The Practice of Meditation: Insight Meditation (Vipassana) – Part 4 of 5
In the previous 3 Substacks, we discussed calm abiding meditation, a very simple and profound technique to help stabilize the mind. We learned why it’s necessary to do this to help us attain greater peace and balance in our upside-down world (there are of course many ways to achieve balance, this is just one tool). Calm abiding is the first step needed to stabilize your mind, so we can clearly examine our mind’s nature and help us transcend our own suffering, ultimately being able to even be of even more benefit to help others. Calm abiding meditation is sometimes described as looking at a sky with clouds. It gives us a sense of our internal landscape, getting familiar with our own mind. But calm abiding itself will not give us the final result that we want, which is to see our mind’s true nature and help us find deeper purpose, peace, and joy for both our sake and the sake of others who are suffering. We need to clear away the clouds, so we can see the full landscape and see the light (our light/our own ultimate nature). That is one of the purposes of the second stage of meditation, known as insight meditation (or, in the Tibetan lineage, Lhatong, also known in Sanskrit as Vipassana).
Mingyur Rinpoche is one of the great Lamas of the Karma Kagyu tradition with whom I have studied (his English is excellent, and he is very funny and wise). He is not just a teacher who learned these meditation techniques from his enlightened teachers and father (he had quite a family) but decided, because he suffered with an anxiety disorder from early on in his life, to put them into practice. He snuck out of his monastery one night, with very little food, money, or clothes, not telling anyone where he was going, and gave it all up. Now he’d had a really cush life. Everything he could want. He lived in a palace, with beautiful clothes and great food. All his needs were being met. Yet he gave it all up for several years and went on the road, hiding his true identity. He became a beggar, relying on the kindness of strangers to live, and he almost died, based on what I have heard. Ultimately, after putting himself through a hell that very few people would do on purpose, he came out the other side, transformed, where he deepened his understanding and recognition of the nature of mind, taming his emotions. You can read more about it in his books. Even those who have been taught these techniques from early on need to put them into practice to deepen their own experience. Wow, in my earlier tradition, that is known as chutzpah (balls)!
In previous Substacks, I explained that there are 4 thoughts that help turn the mind toward meditation, to encourage us to do it on a daily basis. The precious human body (a temporary vehicle that is difficult to attain according to my teachers, yet affords us the possibility of recognizing our true nature); karma cause and effect (our actions follow us across time and space); weariness with this ephemeral world and trying to attain lasting happiness despite its impermanence (and our own); while recognizing the ultimate source of our own suffering is attachment to an ego/“I” that lacks true existence (it is relatively real, but not ultimately real).
Reflecting on these teachings leads us to adopt non-attachment. This concept of non-attachment is described as the feet of meditation (whereas devotion is the head of meditation and awareness is the body of meditation), and non-attachment is exactly what Mingyur Rinpoche did, to deepen his understanding and experience. (I’m paraphrasing, as I don’t claim to know all the reasons why he did what he did, but again, you can read about it in his memoir.). In the Karma Kagyu lineage, devotion is said to be the head of meditation (being open to the blessings of our teachers and spiritual masters, who can quicken our experience), and awareness (of mind, thoughts) is the body of meditation. We need all 3 when we are meditating to attain the final result. Here I am in 1981 with my good friend Monique and meditation teacher Lama Guendun Rinpoche who has always been a source of great devotion and inspiration for me.
For those of you who have a spiritual practice, it would be devotion to God, or whomever you pray to. These techniques are however beyond religious doctrine, as they are designed to help you deepen your own faith and understanding, not to supplant it. There are many rabbis and priests who meditate. In fact, one of the greatest Christian mystics of all time--my favorite is Padre Pio, see below--had such devotion and performed many miracles during his lifetime. I loved reading about him years ago and the miracles he performed out of such deep faith and devotion.
Although many individuals across our cultures have “awoken” to their essential nature and have done it using different methods (non-attachment, devotion, awareness, love and compassion, and “no resistance” are usually some of the most important elements), for us to walk down the path, one of the first steps is to be aware of the mind and its workings. I highlighted in previous Substacks that using calm abiding means that we don’t want to follow the chain of thoughts, leading us into the past or future (where our anxiety oftentimes lies), or even just attach to the present moment. We want to be aware of what is happening in our minds, but leave it be, naturally, not changing it or trying to fix it. Not judging it. We are just present, aware, non-distractedly watching whatever is occurring in our minds. But we also need to go deeper to gain a further understanding of the mind, thoughts, and emotions and their true nature. That is the purpose of insight meditation, or vipassana.
Some of the following instructions are excerpts from my New York Times bestseller, Why Can’t I Get Better, Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease, published in 2013, about insight meditation. Please review them in the book if you have it, or in the previous 2 Substacks, before proceeding to this next meditation.
INSIGHT MEDITATION
Each of us can become confused as to who we really are when we are in the midst of chronic illness. We can’t find the happiness we once experienced, because we are drowning in the pain or confusion of dealing with our symptoms. This is particularly true for my MSIDS patients. Even when we are feeling well, human nature has us experience the world in terms of opposites: good/bad, happy/sad, man/woman, life/death. Insight meditation allows us to realize the ultimate nature of consciousness is a more unified state of perception instead of a dualistic one. This helps us to break the connection between pain and suffering.
During this meditation, you will be looking directly at your mind to see the nature of thoughts, emotions, and the nature of your mind itself. You will not focus on the content of thoughts, whether they are good or bad, virtuous or not. Instead, you will simply ask yourself some pointed questions (see below) and look at your mind to directly see the answer, rather than taking an intellectual or conceptual approach to answer the questions. This process is creating a direct experience of the answer. Ask the question, see what you see, and then relax in the clear, empty essence of mind, non-distractedly. Don’t worry if this seems complicated: you have to sit down and do it to see what your direct experience is.
