Vipassana Meditation part1

Buddhism Meditation
Vipassana or Insight meditation is a practical way to achieve real and lasting peace of mind and happiness by seeing things as they really are. This process of self-observation leads to mental and physical purification. It eliminates the frustration and disharmony from our life. This technique librates us from suffering and its deep seated causes and takes us to our highest spiritual goal through a step-by-step approach. The liberation from fear helps the practitioners attain high levels of achievements in all the spheres of human activity.

Vipassana or Insight meditation has three signs: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. This practice of Vipassana meditation means to continually reflect on these three signs, make them your point of reference. The easiest of the three signs is impermanence, the process of change but it requires a lot of patience. Normally we see the arising but we don't bother to hang around to wait for the passing away, especially if it is something unpleasant. For example we may get into a restless state, the mind is agitated and the body doesn't want to sit still. If this arises during your sitting, stay with it, don't give up and walk away. Be aware, objectify and observe the restless state, get to know it, and have the patience to stay around and observe its impermanent nature. It is within the capacity of everyone to see the passing away of things, just ordinary things like restlessness, sleepiness or a little bit of pain. Make them fully conscious in your mind, and stay with them to see the beginning and the end, the arising and cessation: impermanence.

Impermanence is a very good subject to meditate on. Because we can observe it in the body, in its various states of energy, pain, dullness and calm and we can observe it in the mind - the mental states of restlessness, dullness, peacefulness, calm and joy. Notice all these changing impermanent states of body and mind, just as they are. Objectify them. Reflect on what comes into the field of consciousness, whether that may be body, feeling, perceptions, conceptions or moods. See them all as objects. Stay with them and see them arising and passing away. Know that what you see cannot be "you" because it is coming and going, cannot be "yours" because you cannot make it stay forever. Thus, clearly seeing impermanence will help us see unsatisfactoriness and non-self - they are actually three sides of the same thing.

Buddhist Meditation