcasting station. Similarly, we tune ourselves to vibrations of the type we generate; and so we receive the benefit of those vibrations. But all this happens only if we work hard and correctly.

At the time of death - death of other people - then you just sit and give metta. And when your own death comes, observe it, at the level of sensations. Everyone has to observe one's death : coming, coming, coming, going, going, going, gone ! Be happy !

E

Through practice of Vipassana you will find that all such sensual pleasures are impermanent; they come and pass away. If this 'I' really enjoys them, if they are 'my' pleasures, then 'I' must have some mastery over them. But they just arise and pass away without my control. What 'I' is there?

At that level, 'I' is of no importance at all. When you reach that level, the ego is dissolved. There is only joy. The question of 'I' does not arise then.

Feelings fees; there is no one to feel it. Things are just happening, that's all. Now it seems to you that there must be an 'I' who feels, but after beginning to practice Vipassana, you will reach the stage where the ego dissolves. Then your question will disappear!

For conventional purposes, yes, we cannot run away from using words like 'I' or 'mine' etc. But clinging to them, taking them as real in an ultimate sense will only bring suffering.

2. I find that I am every egoistic and quick to belittle other people. What is the best way to come out of this problem?

Come out of it by meditating. If the ego is strong, one will try to belittle others, to lower their importance and increase one's own. But meditation naturally dissolves the ego. When it dissolves, you can no longer do anything to hurt another. Meditate and the problem will automatically solved.

3. Why do I keep reinforcing this ego? Why do I keep trying to be "I" ?

This is what the mind is conditioned to do, out of ignorance. But Vipassana can liberate you from this harmful conditioning. In place of always thinking of the self, you can learn to think of others.

1. Isn't anger, aversion, sadness etc all natural human emotions?

You call them 'natural' human emotions, but the mind by nature is very pure. This is a very common mistake. The true, pure nature of the mind is so much lost that the impure nature of the mind is often called 'natural'! The true natural mind is so pure, full of compassion, goodwill.

Again you are saying the same thing! It is the wrong nature in which you are involved. If somebody dies, no crying. Crying doesn't solve any problem. All those moments when you have been crying you are sowing seeds of crying. Nature wouldn't see why you are crying, nature only sees what seed you have sowed and the seed of crying will only bring more crying..

You are harming that person also because whereever this person has taken his next birth, wherever this person may be, you are sending vibrations of crying. So poor person, so much agitated. He gets vibrations of misery. Instead of that, at the end of a 10-day Vipassana course, you are taught how to send metta, the vibrations of love and compassion. He or she will be happy. Where ever you are, your metta vibrations will touch this person. By giving metta, instead of crying, you will be helping this person.

1. What do you mean by 'being equanimous'?

When you do not react, you are equanimous.

2. Can we feel and enjoy things fully and still be equanimous?

Certainly. Life is to enjoy wholesome things. But not with an attachment to anything. You remain equanimous and enjoy, so that when you miss it you smile : " I knew it was going away. It has gone away. So what? " Then only are you really enjoying life. Otherwise, you get attached, and if you miss it, you roll in misery. So no misery. In every situation be happy.

It seems so if you have experienced only the wrong habit-pattern of an impure mind. But it is natural for a pure mind to remain fully equanimous. An an equanimous, pure mind is full of love, compassion, healthy detachment, goodwill, joy. Equanimity is purity. Learn to experience that.

4. How can we be involved in life unless we react?

Instead of reacting you learn to act, to act with a balanced mind. Vipassana meditators do not become inactive, like vegetables. They learn how to act positively. If you can change your life pattern from reaction to action, then you have attained something very valuable. And you can change it by practising Vipassana.

5. How is equanimity related to samadhi (concentration of the mind)?

Samadhi can be without equanimity. With the base of craving one becomes fully concentrated. But that kind of samadhi is not right samadhi. That is with the base of impurity. But if the samadhi is with equanimity, then it gives wonderful results, because the mind is pure and concentrated, so it is powerful with purity. It cannot do anything that will harm you or harm others. But if it is powerful with impurity, it will harm others, it will harm you. So equanimity with samadhi is helpful.

6. If someone is purposely making our life miserable - how to tolerate this ?

First of all, don't try to change the other person. Try to change yourself. Somebody is trying to make you miserable. But you are becoming miserable because you are reacting to this. If you learn how to observe your reaction, then nobody can make you miserable. Any amount of misery from others cannot make you miserable if you learn to be equanimous deep inside. Vipassana will help you. Once you become free from misery inside, this will also start affecting others. The same person who was harming you will start changing little by little.

1. How is Vipassana different from escapism?

Vipassana is to face the world. No escapism is permitted in Vipassana.

No, no. Total fasting is not good for this technique. Neither total fasting nor overeating. It is a middle path. Eat less - what is necessary for the body - that's all. Fasting you can do later on just for your body's sake - that's another question. But for meditation, fasting is not necessary.

When you eat meat or something, then this being - animal or fish or whatever it is - for its whole life was generating nothing but craving, aversion, craving, aversion. After all, human beings can find some time when they can come out of craving and aversion. These beings cannot come out of it. So every fibre of their body is vibrating with craving and aversion. And you yourself want to come out of craving, aversion and you are giving an input to all of that. So what sort of vibrations you will have. That is why it is not good.

2. Can a non-vegetarian succeed in Vipassana?

When you come to a Vipassana course, only vegetarian food is served. But we don't say that if you take non-vegetarian food, you will go to hell. It is not like that. Slowly, you will come out of eating meat, like thousands of Vipassana students have. You will naturally find there is no more need for you to have non-vegetarian food. Your progress in Vipassana will certainly be better if you are vegetarian.

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1. Who is God?

Truth is God. Realize the truth within you, and you will realize God.

2. Is there a God who created earth?

I have not seen such a God. If you have, you are welcome to believe. For me, truth is God, the law of nature is God, Dhamma is God, and everything is evolving because of Dhamma, because of this law of nature. If you understand this, and live according to the law of Dhamma, you live a good life. Whether you believe in a supernatural God or not, makes no difference.

3. Don't we need God's power?

God's power is Dharma's power. Dhamma is God. Truth is God. When you are with truth, when you are with Dhamma, you are with God. Develop God's power within yourself, by purifying your mind.

4. Are you an atheist?

(Laughs). If by 'atheist' you mean one who does not believe in God, then no, I am not. For me, God is not an imaginary person. For me, truth is God. The ultimate truth is ultimate God.

H

Being sensitive to the suffering of others does not mean that you must become sad yourself. Instead you should remain calm and balanced, so that you can act to alleviate their suffering. If you become sad, you increase the unhappiness around you; you do not help others and you do not help yourself. That is why my teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin used to say that a balanced mind is necessary to balance the unbalanced mind of others.

2. Can we get complete happiness and complete tranformation through Vipassana?

It is a progressive process. As you start working, you will find that you are experiencing more and more happiness, and eventually you will reach the stage which is total happiness. You become more and more transformed, and you will reach the stage which is total transformation. It is progressive.

