Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Trek


I don’t know what inside me gets ignited when some one says lets “trek on a mountain”! That excitement on my face could never me concealed! Initially it was very tough as most of my friends’ jus dismissed saying “Who wants to walk simply like that, have better jobs to do rather than paying for walks”!

Slowly the “will in me” or “mere luck” brought me closer to folks who are ever ready to trek and that nurtured my spark to raging flames and then just peace! Peace because now Iam open to treks and welcome them as a break but don’t crave for it! The taste would remain forever and keep me contented!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

More on Vipassana

Vipassana meditation revolves around the word “sensations”. In a 10-day course, first we need to observe our breath continuously as we sit for meditation. That’s how we get the handle to our mind. Then with that handle, one needs to observe the sensations through out the body – starting from head till toes. The exercise gives a good understanding of body and allows reflection to “sensations” that body emulates. These can be pain, throbbing or vibration, flickering etc.. The key is irrespective of whatever the sensations are, we need to just watch them with equanimity. That means no aversion towards pain or no craving towards “nice” sensations! More the practice, more your mind would be trained to maintain equanimity!

How this helps in day today life?

We need to project this concept to our life and be equanimous whether things are going good or bad! Well, its said easier than done!! The mere observing, being a witness to all actions that you do will help you in overcoming the miseries.

This needs a lot of practice, as we have been habituated to react, ponder and draw our conclusions to the situation around us.

The first step on the path of dhamma sows the seed to be in “present”, enjoy the moment rather than thinking of moments in past or future! Whether its dhamma or not, it’s a wonderful way to live life!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Anischha


Year 2007 ended with a bang..This “big bang” was totally different. If I describe it as amazing I would only end up humiliating my experience.

-Spent 10 days in a place out of city limits
-Did not talk for10 days
-Did 10 hours of meditation each day
-There were intermittent breaks for food and walking
-Observed nature – trees, plants, frogs, snails, butterflies and other living beings around
-Got an opportunity to practice dhamma – “The Way” taught by Gautam Buddha. Isn’t that hinting at something?
-Opened up inward and started observing the body, breath and sensations
-No mobile, books, treks, music, talk and got cut off from the rest of the world

It may sound boring at the surface, but one has to try it to see how exciting it could be. It opens up new dimensions. One can understand the miseries of life better and how to come out of it. Any one would want to live without misery. Some people just ignore it by saying “I have no miseries”. The first step is to accept it and then to overcome it. I can go on and on..but that’s not the intention.

Let me break it – it was Vipassana Meditation! Check out this http://www.dhamma.org/ for more information.

This meditation technique works and I can guarantee it - the only reason being that I want you to enjoy what I enjoyed and feel the change!

PS: Anischha means “Impermanent”