Vipassama: The path to cessation of suffering

By Rahayu Ratnaningsih

JAKARTA (JP): In recent articles, we talked at great length about the concept of emptiness both from scientific (physics) and philosophical (eastern mysticism) point of views, and how meditating on this phenomena will free us from attachment. Attachment is the root cause of all kinds of suffering. If we are free from attachment then we are free from suffering.

However, attachment shouldn't be mistaken for cold-hearted indifference calculated simply to avoid pain. We know there are certain types of people who opt to live in a castle surrounded by thick, tall concrete battlements, depriving themselves of emotions and the expression of emotions, complacent at the thought of themselves being "rational" beings and dreading emotional involvement with any situation or anyone at any level. They are of the unenlightened Buddha type: "detached" from their surroundings for selfish reasons and to compensate for their own weaknesses, in other words without correct and complete understanding of what detachment is really all about.

Experiencing pain and joy, success and failure, sickness and health, happiness and sorrow, is a necessity for the correct understanding of detachment, because, through the mindfulness of these recurring cycles we are awakened to the empty, impermanent and thus illusory nature to the things we are so attached to.

Vipassana meditation, also called Insight meditation, provides a perfect path to a complete and correct understanding of emptiness and, hence, detachment. There are three characteristics of mental and physical phenomena which are universally observable: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and no-soul (it is a literal translation, the correct understanding is there is no static, independent soul) or no-self (anatta). We discussed anatta, which is also called emptiness, in the last two articles.

Even though Vipassana meditation is originally a Buddhist practice, thanks to Buddhism's nonsectarian nature that many perceive as less of a religion than a psychology, this "spiritual technology" doesn't entail any degree of worship, faith or creed whatsoever.

What one needs to do is simply be mindful in everything one does. It takes practice and selfdiscipline. When practicing Vipassana, one can choose any posture or activity: sitting, lying down, walking, standing, or even drinking tea. One simply needs to watch the mind-body process.

By being mindful of this dual process as it really is, we are able to correctly understand its intrinsic nature. When we want to understand something as it really is, we should observe it, watch it, be mindful of it as it occurs without analyzing it, without logical reasoning, philosophical thinking and preconceptions. We should be very attentive and mindful of it as it really is.

There are many ways by which we have to be mindful of the mind-body processes but they can be summarized as: mindfulness of bodily process, mindfulness of feeling or sensation, mindfulness of consciousness and mindfulness of mind-objects.

When we are mindful of our mind-body processes, we do not need to choose any mental or physical process as the object of our meditation. During meditation the mind will choose the object by itself, perhaps a feeling of happiness for our success, or a painful sensation, or a feeling of deep sorrow for losing our lover, or simply the abdominal movement. Whatever sensation is dominant at a single time, either mental or bodily sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, will be temporarily the center of our attention. You will notice that our mind doesn't stay with one object for very long, it will bounce from one thought to another.

For instance, when you try to focus your mind on the abdominal movement, it will straight away go to the pins and needles you are suffering from the lotus position you take because that sensation is more distinct than abdominal movement. Or perhaps to the quarrel with your spouse the other day and the distress you are still feeling. When pain disappears through attentive and close awareness, the mind will then choose another object which is more distinct. Perhaps this time it will be your anxiety preparing for a business presentation for a difficult client.

When your mind wanders what you need to do is simply observe and label it. If it is an itch your mind strays to, label it "itching, itching, itching". When the itchy sensation has disappeared by means of strong mindfulness and deep concentration, it may choose another, more distinct, object such as planning your weekend. Observe it as "thinking, thinking, thinking." When, again that thought disappears, your mind may wander to a recent or distant incident that causes you deep anguish. Observe and label it, "anger, anger, anger," or "sadness, sadness, sadness" depending the type of feeling you experience at that time. If a loud sound distracts you, label it, "hearing, hearing, hearing".

When we are indulging in an everyday activity such as drinking tea, we should be aware of every action, every activity involved in the act of drinking. When we stretch out our arm, we must be aware of the movement of stretching. When the hand touches the cup, the touching sensation must be observed. When we bring the cup to our lips, the sensation of it meeting our lips should be noted. What is it the sensation we feel? Warm? Smooth? Hard?

When we walk, we observe and label the movement of the foot -- the lifting, pushing and dropping. When the mind wanders, we have to follow it and observe it as it is until that wandering mind disappears, then we go back to our observation of the foot movement.

As we proceed, our mindfulness becomes more constant, uninterrupted and powerful. As the mindfulness becomes constant and powerful, the concentration becomes deeper and stronger. When the concentration becomes deep and strong, then our realization or penetrating insight into mental and physical processes becomes clear.

Hence, we come to realize many series of mental or physical movements arising and passing away one after another. During that experience, we come to understand that no part of the process is permanent or everlasting. Every process of movement is subject to impermanence (anicca) -- arising and passing away very swiftly.

The same thing happens with our life, it is never everlastingly satisfying or disappointing. It is always a yin- yang process. When you fall in love with someone, you will one day fall out of love. When you find something you really like, you risk losing it anytime. There is no party that never ends.

The problem is our ignorance makes us obsessively chase the very things that will inevitably bring us pain in the name of pleasing the "independent, solid" self. We become a prisoner of our own worldly desire. When we are aware of this delusion, then we come to realize one of the three characteristics of the mental and physical process, i.e. suffering (dukkha). When we realize the impermanent and suffering nature of these mental and physical processes, then we do not take it to be an everlasting entity -- a person, a being, a soul or a self. This is the realization of the anatta: the no-soul, no-self, non-ego nature of bodily and mental processes.

By realizing these three characteristics, we can exterminate every defilement such as lust, greed, desire, craving, hatred, ill-will, jealousy, conceit, sloth and torpor, sorrow and worry, and restlessness and remorse. Having destroyed all these defilements, we then attain deliverance or the cessation of suffering.

The writer is the director of the Satori Foundation, a center for the study and development of human excellence through mind programming and meditation techniques.