1. My professional life involves dishonesty. I cannot take up another calling as that will cause great inconvenience.

Practise Vipassana, and your mind will become strong. At present, you are a slave of your mind, and your mind keep forcing you to do things which you do not want to do. By the practise of Vipassana, you will get the strength to come out of this easily, and then you will find some other profession, which will be helpful to you, and which will be wholesome.

The true meditation techniques of ancient India were totally against hynotism. Some techniques did use hypnotism, but this is totally against Dhamma. Dhamma makes you self-dependant. Hypnotism will never make you self-dependant. Therefore, these two do not go together.

I

Vipassana helps you. When a Vipassana student can't sleep properly, if he or she lies down and observes respiration or sensations, sound sleep comes. Even if they don't get sound sleep, the next day they will get up feeling very fresh, as if they have come out of a deep sleep. Practice Vipassana even when lying down. Try, and you will find that it is very helpful.

2. For the past ten to twelve years, I haven't been able to sleep properly.

Vipassana will solve this problem, depending on how properly you work. If you come to Vipassana with the sole aim of getting sound sleep, then it's better you don't come! You should come to Vipassana to come out of the impurities of your mind. There is a great disturbance because there is so much negativity in the mind, so much worry. All these worries, negativities and impurities will start getting eradicated by Vipassana, and you will start getting very sound sleep.

K

Be the master of your own mind. Vipassana teaches you how to become your own master. Otherwise, because of the old negative habit pattern of the mind, you will keep doing actions, that karma, which you do not want to do. Intellectually, you understand, " I should not perform these actions". Yet, you continue to do so, because you do not have mastery over your mind. Vipassana will help you achieve this mastery over the mind.

2. Is being wealthy good karma? If it is, does that mean that most people in the West have good karma, and most people in the Third World have bad karma?

Wealth alone is not a good karma. If you become wealthy but remain miserable, what is the use of this wealth? Having wealth and also happiness, real happiness - that is good karma. Most important is to be happy, whether you are wealthy or not.

3. If all causes have a specific effect, how do we have freedom of choice to liberate ourselves from our karma?

Because of cause. The cause of your understanding this cause of your understanding. This cause of understanding helps you come out of the reaction of generating new sankharas (conditioning of the mind). The cause of ignorance results in generating more and more sankharas and rolling in it. The cause of wisdom results in helping to come out of it. The cause is there, All the time you are using the cause of ignorance. You keep on rolling in misery. Now by practice of Vipassana, you are making use of the cause of wisdom. You don't make new sankharas.

L

1. What would you say is the purpose of life?

To come out of misery. A human being has the wonderful ability to go deep inside, observe reality, and come out of suffering. Not to use this ability is to waste one's life. Use it to live a really healthy, happy life!

2. How to practise Vipassana in daily life?

Take a Vipassana course, and then you will understand how to apply the practice in your life. If you just take a course and don't apply it in life, then Vipassana will become just a rite, ritual, or a religious ceremony. It won't help you. Vipassana is to life a good life, evey day , every moment.

3. What is life after death?

Every moment one is taking birth, every moment one is dying. Understand this process of life and death. This will make you very happy, and you will understand what happens after death.

The ultimate life, the ultimate goal, is here and now. If you keep looking for something in the future, but you don't gain anything now, this is a delusion. If you have started experiencing peace and harmony now, then there is every likelihood that you will reach the goal, which is nothing but peace and harmony. So experience it now, this moment. Then you are really on the right path.

1. Are there any liberated people living presently?

Yes. Vipassana is a progressive path to liberation. As much as you are free from impurity, that much you are liberated. And there are people who have reached the stage where they are totally free from all impurities.

2. Is meditation the only way to get liberated?

Yes. Just accepting something with blind faith will not help. You have to work for your liberation. You have to find out where the bondage is, and then you have to come out of that bondage. This is Vipassana. Vipassana enables one to directly experience the real cause of bondage, the real cause of misery, and enables one to be gradually liberated from all miseries. So liberation comes from the practice of Vipassana.

1.In your discourses you talk about thirty one lokas, but often this looks very speculative. Can this be understood at the level of sensations?

Certainly. The whole technique takes you to the stage where you will start feeling-some students, very few, have started feeling - " now what sort of vibration am I experiencing? What sort of vibration?" And according to that, they understand - a vibration of this particular loka, of this particular plane, is of this type. And later on, they can understand in greater detail also. But it is not necessary that one should first accept the reality of these thirty-one planes to progress in Dhamma. Nothing doing. Accept it only when you reach the stage when you can directly experience such very subtle realities.

M

1. How does Vipassana differ from other meditation techniques like the use of mantras. Don't they also concentrate the mind?

With the help of mantras, visualization of any shape or form one can easily get the mind concentrated, no doubt. But with Vipassana, the aim is to purify the mind. And mantras generate a particular type of artificial vibration. Every word, every mantra will generate a vibration, and if one keeps working with this mantra for long hours, one gets engulfed in the created vibration. Whereas, Vipassana wants you to observe the natural vibration that you have - in the form of sensations - vibrations when you become angry, or when you are full of passion, or fear, or hatred, so that you can come out of them.

1. What is metta?

Metta or Metta Bhavana is the technique of generating vibrations of goodwill and compassion that a Vipassana student is first taught on the 10th day of a 10-day Vipassana course. Later, at the end of every Vipassana course, or a 1-hour sitting, a meditator is asked to practice metta, to share the merits gained with all beings. Metta vibrations are tangible vibrations whose beneficial power increases as the purity of the mind increases.

2. Does metta get stronger as samadhi (concentration) gets stronger?

Yes. Without samadhi, the metta is really no metta. When samadhi is weak, the mind is very agitated, and it is agitated only when it is generating some impurity, some type of craving or aversion. With these impurities, you cannot expect to generate good qualities, vibrations of metta, or karuna (compassion). It isn’t possible.

At the vocal level, you may keep on saying "Be happy, be happy’, but it doesn’t work. If you have samadhi then your mind is calm and quiet, at least for a moment. It is not necessary that all the impurities have gone away; but atleast for that moment when you are going to give metta, your mind is quiet, calm, and not generating any impurity. Then whatever metta you give is strong, fruitful, beneficial.

3. Is the generation of metta a natural consequence of the purity of the mind, or is it something that must be actively developed? Are there progressive stages in metta?

Both are true. According to the law of nature – the law of Dhamma – as the mind is purified, the quality of metta develops naturally. On the other hand, you must work to develop it by practicing Metta Bhavana. It is only at a very high stage of mental purity that metta is generated naturally, and nothing has to be done, no training has to be given. Until one reaches that stage, one has to practice.

Also, people who don’t practice Vipassana can practice Metta Bhavana. In such countries as Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Metta Bhavana is very common in every household. However, the practice is usually confined to mentally reciting "May all beings be happy, be peaceful". This certainly gives some peace of mind to the person who is practicing it. To some extent good vibrations enter the atmosphere, but they are not strong.

However, when you practice Vipassana, purification starts. With this base of purity, your practice of Metta naturally becomes stronger. Then you won’t need to repeat these good wishes aloud. A stage will come whenever fiber of the body keeps on feeling compassion for others, generating goodwill for others.

