I hope some readers have taken the opportunity to practice some shamatha meditation, following the instructions I offered last month, and preferably seeking out a mentor or meditation group as support. In this issue, I will discuss Vipassanā meditation, for which shamatha is necessary in preparing the mind. I do not recommend jumping right into Vipassanā without first stabilizing the mind by learning to focus on the breath. It is important that we learn to expect distractions as we attempt to follow the breath and to learn to gently come back to the breath without judging ourselves or overreacting. That can be very challenging for beginners. When I first began meditating, I remember being in meditation heaven one afternoon, meaning that the practice began to feel natural and without the usual resistance in the body or distractions within my own mind. And then the phone rang! I remember the rising of the anger as I resisted the urge to get up and answer -the person dialing my number had just destroyed my meditation heaven! As I write this today, it’s laughable, but it is a very real example of what happens when we attach to expectations and outcomes in our practice rather than allowing the mind to flow as it will. I also remember that months after, the same thing happened, but by then, my reaction was, “Oh, the phone is ringing,” and it did not affect my focus on the breath or the calm abiding of my being. I noticed the ring, and I came back to myself. This type of progression in shamata indicates that the mind may be ready for more advanced practice like Vipassanā. That is not to say that you substitute one for the other, but rather, you integrate a new technique without letting go of the benefits of ongoing shamatha practice.
How is Vipassanā different than Shamatha? While descended from Buddhism, the well-known modern vipassana retreats are secular and were created by the late monk from Myanmar, BN Goenka. These retreats are silent, meaning that there is no talking or writing allowed, nor can you socialize with other participants. You will be alone with your mind for 10 days. It sounds simple, but the truth is that it can be a terrifying experience, and by that, I don’t mean that you should not attempt it. When we isolate our mind in a sustained way for several days, much as we would isolate a certain set of muscles for exercise, what comes up can stun us. Some of the stuff that surfaces involves fear and the distortions of reality/narratives that we create as coping mechanisms. It’s not much different than what we do in our everyday lives, but when we isolate the experience in an environment of silence and zero outside distractions, it takes on a whole new life of its own. It tends to engulf us in a way over which we have no control.
Vipassanā is all about non-reaction to stimulus. You sit quietly for a few one-hour sessions during the day, during which you are instructed to stay still -if your nose itches, ignore it; it your hips are aching from the sitting, ignore it; if you feel panic, ignore it; and so on. Of course, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to ignore what comes up, especially during the first few days, and this is where self-compassion comes in. It is difficult to fail without judging ourselves or feeling disappointed or ashamed, especially when we compare our fidgeting to our neighbor’s perfect stillness. I only recommend the 10-day silent retreat for those who have mastered a shamatha practice, or any other meditation technique where the mind and body are accustomed to sitting in stillness.
The 10-day retreat, however, is not necessary to enjoy the benefits of Vipassanā. It is a full immersion experience that can bring tons of awareness and learnings, but it is not for everyone. What follows is a simple instruction on how to begin a vipassana practice at home.
Step 1. Do you shamata practice for 15-20 minutes to get the mind in flow with the breath and to prepare the ground for planting the seeds of Vipassanā Ideally, you would have had a daily shamatha practice at this point, preferably for at least one to three months.
Step 2. Holding your sitting position, close the eyes. Take a few inhales and exhales deep into the belly, feeling the tummy rise and fall. Now, we will begin a very slow and detailed scan of the body, first the front and then the back.
Step 3. Bring your awareness to the top of the head and begin to scan the body slowly, bringing awareness to the forehead, the eyes, the nose, the jaw, and the mouth. Scan slowly enough that you get a “sense” of each body part. The idea is to “just notice” without judging or making up stories. For example, do your eyes feel tightly shut, or are they resting gently? Are the eyelids still or fluttering? Just notice and nothing else. When you come to the nose, just notice. Is it stuffy, or are you breathing freely? Are there any smells or sensations that come up? Does one nostril feel different than the other? Just notice. When you come to the jaw, does it feel tense, clenched, or is it relaxed? Just notice. When your awareness comes to the mouth, are the lips tight, or are they slightly parted? Just notice.
Step 4. Continue to bring the awareness, down the throat, the limbs (all the way to the tips of the fingers/toes). Continue to “just notice”. Notice sensations, feelings, smells, colors, anything that presents itself, and without judging or “thinking” about these things, just continue to move the awareness all the way down the body.
Step 5. Repeat the same process, focusing on the awareness of the back of the body, down again to the toes.
Vipassanā brings a great deal of awareness to the body and all the “stuff” that it harbors, and it is also a great way to integrate the mind with the body. The mind “moves” awareness throughout the body, and they flow together. This form of meditation is also wonderful to break through the illusion that things are always as they seem. We perceive the world through our own personal filters, colored by our life experiences and social conditioning. If we practice Vipassanā long enough, there may be a growing “pure quality” of how we perceive the world. We also must confront the inevitable emotions that come up during this process -do we attach and dwell on them, or are we able to “just notice” and move on with self-acceptance? Most importantly, if we practice long enough and let go of the need for perfection, we learn to love ourselves in the process. This is, I think, the greatest gift of a mindfulness practice like vipassana -you develop intimacy with your body, you merge the body-mind closer to each other, you develop patience and humor with the monsters that rise up to derail you, and you hopefully see amazing qualities in yourself that had been hidden from view.
by Dulce Garcia Morman, Ph. D.
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