Vipassana Meditation part2

Buddhism Meditation
This practice of insight meditation comes from a very passive state of mind but an alert, reflective mind. A mind that is very clear, no longer chasing or fighting experiences, but sticking around to see the beginning and the passing away of that which is in the field of consciousness, that which is being experienced. Please consider this very carefully because this is really what insight meditation is. The technique is not insight meditation. Some people say if you do this technique it's insight and if you do that technique it is not. That is all rather silly. It is not the object or the technique that makes it insight meditation. What makes it insight meditation is this passive, alert, clear state of mind that reflects its presence to seethe beginning and the end, the arising and the passing away of the present object of experience. See its impermanence whether or not that object is the breath. Concentration of the breath can be insight meditation if you see the beginning and the end of each on our breath; not think about it but really knowing it, seeing it clearly arising and passing. They all have the nature of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. Make the object fully clear in the conscious mind and then with a passive, awake, alert mind, be present and see its beginning and its end. This is the practice of insight meditation.

Try to do this more and more in your lives, not only when you meditate. Begin to notice the day, for example. It has a beginning, then it changes and we call it night. Notice the changing colours and light and how it will change into day again. Watch the changing seasons and the weather; be continually aware of change.

Practise tranquillity meditation as much as you can to develop a strong foundation. The stable mind can stop thinking, can stop going on and on. Begin to abide in stillness and clarity. You can stay with the breath or stay with bare awareness, silently and fully awake. The more you can do that the more you can do reflecting on the changing phenomena we normally think of as "me". See them all as objects, stay with them and see their arising and passing away. The more we see impermanence the clearer unsatisfactoriness and non-self become, and the clearer we see that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. So really reflect on that, because the more we see that the more we begin to incline towards a peaceful mind, the mind that is empty, contented, and still, no longer clinging onto any mortal condition. We are all very fortunate to have this opportunity to practise.

However, at the same time one has to have insight into the three marks of existence, which lie beneath all phenomena. These marks include suffering (dukkha); non-self (anatta) and impermanence (anicca). The technique of breathing meditation forms a part of Vipassana also. However, this method unlike Samatha or calmness meditation, can help you achieve the ultimate goal of enlightenment or nirvana (Nibbana in Pali)

Buddhist Meditation