3. How does metta help in the development of mudita (sympathetic joy) and karuna (compassion)?

Mudita and karuna naturally follow as one develops metta. Metta is love for all beings. Metta takes away the traces of aversion, animosity and hatred towards others. It takes away the traces of jealousy, and envy towards others.

When you see other people progressing, becoming happier, if your mind is not pure, you will generate jealousy towards these people. "Why did they get this, and not I? I’m a more deserving person. Why are they given such a position of power, or status? Why not I? Why have they earned so much money? Why not I?" This kind of jealousy is the manifestation of an impure mind.

As your mind gets puere by Vipassana and your metta gets stronger, you will feel happy when seeing others happy. "All around there is misery. Look, at least one person is happy. May he be happy and contented. May he progress in Dhamma, progress in wordly ways". This is mudita, sympathetic happiness. It will come.

The mind is there in every atom of your body. This is what you will understand by practising Vipassana. With it, you will make an analytical study of your mind, an analytical study of your matter, and the interaction of the two.

2. You spoke about taking out the bad qualities from the mind. What does that mean?

Like you have emotions in you- feelings of depression in you-feelings of animosity towards others. All those are bad qualities. They keep you unhappy. With these you harm yourself and you harm others. Little by little you have to take them out. And you will enjoy great peace of mind.

3. What is the connection between the mind and the brain?

The brain itself is just a physical organ. As you deal with other parts of the body, you deal with the brain in the same way, that's all. Nothing special to do with the brain. But the mind is totally different. In the West, all importance is given to the brain as if the mind is located here. Nothing doing, it is everywhere. The mind is in the whole body. So give attention to the whole body.

4. If you purify the body, you purify the mind?

No. Even though you purify the body, the mind may remain dirty and it will again make the body impure. So the root is the mind, not the body. The body is just the base. With the help of the body, the mind is working, but the mind has to be purified. You keep on washing your body as much as you can, but the mind is not washed. Mind remains still impure. Mind has to be pure. But if you purify the mind, the body gets purified. It has an effect. The aim of Vipassana is to purify the mind.

If you are with reality and not reacting to it, naturally the mind gets sharpened. The mind gets blunt when it reacts. More reaction makes the mind more gross. When you don't react, its natural reality is very sharp, very sensitive.

1. Why do you give so much importance to morality and maintaining the five precepts of sila, in Vipassana courses?

I have seen from a number of students that people who give no importance to sila, or morality, cannot make any progress on the path. Sila is the foundation of Dhamma. When the foundation is weak, the whole structure will collapse. For years such people may come to courses and have wonderful experiences in meditation, but in their daily lives there is no change. They remain agitated and miserable because they are only playing a game with Vipassana, as they have played so many games. Such people are real losers. Those who really want to use Dhamma in order to change their lives for better must practise sila as carefully as possible.

2. We should lead a moral life, but morality is deteriorating in the whole world.

It is all the more important that Dhamma should arise at this time, when morality is deteroriating! The time when there is darkness all around is the time when the day should break, the sun should arise.

3. Is it against morality to kill an enemy if you are a member of the armed forces?

Yes. But at the same time, the army is necessary for the protection of the country, for the protection of the civilians. The army should not be used just to kill others. It should be used to show the strength of the country, so that an enemy cannot even have the thought of being aggressive and harming people. Therefore, the army is necessary. But not to kill, just to show strength. If somebody is harming the country, then the first thing to do is to give a warning. Otherwise, if it becomes necessary, action has to be taken. But then again, the soldiers have to be trained not to have anger, not to have animosity. Otherwise, their minds will become unbalanced, all their decisions will go wrong. With a balanced mind, we can take good decisions, right decisions, which will be very helpful to us and helpful to others.

P

Whenever something happens in the external world that we do not like, there are unpleasant sensations in the body. A Vipassana meditator focuses the entire attention on these sensations without reacting, just observing them very objectively. It is very difficult in the beginning, but slowly it becomes easier to observe the gross unpleasant sensations - what we call pain - with a balanced, calm mind. Pleasant, unpleasant, makes no difference. Every sensation arises only to pass away. Why react to something that is so ephemeral.

Because experiential wisdom is lacking. A life without wisdom from one's own direct experience, is a life of illusion, which is a state of agitation, of misery. Our first responsibility is to live a healthy, harmonious life, good for ourselves and for all others. To do so, we must learn to use our faculty of self-observation, truth-observation.

2. What is the point of seeking peace within when there is no peace in the world?

The world will be peaceful only when the people of the world are peaceful and happy. The change has to begin with each individual. If the jungle is withered and you want to restore it to life, you must water each tree of that jungle. If you want world peace, you ought to learn how to be peaceful yourself. Only then can you bring peace to the world.

3. Suffering, war and conflict are as old as history. Do you really believe in a world of peace?

Well, even if a few people come out of misery, it is good. When there is darkness all around and one lamp has started giving light, it is good. And like this, if one lamp becomes ten lamps, or twenty lamps, the darkness will get dispelled here and there. There is no guarantee that the entire world will become peaceful, but as much peace as you can make yourself, that much you are helping the peace of the world.

1. What about hardened criminals, can they do Vipassana?

Certainly. Vipassana is to purify the mind; the technique is to make people come out of their tensions and miseries. Those who have committed such serious crimes as murder or rape or arson are very miserable people; their minds are full of tension. And now Vipassana courses are being held in many prisons in India. In fact, Tihar Jail, in Delhi, one of the largest Dhamma Tihar

R

1. Do you believe in re-birth?

My believing or not believing will not help you. Practice Vipassana, and you will reach a stage where you can see your past, and you can see your future. Then only believe. Don't believe something just because your teacher says so. Otherwise, you will be under the clutches of a guru, which is against Dhamma.

S

(laughs) If one cannot take care of oneself, what service will one give? First take care of yourself, and then start giving selfless service

For a new Vipassana student, we don't say that you have to have suppressed celibacy, forced celibacy. It is not healthy. It creates more difficulty, more tensions, more knots. So that is why the advise for a Vipassana student is have relations with one spouse, one man-one woman, and disciplined sex. And if both are Vipassana meditators, a time will come that they will naturally come out of the need for sex. Sex is not necessary. By nature, they are contented, so happy, the body relations have no meaning. But that should happen naturally, not forcefully. So as one starts practicing Vipassana, it is not necessary one should be celibate. But at the same time, there must be relations with only one person; otherwise, this madness will continue. Then the passion keeps on multiplying, one cannnot come out of it.

2. What is disciplined sex?

Disciplined sex is where you don't go mad about sex, where one is not a sex maniac. If one keeps running from one sexual relation to the other, one is not disciplined. If you are with one person, then naturally the sex relations becomes less. If you have sexual relations with many, then it multiplies. The law of nature is such. When you put petrol on the fire, the fire multiplies.

