Vipassana: Meditation for a healthy mind and body
February 6, 2007 | 12:00am
How is your life in Indonesia?" My friends from the Philippines and even people in Jakarta ask me. In the five months that I have been here, my answers have ranged from a strong "not okay" to a nonchalant "good" to a cheerful "happy" remark. To be honest, my life here has been challenging in a positive sense.
It seems to me that my daily life has been filled with things that I like and things that I don’t like at all. One of the things that I detest is inhaling cigarette smoke from people around me as they puff away. I don’t mind them burning their own lungs, but I don’t want them taking me along the path to lung cancer hell. Friends and colleagues from home keep away from me when they light up. Fortunately, smoking friends here have learned to keep their distance as well.
When I arrived in Soekarno Hatta International Airport, I was greeted by the aromatic smell of kretek or clove cigarettes, which are very popular here. A lot of men and women smoke everywhere, even inside office buildings, enclosed public places, and public transportation.
I am also appalled by the air pollution in Jakarta, where one can hardly see the blue skies.
Many things here do not exactly go the way I want them. Often, people are late for appointments. Indonesian time is also known as rubber time, testing one’s patience and flexibility, much like Filipino time. I also regularly experience the frustrating inefficiency of the bureaucracy during my monthly visits to the immigration office to renew my socio-cultural visa. What’s more, the traffic is terrible and the streets are littered with garbage.
But coping with all these challenges, I can sincerely say I am enjoying the new experiences that await me as each moment unfolds.
One of the ways that enables me to cope with life’s stresses is meditation. I finished my second 10-day Vipassana meditation course in Dhamma Java last October. It was my birthday present to myself, to purify my mind and study how mind and matter relate to one another.
Vipassana is a simple and practical method of meditation that helps you deal with life calmly. It literally means "to see things as they really are" and is an ancient Indian meditation technique. Rediscovered by Gotama, the Buddha, 25 centuries ago, Vipassana is not an organized religion. It requires no conversion and is open to anybody regardless of faith, nationality, ethnicity, color, background or gender.
During the10-day course, students are asked to work seriously, observe self-discipline, and strictly follow the time schedule. I learned to penetrate the deeper levels of my mind and remove the complexes lying in the subconscious. It is like doing a surgical operation of the mind or washing it to remove the dirt that has accumulated over the years.
There are thousands of mediators from all over the world practicing Vipassana and enjoying the benefits. In some countries like India and New Zealand, Vipassana is being taught in prison, where a genuine change has been reported in the lives of criminals.
Through Vipassana, I found myself developing insights about life, and insights into this country I have called home for many months now.
This is not to say that everything is fine. The annoyances will always be there, but Vipassana helps me see things in a more balanced way and has taught me the value of self-observation. With Vipassana, I am learning to remain emotionally in control, despite the everyday problems that visit my professional and personal life.
Practicing Vipassana meditation puts me at ease with myself and offers me a sense of personal peacefulness, and I look forward to practicing it for the rest of my life. I also believe that by being at peace with myself, I can contribute to working for peace in society. I take very seriously what S.N. Goenka, Vipasanna teacher, said, "The basis of any healthy, harmonious society is always the healthy and harmonious individuals who populate it. Only if each individual has a pure, peaceful mind can we expect peace in society."
If I have awakened in you some interest in the Vipassana meditation technique, I urge you to check out the Vipassana website at www.dhamma.org.
Vipassana 10-day meditation courses will be offered in March and April in Dasmariñas Cavite. For details, call Susette at 639-3047; Mon at 438-3876 or text 0917-8004464 and 0916-9708578. Application forms may be downloaded from the website www.dhamma.org; send e-mail to vipassana_rp@yahoo.com or info.ph@dhamma.org.
It seems to me that my daily life has been filled with things that I like and things that I don’t like at all. One of the things that I detest is inhaling cigarette smoke from people around me as they puff away. I don’t mind them burning their own lungs, but I don’t want them taking me along the path to lung cancer hell. Friends and colleagues from home keep away from me when they light up. Fortunately, smoking friends here have learned to keep their distance as well.
When I arrived in Soekarno Hatta International Airport, I was greeted by the aromatic smell of kretek or clove cigarettes, which are very popular here. A lot of men and women smoke everywhere, even inside office buildings, enclosed public places, and public transportation.
I am also appalled by the air pollution in Jakarta, where one can hardly see the blue skies.
Many things here do not exactly go the way I want them. Often, people are late for appointments. Indonesian time is also known as rubber time, testing one’s patience and flexibility, much like Filipino time. I also regularly experience the frustrating inefficiency of the bureaucracy during my monthly visits to the immigration office to renew my socio-cultural visa. What’s more, the traffic is terrible and the streets are littered with garbage.
But coping with all these challenges, I can sincerely say I am enjoying the new experiences that await me as each moment unfolds.
One of the ways that enables me to cope with life’s stresses is meditation. I finished my second 10-day Vipassana meditation course in Dhamma Java last October. It was my birthday present to myself, to purify my mind and study how mind and matter relate to one another.
Vipassana is a simple and practical method of meditation that helps you deal with life calmly. It literally means "to see things as they really are" and is an ancient Indian meditation technique. Rediscovered by Gotama, the Buddha, 25 centuries ago, Vipassana is not an organized religion. It requires no conversion and is open to anybody regardless of faith, nationality, ethnicity, color, background or gender.
During the10-day course, students are asked to work seriously, observe self-discipline, and strictly follow the time schedule. I learned to penetrate the deeper levels of my mind and remove the complexes lying in the subconscious. It is like doing a surgical operation of the mind or washing it to remove the dirt that has accumulated over the years.
There are thousands of mediators from all over the world practicing Vipassana and enjoying the benefits. In some countries like India and New Zealand, Vipassana is being taught in prison, where a genuine change has been reported in the lives of criminals.
Through Vipassana, I found myself developing insights about life, and insights into this country I have called home for many months now.
This is not to say that everything is fine. The annoyances will always be there, but Vipassana helps me see things in a more balanced way and has taught me the value of self-observation. With Vipassana, I am learning to remain emotionally in control, despite the everyday problems that visit my professional and personal life.
Practicing Vipassana meditation puts me at ease with myself and offers me a sense of personal peacefulness, and I look forward to practicing it for the rest of my life. I also believe that by being at peace with myself, I can contribute to working for peace in society. I take very seriously what S.N. Goenka, Vipasanna teacher, said, "The basis of any healthy, harmonious society is always the healthy and harmonious individuals who populate it. Only if each individual has a pure, peaceful mind can we expect peace in society."
If I have awakened in you some interest in the Vipassana meditation technique, I urge you to check out the Vipassana website at www.dhamma.org.
Vipassana 10-day meditation courses will be offered in March and April in Dasmariñas Cavite. For details, call Susette at 639-3047; Mon at 438-3876 or text 0917-8004464 and 0916-9708578. Application forms may be downloaded from the website www.dhamma.org; send e-mail to vipassana_rp@yahoo.com or info.ph@dhamma.org.
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