These instructions are particularly helpful for those who suffer with strong emotions, especially great anxiety and fear regarding their illness, or the state of the world around them. Instead of running from the fear, we learn to relax our minds and turn towards the fear, looking at its essential nature. This was eloquently stated by the meditation master, Mingyur Rinpoche: “At any given moment you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce the perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited. Or, you can remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed.”
We can then use meditation as a way to help us transform our illness and fear about our illness. Once we are able to relax and see the deeper truth of our experience, it cannot harm us in the same way.
Questions We Ask Ourselves During Insight Meditation
Focus on one question below for each session during insight meditation. You can break up each question into several parts and focus on each of the parts individually for several minutes until you are ready to move on to the next. Once you have practiced calm abiding meditation for several minutes and your mind is calm and not distracted, ask yourself the following questions during the practice of insight meditation:
Where does the mind come from, where does it reside, and where does it go? Does the mind have any color or form?
Where do thoughts come from, reside, and go? Do thoughts have any color or form?
Where do emotions come from, reside, and go? Do emotions have any color or form?
Look at the mind when it is still and look at the mind when it is in motion. Is there a difference?
Look at the essence of the one who is meditating. Who is meditating? Can you find the “I” that is meditating?
Does the "I" that is experiencing suffering have a color or form? Can you find it anywhere in your body?
Where does fear come from, reside, or go? Does it have a color or form?
After you have asked these questions (gently pose the question to yourself, one by one, and then create space to see/experience the answer), and directly looked and seen whatever you have seen, rest in the essence of the mind (clarity and emptiness) non-distractedly, without grasping onto concepts. This is the final stage of Mahamudra meditation. Ask the question, over and over again, until you are certain of whatever you have seen, and then without effort, rest non-distractedly in the empty, clear essence of your mind, not judging whatever arises. Gently place a thought/question into the field of consciousness, and directly see the answer, not conceptualizing the response... and do this over and over again, seeing whatever you have seen, then resting non-distractedly in the open, clear, empty essence of mind.
Have Confidence: You Can Do This!
This quote below comes from HE Situ Rinpoche. We might question whether we can really do this kind of meditation and attain the ultimate result. The answer is a resounding yes. Why? The secret that very few people tell you is that you are not becoming anything you are not already. You are not awakening to some truth that is ultimately hidden from you. You are simply awakening to what you are and have always been. And it’s not a question of “getting enlightened.” You are already enlightened, but dualistic perception and the fact that we have not taken the time to see/recognize our true nature is the only reason, according to my teachers, that I/you have not recognized these essential truths.
A quote I once read on a wall in the Florida Keys also sums it up: “The one who is searching is the one you are looking for.” Stabilize your mind, using calm abiding, first working with an object (breath), then without an object, so you can non-distractedly look at your mind, thoughts, and emotions; then practice insight by asking the above questions. After seeing whatever you have seen asking the above questions, relax, “in open relaxation and letting go,” non-distractedly resting in the clear, open, essence of your mind, free from concepts. Do it with little to no effort (non-meditation), without grasping onto concepts (non-conception), and without distraction (non-distraction). These are the 3 essential points of meditation. Experience the “inseparable unity of clarity and emptiness” over and over again, as you look directly at your mind, thoughts, and emotions, to stabilize the experience.
Working With the Mind in Post-Meditation
When we arise from the meditation cushion, we should try and maintain the mindfulness and awareness that was developed during meditation. Being able to rest your mind is not enough. We need to enhance our meditation practice in order for it to develop. In post-meditation, we try and maintain the state of “non-distractedness” more or less continuously so that progress can occur. To enhance the mind that has been stabilized, we also need to apply “watchfulness,” which is being aware of what the mind is doing, similar to the activity of a spy. Throughout the day, recognize what thoughts are present. If virtuous thoughts arise, recognize them as virtuous. If non-virtuous thoughts arise, recognize them as being negative. By doing this, we are sure to progress on the path, and we will not find ourselves easily distracted by the sounds and activities around us which can tend to disturb our minds.
In practical terms, this means that you must be grounded in your body and aware of what you are experiencing. You must be conscious of what you are seeing, hearing, and so on. This does not mean that you attempt to interfere or block what you see or what you hear. You are simply trying to maintain awareness of your experiences. You must know what you are seeing, know what you are hearing. Also, you do not stop thoughts, but don’t allow yourself to drift in following them. Throughout the day we are usually distracted by the forms and sounds themselves and everything becomes vague; the mind is allowed to drift aimlessly, and we are unaware of the details of the forms and sounds. By using watchfulness, mindfulness, and awareness in post meditation, we are aware of the details of our outer experience, and also aware and recognizing what is happening in our minds. This absence of distraction helps bring progress to our meditation practice. When we learn to rest in the fresh, direct experience of the present moment, not judging or grasping thoughts, then we can help ourselves to attain greater levels of healing. There is the possibility of resting in our basic nature of peace, joy, love, and wisdom--which is one of nature’s greatest healers.
Dedicate the Merit
At the end of each practice session, take a few moments to dedicate the merit of the practice for the sake of all sentient beings limitlessly through time and space. Such motivation will seal the merit of the practice and be like a seed planted in the ground which will grow and bear fruit at some point in the future. Wisdom masters of the different spiritual traditions have invoked this motivation in order to reach their full potential and benefit others.
Finish the meditation by reciting a 4-line prayer which encapsulates the essential meaning of this meditation, known as the 4 Immeasurables. Repeat this calmly at the end of each session:
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings know the great bliss which is free from all suffering.
May all beings know the great equanimity which is free from attachment and aversion.
Next week, I’ll share instructions on the third and final stage of meditation, Mahamudra meditation.