3. What is the difference between right and wrong sexual conduct? Is it a question of volition?

No. Sex has a proper place in the life of a householder. It should not be forcibly suppressed, because a forced celibacy produces tensions which create more problems, more difficulties. However, if you give free licence to the sexual urge, and allow yourself to have sexual relations with anyone whenever passion arises, then you can never free your mind of passion. Avoiding these two equally dangerous extremes, Dhamma offers a middle path, a healthy expression of sexuality which still permits spiritual development, and that is sexual relations between one man and one woman who are committed to each other. And if your partner is also a Vipassana meditator, whenever passion arises you both observe it, at the level of bodily sensations as Vipassana trains you to do. This is neither suppression or free licence. By observing you can easily free yourself of passion. At times a couple will have sexual relations, but gradually they develop towards the stage in which sex has no meaning at all. This is the stage of real, natural celibacy, when not even a thought of passion arises in the mind. This celibacy gives a joy far greater than any sexual satisfication. Always one feels so contended, so harmonious. One must learn to experience this real happiness.

4. In the West, many think that sexual relations between any two consenting adults are permissible.

That view is far away from Dhamma. Someone who has sex with one person, then another, and then someone else, is multiplying his passion, his misery. You must be either committed to one person or be living in celibacy.

Society, is after all, nothing but a group of individuals. To solve the problems of society, the problems of the individual must first be solved. We want peace in the world, yet we do nothing for the peace of the individual. How is this possible? Vipassana makes it possible for the individual to experience peace and harmony. Vipassana helps to solve the individual's problems. This is how society begins experiencing peace and harmony. This is how the problems of the society begin to be solved.

2. Isn't excusing a sinner encouraging sin?

Never encourage sin. Stop people from committing sin. But don't have aversion or anger towards the sinner. Have love, compassion, metta. This person is a miserable person, an ignorant person, who doesn't know what he is doing or she is doing. They are harming themselves and harming others. So you will use all your strength, physical and vocal, to stop this person from committing sin, but with love and compassion towards them. This is what Vipassana will teach you.

3. If a negative act is committed for the good of others, is it bad ?

Certainly it is bad. A negative act starts harming you. When you have harmed yourself, you can never help anybody else. A lame person cannot help another lame person. First you have to make yourself healthy, and then you will find that you have started helping others.

4. You always condemn ritualism in society, but what is wrong with expressing our respect and gratitude?

There is nothing wrong with that. Respect and gratitude are not rituals. Rituals are when you don't understand what you are doing, when you are doing something just because somebody asked you to. If deep inside you understand, " I am paying respect to my parents", or " I am paying respect to a particular god or goddess" - then, see: what are the qualities of that god or goddess? Am I giving real respect to that god or goddess by developing the same qualities within myself? Am I giving real respect to my parents by developing their good qualities? If the answer is yes, then you are doing these actions with understanding, and they are not rites or rituals. But if you perform something mechanically, then it becomes a rite or ritual.

5. Isn't society influenced by the actions of one another?

Of course. We are influenced by the people around us and by our environment, and we keep influencing them as well. If the majority of people, for example, are in favour of violence, then war and destruction will occur, causing many to suffer. But if people start to purify their minds, then violence cannot happen. The root of the problem lies in the mind of each individual human being, because society is composed of individuals. If each person starts changing, then society will change, and war and destruction will become rare events.

6. How can we help each other if each person must face the results of his own actions?

Our own mental actions have an influence on others. If we generate nothing but negativity in the mind, that negativity has a harmful effect on those who come into contact with us. If we fill the mind with positivity, with goodwill toward others, then it will have a helpful effect on those around us. You cannot control the actions, the kamma of others, but you can master yourself in order to have a positive influence on those around you.

Suffering

Nobody causes suffering for you. You cause suffering for yourself by generating tensions in the mind. If you know not to do that, it becomes easy to remain peaceful and happy in every situation.

You must not allow people to do wrong to you. Whenever someone does something wrong, he harms others and at the same time he harms himself. If you allow him to do wrong, you are encouraging him to do wrong. You must use all your strength to stop him, but with only good will, compassion, and sympathy for that person. If you act with hatred or anger, then you only aggravate the situation. But you cannot have goodwill for such a person unless your mind is calm and peaceful. So practice to develop peace within yourself, and thene you can solve the problem.

3. Isn't suffering a natural part of life? Why should be try to escape from it?

We have become so involved in suffering that to be free from it seems unnatural. But when you experience the real happiness of mental purity, you will know that this is the natural state of the mind.

Yes. In fact, this technique deliberately uses suffering as a tool to make one a noble person. But it will work only if you learn to observe suffering objectively. If you are attached to your suffering, the experience will not ennoble you; you will always remain miserable.

5.If one does something wrong, then one is bound to suffer in the future?

No, not in the future, but here and now ! The law of nature punishes immediately, at the very moment one starts generating a defilement in the mind. One cannot generate a defilement and feel peaceful. The misery is instant. Only when you realize that suffering is here and now that you will change the habit pattern of generating defilements that lead to wrong verbal or physical action. If you think, 'Oh, I'll be punished only in future lives, and I'm not bothered now', it won't help.

V

Everything in the Universe is vibrating. This is no theory, it is a fact. The entire Universe is nothing but vibrations. The good vibrations make us happy, the unwholesome vibrations cause misery. Vipassana will help you come out of effect of bad vibrations- the vibrations caused by a mind full of craving and aversion. When the mind is perfectly balanced, the vibrations become good. And these good or bad vibrations you generate start influencing the atmosphere all around you. Vipassana helps you generate vibrations of purity, compassion and goodwill - beneficial for yourself and all others.

1. What do you suggest to people who cannot attend a ten-day course?

Make a determination to attend a ten-day course.Without that, nothing can be done. There is no magic, no miracle. Why should I ask people to spare ten days of their life, if I could just sit here and teach them in an hour? That would be easy, but it wouldn't work. One has to spare ten days of one's life to learn the technique. It is such a deep, subtle technique. Ten days is the minimum time needed to learn it properly.

2. Can one learn Vipassana from a book?

No. It can be very dangerous. Vipassana is a very delicate and deep operation of the mind. One must take a 10-day course, to make a beginning.

3. How can one take a Vipassana course?

Applications for a Vipassana course can be sent to any Vipassana centre in India or abroad. There are certain rules, a Code of Conduct that one must agree to follow before applying for a course. Doing a Vipassana course is voluntary, there can be no compulsion here. But during a Vipassana course, the course rules have to be strictly followed. These rules are to enable a student to get maximum benefits from doing a Vipassana course.

4. What are the charges / fee for a Vipassana course?

Charges?! Dhamma is priceless! There is no fee and there can never be a fee charged for teaching Vipassana. Vipassana courses are completely free of charge. Earlier, for a short time, some small actuals were charged for boarding and lodging expenses. Fortunately, that has been removed. So one does not have to pay anything to attend a Vipassana course.

5. Why are there no fees charged for doing a Vipassana course?

One reason, as I said, is that Dhamma is priceless. It cannot be valued in money. Another reason is that a student taking a Vipassana course practices renunciation from the householders' responsibilities, for the duration of the course. He or she lives like a monk or a nun, on the charity of others. This is to reduce the ego, a big cause of one's misery. If one even pays a small token fee, then the ego gets built up, and one may say, " Oh, I want this. This facility is not to my liking", " I can do whatever I want here", and so on. This ego becomes a big hinderance in progressing on the path of Dhamma. This is another reason why no fee is charged. This has been the Dhamma tradition for millennia. The Buddha did not charge any fee for distributing this invaluable gem of Vipassana!

6. How are expenses met for a Vipassana course, since no fee is charged from students?

The expenses are met from voluntary donations (dana) from students who have completed atleast one Vipassana course. The donation, in money or services, is given with the Dhamma volition that, "as I benefited by getting this wonderful technique due to the generous dana of others, may others also benefit ". Most important is the volition with which the dana is given. Even a handful of fertile soil given with a pure Dhamma volition, is far more beneficial than a bag of gold given with ego, or with no Dhamma volition. The dana given with a pure mind gives benefits to the giver.

However, this does not mean that somebody will go around at the end of the course, asking every student if he wants to give a donation. A table is put in a quiet corner, and whoever wishes to give dana goes there and gives it, that's all.

7. Why do you say the early morning hours are good for meditation?

Going to bed early and getting up early is a very good habit. It keeps you healthy. The early morning hours are also very good for meditation, for your daily practice, because that is the time when all others are sleeping ; so most of this craving - when people awaken, everybody craves, the whole atmosphere is full of craving, you can't meditate better. Everybody is sleeping, you meditate - best time.

Well, if this teacher will have at least a few more years of his life, you will see that he is so strict that he will not allow anything that we are doing to take the turn of sectarianism. If the pagoda becomes a tool for making Buddha's teaching a sect, an organized religion, then all our teaching has gone to mud. If this pagoda is used for people who come and pray : "Oh pagoda, please give me this, please give me that, I need this, I need that", then the whole thing will become an organized religion, certainly.

However, we are going to use the pagoda in the correct Dhamma way. That is, the pagoda is only for telling more and more people about Vipassana. They will first come to the pagoda out of curiousity - " such a magnificent building, what is there in it?" And when they come there, they get the information : " well, look, he was the Buddha, and what sort of Buddha, and what he taught, and what happened in his life, and the Vipassana that made him a Buddha, and Vipassana that made him a good Dhamma teacher for the whole world, and people got so much benefit". We will give this information, and out of , say ten thousand people who come, even if atleast a hundred are benefited and the rest get atleast the right message. So we will see that this pagoda is not allowed to build up another sect. Otherwise our purpose will be lost.

Meditation is all the more important for professionals! Those who are householders, who have responsibilites in life, need Vipassana much more, because they have to face situations in life where there are so many vicissitudes. They become agitated because of these vicissitudes. If they learn Vipassana, they can face life much better. They can make good decisions, correct decisions, which will be very helpful to them.

2. Can we combine two or more meditation techniques ?

You can combine as many techniques as you like, but don't combine them with Vipassana. Vipassana is unique technique, and combining it with anything else will not help you. It may even harm you. Keep Vipassana pure. Other techniques only give a veneer to the surface of the mind. But Vipassana makes a deep surgical operation; it takes out complexes from the depth of the mind. If you combine it with any other technique, you are playing a game which may be very harmful to you.

3. Isn't it selfish to forget about the world, and just to sit and meditate all day?

Meditation as a means to acquiring a healthy mind is not at all selfish. When your body is sick, you enter a hospital to recover health. One doesn't say, 'Oh, I'm being selfish'. One knows that it is not possible to live a proper life with a sick, wounded body. Or one goes to a gymnasium to make one's body stronger. Similarly, one doesn't go to a meditation center for the whole life, but simply to make the mind more healthy. And a healthy mind is most necessary to live one's day to day life in a way that is good for oneself and others.

4. I can understand meditation will help mal-adjusted, unhappy people, but how can it help someone who already feels satisfied with his life, who is already happy?

Someone who remains satisfied with the superficial pleasures of life is ignorant of the agitation deep within the mind. He is under the illusion that he is a happy person, but his pleasures are not lasting and the tensions generated at the deep levels of the mind keep increasing, to appear sooner or later at the surface of the mind . When that happens, this so-called 'happy' person becomes miserable. So why not start working here and now to deal with that situation?

5. Does Vipassana heal the physical body?

Yes, as a by-product. Many psychosomatic diseases naturally disappear when mental tensions are dissolved. If the mind is agitated, physical diseases are bound to develop. When the mind becomes calm and pure, automatically they will go away. But if you take the curing of a physical disease as your goal in practising Vipassana, instead of the purification of your mind, you achieve neither one or the other. I have found that people who join a course with the aim of curing a physical illness have their attention fixed only on their disease throughout the course: 'today, is it better? No, not better...Today is it improving? No, not improving!' All the ten days they waste in this way. But if the intention is to purify the mind, then many diseases automatically go away as a result of meditation.

6. How would you compare psychoanalysis and Vipassana?

In psychoanalysis you try to recall consciousness past events that had a strong influence in conditioning the mind. Vipassana, on the other hand, will lead the meditator to the deepest level of the mind where conditioning actually begins. Every incident that one might try to recall in psychoanalysis has also registered a sensation at the physical level. By observing physical sensations throughout the body with equanimity, the meditator allows innumerable layers of conditioning to arise and pass away. He or she deals with the conditioning at its roots and can free himself or herself from it quickly and easily.

7. How many times does one have to attend a Vipassana course?

It depends, but I would say attend for ten days, and see for yourself how it has helped you. If you find that you can apply it in life, very good. Later on, go for another ten days. But the main thing is not merely going to the courses for ten days, but applying the technique in life. If Vipassana is manifesting itself in your day-to-day life, then you are practicing properly. Otherwise, merely going to courses will not help.

8. Isn't this technique self-centred? How can we become active and help others?

First you have to be self-centred, you have to help yourself. Unless you help yourself, you cannot help others. A weak person cannot help another weak person. You have to become strong yourself, and then use this strength to help others and make others strong also. Vipassana helps one develop this strength to help others.

9. If we keep observing yourself, how can we live life in any natural way?

We'll be so busy watching ourselves that we can't act freely or spontaneously. That is not what people find after completing a Vipassana course. Here you learn a mental training that will give you the ability to observe yourself in daily life whenever you need to do so. Not that you will keep practising with closed eyes all day throughout your life, but just as the strength you gain by physical exercise helps you in daily life, so this mental exercise will also strengthen you. What you call "free, spontaneous" action is really blind reaction, which is always harmful. By learning to observe yourself, you will find that whenever a difficult situation arises in life, you can keep the balance of your mind. With that balance you can choose freely how to act. You will take real action, which is always positive, always beneficial for you and for all others.

Reverend Monks and Dhamma friends:

We have all assembled here for these two days to understand what Dhamma, or Dharma, is and how to apply it in life.

A Life of Dharma

Dharma is a healthy, harmonious, wholesome way of life. It is a life of morality, of ethics. Dharma is an art of living: how to live peacefully and harmoniously within, and how to generate peace and harmony in the surrounding atmosphere, so that others can also live in peace and harmony. It is a way of life in which one does not perform any action, physical or vocal, to harm or hurt other beings.

One abstains from killing because by killing one harms others and disturbs the peace of society. One abstains from stealing. One abstains from sexual misconduct. One abstains from lying, from using harsh words, from backbiting or slander, and from useless or meaningless talk that wastes one’s own time and the time of others. To abstain from all these improper, immoral activities, one also has to abstain from taking intoxicants. Once you start taking intoxicants, you become a slave to them. In a state of intoxication you keep on performing unwholesome actions in spite of understanding fully well at the intellectual level that you should not do so. Therefore one should abstain from all intoxicants.

At the apparent level, by living such a moral life without harming anybody, you are creating peace and harmony in society. Accordingly, you might feel that you are acting in this way to oblige others. But this is not correct. The fact is that when you abstain from performing unwholesome physical and vocal actions, you benefit yourself.

Dharma will help you understand why and how this is so, because Dharma is the universal law of nature applicable to everyone. You can understand this law not by attending seminars such as this, or by playing intellectual games, or by accepting something at the devotional or emotional level, but by realising the truth within yourself.

Harming Others, You Harm Yourself

Once you start investigating the truth within yourself, the law of nature will be revealed. Because of your intellectual understanding or because of your devotion to the teaching of the Enlightened One, you may remind yourself that you should not harm others. But when you go deep inside, you understand by experience that when you abstain from harming others, you actually abstain from harming yourself.

You cannot hurt or harm anyone unless you have first harmed yourself. You cannot kill anyone unless you have first killed the peace and harmony within you. You cannot kill anybody without generating a tremendous amount of anger, hatred, ill will, and animosity. When you generate such negativity you are the first victim because you become so miserable.

You cannot really understand this until you start observing the interaction of mind and matter within yourself, within the framework of this body. When you generate any negativity in the mind, it influences the body (matter), and there is bound to be an unpleasant physical sensation. That unpleasant sensation will again influence the negativity in your mind. When you generate more negativity, there will be more unpleasant sensations in the body; and with more unpleasant sensation in the body, there will be more negativity. A vicious circle starts of which you are a victim, and the result is great misery.

As the Buddha said, Pubbe hanati att±na½, pacch± hanati so pare [before killing another, one kills oneself].

Do not accept these words because they have been said by an enlightened person, or by your teacher; this will not help you at all. When you start realising the truth of the interaction of mind and matter inside yourself, it will become so clear. You will recognise that you have started harming yourself before harming someone else. And no-one wishes to do that.

If unintentionally you place your hand in a burning fire, it hurts you. After repeating the same mistake a few times, you will stop doing it because you know it hurts.

In the same way, if you start experiencing the truth inside¾ the truth which is to be accepted not merely intellectually or emotionally or devotionally, but at the actual level¾ you realise that you become miserable when you generate anger, passion, or egotism. If you keep realising this repeatedly, you will start abstaining from that type of action because you know it is not good for you.

We do not want to harm ourselves, but we keep doing so out of ignorance because we do not know the truth within. The truth outside is an apparent truth; it is only one dimension of the truth. You may think that you are unhappy because of things outside¾ because of other people who are behaving wrongly, or because of an unpleasant external situation. This is all apparent truth¾ in other words, truth seen from only one angle or in only one dimension. It is not the whole truth, but only a partial truth¾ and partial truth is a distorted truth, far away from the actual truth. When you see the truth from different angles, you start understanding the totality of the truth. And when you do, every decision you make will be a healthy decision; it will be good for you and for others.

What Happens at the Actual Level

If somebody has abused, insulted or misbehaved towards you, you become miserable. You may think you are miserable because of the abuse, insults or misbehaviour of that other person. At the apparent level this is true, but not at the deepest level.

We can understand this if we start realising the truth of the interaction of mind and matter, the influence of one over the other¾ if we divide, dissect, disintegrate, dissolve, like scientists or research scholars. As we do so, we shall see a process happening inside. Someone has spoken abuse; certain words have reached the ears; and immediately one part of the mind will simply cognise the sound.

Next a second part of the mind recognises the sound on the basis of memory and past experience: "Words. What words? Oh, words of abuse." This same part of the mind then gives a valuation: "Words of abuse—that is very bad."

Then the third part of the mind starts working¾ the part that feels sensations or vibrations. Sound is mere vibration, and as soon as the abusive words reached the ear they created vibrations throughout the body. However, the entire physical and mental structure itself is simply a mass of vibrations. As the Buddha said, Sabbo pajjalito loko, sabbo loko pakampito, pakampito [the entire universe is nothing but combustion and vibration].

The words that came are nothing but vibration. And when they contact the mental-physical structure, which is a mass of vibration, a new vibration starts.

It is as if you strike a gong at a particular point and the entire gong starts vibrating. If a sound comes into contact with the ear, the entire structure of body and mind starts vibrating with a neutral vibration. When the second part of the mind gives its valuation saying "This is abuse—it is bad", immediately the originally neutral vibration becomes very unpleasant. And the feeling part of the mind feels that unpleasant sensation.

Then immediately, the fourth part of the mind starts working, and its job is to react: "Very unpleasant. I don’t like it. Stop it. I don’t like it." It has reacted with aversion and hatred.

Every time you generate aversion, hatred, ill will or animosity, you are miserable. You lose the balance of your mind; you lose the peace of your mind.

Dharma is Universal

This is the law. This is the truth. This is Dharma. It is not Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Sikh dharma. It is simply Dharma.

The moment you make it the exclusive property of a particular sect, Dharma is no longer Dharma. It has become sectarian and is harmful. You must understand that Dharma is universal. Dharma cannot be Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Christian. It is the law of nature.

For example, we say that the nature of fire is to burn. This is the dharma of fire. If it does not burn, it can’t be fire. If it is fire it must burn.

When fire burns, do you label the burning as Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or Jain burning, or as Indian, European, American or Russian burning? Burning is burning. This is a law of nature.

In the same way, when one generates any negativity or defilement in the mind, one is bound to burn. The nature of defilement is to burn. No-one can save you from burning when you generate anger. You may keep on calling yourself a Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jain or Sikh—it makes no difference; or a br±hmin or a œ³dra—it makes no difference. This is the law; this is nature; this is Dharma.

We have forgotten Dharma. Someone belongs to a certain sect and performs its rites or rituals, or professes its beliefs; he feels that makes him very Dharmic. Someone else belongs to another sect and performs its rites, rituals and ceremonies, or believes in its philosophy. He too thinks that makes him a very Dharmic person. But both deceive themselves.

Dharma has nothing to do with such matters. They are sectarian, and Dharma is universal. Whether or not we perform this rite or that ritual, if we keep the mind free of negativities it is pure. And according to the law of nature, when the mind is free from defilements it naturally fills with mett± (love), karuº± (compassion), mudit± (sympathetic joy), and upekkh± (equanimity); and immediately one starts enjoying peace and harmony.

Rites and rituals, philosophies and dogmas have nothing to do with it. We have forgotten the truth of Dharma deep inside¾ this universal law of nature makes no discrimination. Anyone who places a hand in burning fire is bound to burn oneself.

It makes no difference what religion one belongs to, what rites or rituals one performs, or what philosophy one believes in.

Experience Dharma

How can we understand this law? By listening to these discourses, we may intellectualise Dharma saying that this appears logical, rational and scientific. We may say that it should be applied in life, that we should not generate negativity because if we do we are bound to become miserable.

But the wisdom of mere Dharma assemblies dissipates the moment you leave. If these assemblies worked, India would be the most Dharmic country in the world; instead it is the biggest victim of sectarianism. No-one is interested in understanding Dharma at the experiential level, in realising it. Unless you do so, all these sermons are not going to help.

I know from my own experience that they did not help me. I was born in a family full of so-called Dharmic atmosphere, but nobody understood real Dharma. We knew no way to realise Dharma within.

Fortunately I had a second birth. The first was my physical emergence from the womb of my mother. But the second was my emergence from the shell of ignorance, thanks to my teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. With his guidance I started experiencing the truth inside.

Dharma Works Here and Now

When you generate any impurity in the mind, you are punished at once. If you break the law of a country or state, you might manage to escape punishment or delay it for years.

But under the law of nature you cannot avoid the punishment or postpone it. Nature does not wait till you die. When you break the law you are punished that very moment. When you generate negativity in the mind, nature starts punishing you without delay.

If you do not break the law, if you live according to the law of nature and keep your mind pure, if you generate compassion and goodwill, then nature rewards you here and now. It will not wait until you die. You start experiencing peace and harmony here and now.

When one starts realising this law of nature at the experiential level, one starts taking steps on the path of Dharma; one starts attaining Dharma, experiencing Dharma, and receiving the best, sweetest fruits of Dharma in this very life.

But first one has to liberate Dharma from the shackles and chains of different sects. Every sect will take you far away from Dharma. When you start realising the truth of Dharma, you cannot remain sectarian. You cannot differentiate between this or that person, this or that being. The law is applicable everywhere, to everyone.

If I am really a Dharmic person, when somebody abuses me I understand that this is a miserable, sick person: "This person has generated anger and hatred, and is therefore very miserable. What should I generate in return? I cannot throw more petrol on this person who is burning in the fire of anger and hatred; instead I will generate love, compassion, goodwill. This is a sick person; why should I allow myself to succumb to the same sickness? Why generate anger towards this person?"

This is easy to understand and accept at the intellectual level; but at the real level, when someone abuses you, you start abusing that person in retaliation. This happens when you try to understand Dharma only intellectually rather than experientially.

Dharma is for All

Vipassana is not limited to a particular sect, community or caste. The law of nature is for everybody; and one starts realising this law by experiencing what happens inside.

Just as you have hospitals and schools, you also have meditation centres like this one, where people start realising and experiencing the truth of the law within themselves. They start living a better life, a proper life without harming others—which also means without harming themselves; and so they enjoy peace and harmony.

They also diffuse these pure vibrations into the surrounding atmosphere, and whoever comes into contact with them lives a life of peace and harmony as well. This is Dharma.

Recommendations

I would very much like those of you who have taken courses in Dharma to explore the truth inside at a deeper level. You have started scratching the reality inside only at the surface. The deeper you go, the more you will understand reality at the very subtle level, and the more your mind will be purified. Naturally, a time will come when it always remains pure, full of love and compassion. That cannot happen unless you go deep inside and start the process of purification. And you must do this yourself.

Accordingly I would recommend to those who have taken such courses that they go much deeper. A ten-day course is simply a beginning, to acquire an outline of what Dharma is. You have to take courses of twenty days, one month, one and a half months, and maybe later on of three months, so that you can really understand Dharma. Advance to the university level; don’t remain in the kindergarten.

And those who have not yet entered the kindergarten, I would request them to do so and see what the truth is—the truth of the saints, sages, wise people, enlightened ones of this country.

Do not make Dharma a merely intellectual, emotional or devotional entertainment. Let it be an actual experience, for your own good, benefit, peace and harmony.

I am recommending this because I have passed through a life without Dharma, and yet felt myself to be a very Dharmic person. I gave thousands or tens of thousands in donations; and I would proudly say that, because I was a very generous donor, or I was the president of one or another temple, I must really be a Dharmic person. But I did not have a trace of Dharma, of peace and harmony. When I took the first step to experience the Dhamma, my entire outlook changed: I started feeling peace and harmony within and realised what a Dharmic person truly is.

Having experienced both situations, I am recommending that you spare ten days. You will not be wasting them; you will find that these were the best ten days of your life.

And once you find the path keep walking step by step, and reach the final goal of full liberation from the bondages of impurities and negativities, which make you miserable, so that you can enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness.

S. N. Goenka

Venerable Monks and Dharma friends:

For the last two days you have been discussing the use of Dharma in improving society—a very important subject. Unless something is done to solve social problems, misery will keep on increasing. But to improve society we cannot forget the individual; Man matters most. And to improve the individual, we cannot forget the mind; mind matters most.

To improve the mind Dharma is the only tool, and it must be applied Dharma.

You have rightly pointed out at the conclusion of your seminar that actual, practical steps have to be taken. Mere sermons will not do. Our country does not lack in sermons. We have been listening to them for ages; they go in one ear and out the other. We say, "Wonderful. This is very good." But how do we apply Dharma in life?

It is necessary to deal with the individual and the mind of the individual. This is a big task. There are billions of people around the world, and hundreds of millions in this country; will they be able to practice Vipassana? I am very optimistic.

Emperor Aœoka

The technique of Vipassana disappeared from India about five hundred years after the time of the Buddha. But the rock edicts of Emperor Aœoka show that during his reign the Dhamma flourished. That is why Aœoka is acknowledged as one of the greatest rulers in the history of the world.

In these inscriptions, Aœoka proclaimed that, like all rulers before him, he wanted his subjects to live in harmony, to live a life of Dhamma, and to have respect for their elders and love for those younger. Similarly, he wanted the different religious sects to be on friendly terms with one another. Unlike his predecessors, Aœoka attained these goals.

He maintained that he had succeeded because he spread the wonderful teaching of the Dhamma¾ the practice of meditation¾ throughout the country. He had dhamm±matyas [Dhamma teachers] travel to different parts of the kingdom to explain the teaching. They did not convert people from one religion to another. In fact it appears that, for five hundred years after Buddha, nobody used the word bauddha-dharma [Buddhist Dhamma]. They said only "Dhamma."

Every edict of Aœoka speaks only of the Dhamma. The people were taught not only the theory of the Dhamma but also the practice of meditation, and so they became peaceful and happy. Aœoka claimed that his success was demonstrated by an improvement in the moral conduct of his people. If this were not true, surely the rock edicts would have been smashed long ago. But they have survived for 2,200 years.

The inscriptions testify to the mass application of this technique, with the result of profound changes in society at that time.

We have to find out how Aœoka succeeded in taking Vipassana to every part of the country. The teachers he appointed taught all levels of society, from the royal family to the poorest of the poor. We have to find out how to do this now.

People at the Helm of Affairs

If it is possible, we should start with people of the elite. All good or bad things trickle down from the top and then spread through the whole society.

But how will these people be attracted? There are promising results from the work done over the last twenty-five years. Of course there are those who have doubts, but people have started thinking that there must be something in Vipassana. I am sure a time will come, sooner rather than later, when the people at the helm of affairs will come to find out what it is.

There is misery everywhere, even for those of the elite. I would say they are more miserable than anyone else. Leaders of the business community (I have been one myself and I know how miserable these people are), political leaders (I have been very close to them in Burma, and here also I hear and see)—they are very miserable.

Similarly in every sector of society, those who are at the top are really miserable. Like anyone else, they need peace and harmony within. If they come to know that there is a way they can experience peace and harmony within themselves and help the surrounding atmosphere to be peaceful and harmonious, certainly they will become attracted; but it may take some time.

The Coming Generation

You have rightly concluded that we should work with the coming generation. Vipassana must go to the young. I have seen that those studying at schools and colleges are accepting it and getting good results. Their memory becomes very strong, their comprehension is much improved and (another important thing) their nervousness goes away.

A student might have learned a subject well, but at examination time he or she becomes anxious, forgets everything and gets low marks or even fails. With this technique we advise simply to practice two minutes of Anapana, to observe respiration, before opening the question paper. The mind calms down and then the students answer their papers. Very good results are emerging.

I have seen that when you talk to boys and girls of the new generation about Dharma, they ask, "What Dharma?" They see that their parents go to temples, mosques or churches without any change in themselves. When they see that their parents’ entire way of living is immoral, they lose interest in Dharma. But they are attracted to it when they come to know that Dharma is scientific, rational and pragmatic, giving results here and now,

I have noticed that members of the younger generation accept Dharma, true Dharma, more easily than their elders. Character building should start at a young age. I am very happy that this seminar has come to the conclusion that this wonderful technique should go to students in schools and colleges.

The Scriptures

Yesterday I was told that there was an interesting discussion about the meaning of the word Dharma, what the scriptures say, and what the meaning is according to the scriptures.

I smiled on hearing this. I also know from my own experience that most people do not understand at all. Even Buddha’s words, wherever they are taught in schools or in colleges, are learned merely to obtain a certificate.

We took up the responsibility of publishing the words of the Buddha because they contain so many fine points about Dharma and the practice of Vipassana. But these can be understood only by real practice. Dhammaniy±mat± is the law of nature, but if one is trying to understand only at the intellectual level, it won’t have the same meaning.

You must purify your mind, the totality of the mind. If you are simply answering questions for school or college, to get high marks, there will be no understanding of Vipassana. When you practice, every word will carry a different meaning altogether. Not only the words of the Buddha, but every scripture will carry a different meaning.

In my experience during the last twenty-six years in India, a large number of Christian priests have come to courses. The first mother superior who joined a course, Mother Mary, said, "You are teaching Christianity in the name of the Buddha!" Yes, I am teaching Christianity in the name of the Buddha.

A very learned mullah who participated in a course in a mosque said afterwards, "There are two ¾y±ts of the Koran which we could not understand, but now their meaning has become so clear through this practice." The ¾y±ts say, "One who observes the respiration and observes properly will observe Allah. One who observes the body and observes properly will observe Allah." The mullah said that he had been reading these texts, but could not see what Allah had to do with respiration, and every day when taking a bath he could see the whole of his body, but he could not see Allah. He and fellow scholars knew there must be some special meaning, but they could not find it. He told me, "Oh, now we understand."

People from the Sikh community have come and they say, "We did not understand the real intent of the words spoken by the saints and Gurus. With Vipassana we understand their real meaning and purport."

I come from an orthodox Hindu family. I used to recite the G²t±, and after passing through this process of Vipassana, every word carried a different meaning altogether. I had my own understanding before, but after I started practicing Vipassana, I found a totally different meaning.

The same may be said of the words of the Buddha, which explain Vipassana, the law of nature and the scientific Dhamma so clearly. The people of India had lost the words of the Buddha, and so (although teaching Vipassana meditation remains my main responsibility), I took the decision to publish them. Fortunately we have scholars to ensure that the publication is exactly as accepted by the Sixth Council. The publication should be perfect.

I am happy that these scholars are taking an interest in Vipassana. I am confident that they will soon start saying, "Oh, a Vipassana meditator will understand the meaning of this; it can’t be a dictionary meaning, it must be an experiential meaning."

The publication of the theoretical aspect of Dharma is being undertaken to allow the practical aspect of Dharma to be properly checked, and to inspire people to practice. Actual experience alone will help us. If this becomes merely an academic organisation, publishing P±li texts, and we keep arguing about this word or that without tasting Dharma, it will be valueless. Real benefits will come only from practice, nothing else.

Dharma is Non-Sectarian

Now people are recognising this, and they are giving importance to the real practice of Dharma without making it sectarian.

If my teacher had said to me before my first course, "I am going to make you a Buddhist," I would have been the last person to go to him. My teacher taught me real Dhamma, the law universal, and I found what I was looking for. When I passed through the ten days I discovered to my great joy, "Oh, this is applied G²t±, not merely theories. This is how one can become v²tar±ga [free from passion], v²tadveŒa [free from anger], v²ta bhaya [free from fear]. One can become stitha prajña [firm in judgement and wisdom]."

The technique can benefit everyone. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains can all practice and continue to regard themselves as followers of their own religions; it makes no difference. Unless one becomes a good human being, how can one be a good Hindu, or a good Muslim, or a good Buddhist, or a good Jain? Dharma teaches us how to become good human beings, not by sermons but by actual practice.

I am fortunate I came into contact with this wonderful path. From it I have received far greater benefits than I could ever have expected. Naturally I wish to share the path with others, but not with the intention of converting people to another religion. That would not help at all and would create more barriers. Let people understand that Dharma is universal, that it is not tied to any particular sect.

Of course, when we discuss Vipassana we use the name of Buddha. Sometimes because of conditioning, people will ask, "This sounds Buddhist, why do you talk of the Buddha?" I smile.

Why do I talk of the Buddha? When teaching science and talking about the law of gravity, we say that Newton discovered it, and we may call it Newton’s Law of Gravity. Of course the law of gravity was there, whether we knew it or not, with Newton or without Newton, and in future the law will remain the same. Similarly with Dharma: it was there and someone discovered it. Should we not be grateful to him?

The Buddha said, Tumhehi kicca½ ±tappa½ akkh±t±ro tath±gat±. You have to walk every step of the path yourself; you have to work for your own salvation. An enlightened one will only show the path because he has walked over it. He cannot liberate you; no-one can do that.

I am glad that people have started understanding; although their number is small, that doesn’t matter. There is great darkness all around. Even with one lamp lit, we are happy to have a small circle of light. Soon this one lamp will become two and then three lamps, and in this way the Dhamma will spread. And with the use of modern scientific facilities, whatever you are now proposing can happen. If it could happen in the days of Aœoka, when all these facilities did not exist, why should it not happen now? It will happen, I am sure.

May all of you who have come to discuss Dharma in this seminar get inspiration to taste Dharma, and live a happy, harmonious life, good for you and for all others.