Chapter 1—What is Vipassana?
There are various ways to answer the question of “what is Vipassana?” Derived from the Pali language, Vipassana means “Insight.” But the best explanation is “seeing things as they truly are.”
Just try to think about the phrase “seeing things as they truly are.” What is your gut reaction? What were you thinking about as you read the phrase, “seeing things as they truly are?”
This book has been translated from Thai into English. You can read English, an undeniable fact. Therefore, saying that you are “thinking in English” would be correct. Congratulations to anyone who realizes this fact. You understand it correctly. You are beginning to see things as they truly are already.
Yet if one asks “Are you an American?,” it may become more complex than the previous statement, as it depends on your perspective of what nationality you belong to. If someone forces you to accept that you are an American, while your mind still wants to think that you are not, as you may have a stronger identification from a certain ethnicity, this means that you need to further explain the issue. And no matter how much you can come up with reasons or supporting evidence to back up your own concept, the bottom line is that whatever you believe in will be equivalent to the reality you have.
The question is if the fact is linked to the concept, isn’t it true that there would not be any real seeing of things as they truly are? Doesn’t it mean that we have been living in a self-created virtual reality all along? Each person is living in their own particular world of virtual-reality, without ever crossing into another boundary.
An argument, without any objective, in what is real and what is unreal would never be conclusive. Therefore, as one refers to the effort being put into one’s practice to see things as they truly are, one needs to continue with the next question, “What is the purpose of such seeing?” Certain facts, like ethnicity may simply make one feel that “I am different from you” or “I am much better than you.” Beyond that, things may get carried away to the point of ethnic cleansing, or it may just simply result in racism and the desire to harm others as we see these days.
The purpose of Vipassana is to see things as they truly are, in order to free oneself from all sorts of mind-luring attachments, and be liberated from being imprisoned by the dark force of delusion. We may not realize how dangerous this delusion is, until we have to struggle through some of the consequence that we have created. Isn’t better off if we can realize the truth of life? For example, we do not need to go to war based on the differences in our beliefs, or we do not have to suffer because of our thoughts. This filters down to common daily problems. For example, by simply leaving all the work behind at the office, one does not have to bring the stress back home.
Now we have a rough idea that Vipassana is to see things as they truly are in order to free oneself from clinging. And by freeing oneself from clinging, one does not have to suffer because of insubstantial matters. The crucial question now becomes: What are the "things" that one should see as they truly are? It is analogous to us realizing that it is now time to go to war to free ourselves from slavery, but then who are the enemies? Where are they? When will we meet them?
The answer for those who consider practicing Vipassana at home is that “things” that we should see as they truly are, basically, are everything we cling to unnecessarily. What are these unnecessary things that can turn around and hurt us as if they are our enemies? Try asking yourself whether you have experienced some of these situations:
Have you ever been cheated by someone out of a couple of dollars, yet it kept you thinking about it repeatedly? It can be said that not only you were cheated, but your own thoughts also stole your happiness.
Have you ever agreed to end your relationship with someone, but you were still jealous of your ex-lover, thinking about the past with regret, considering how happy he or she is with others?
Have you ever cheered for a team, but the other team won, which means you have also become a loser? But if you look at it carefully you have not lost or gained anything along with the loser at all.
The above questions are just examples to demonstrate how unbelievably people suffer greatly from clinging to insubstantial matters. But the frightening fact is that each day we may cling to as much as 9 unessential issues out of 10.
Occasionally you may admit to yourself or complain to others that you were so stupid to be obsessed with insubstantial or trivial matters. Despite knowing that it was stupid, you could not stop thinking about it. You were unable to control it, and could not be aware of it.
Only if one truly understands Vipassana, one can save oneself from these clinging. To truly understand the meaning of Vipassana is the initial step. And the first step is to accept it truthfully through investigation with a simple thought that anything that is not controllable according to our wish cannot be called ours. For example, when we accept that thought is not ours, we would feel as if we have withdrawn over half of ourselves from suffering rooted in the thought, resulting in an instantaneous weakening of such thought.
It is like a single strand of hair obscuring the view of the whole mountain. And it is funny that we cannot see through the tricks, unable to grasp the situation. As we are unable to grasp it, we easily become victims that fall prey to this phenomenon. Most people live to be a slave of their desires which are the cause of various degrees of suffering. And they may not be able to die peacefully because of the lifelong suffering that has erodes their hearts. By understanding the meaning of Vipassana and realizing that by simply changing perspective of life toward the way of Vipassana, we do not need to go anywhere, or perform any ritual. Yet happiness has already replaced suffering, while we are alive and still breathing, before dying with ignorance, not knowing the cause of every new suffering.
Conclusion
Vipassana is to see things as they truly are. Everything outside and inside ourselves is impermanent and actually uncontrollable according to our wish. So we should let go of mistakenly clinging which overwhelmingly causes us to suffer mentally in things that should not have concerned us. The job of Vipassana practitioners is simply to transform their perspective, from a demander, a desire-worshipping warrior, and an egotistical person, to an observer, a knower, and a person who fights for the truth as it truly appears.
There are various ways to answer the question of “what is Vipassana?” Derived from the Pali language, Vipassana means “Insight.” But the best explanation is “seeing things as they truly are.”
Just try to think about the phrase “seeing things as they truly are.” What is your gut reaction? What were you thinking about as you read the phrase, “seeing things as they truly are?”
This book has been translated from Thai into English. You can read English, an undeniable fact. Therefore, saying that you are “thinking in English” would be correct. Congratulations to anyone who realizes this fact. You understand it correctly. You are beginning to see things as they truly are already.
Yet if one asks “Are you an American?,” it may become more complex than the previous statement, as it depends on your perspective of what nationality you belong to. If someone forces you to accept that you are an American, while your mind still wants to think that you are not, as you may have a stronger identification from a certain ethnicity, this means that you need to further explain the issue. And no matter how much you can come up with reasons or supporting evidence to back up your own concept, the bottom line is that whatever you believe in will be equivalent to the reality you have.
The question is if the fact is linked to the concept, isn’t it true that there would not be any real seeing of things as they truly are? Doesn’t it mean that we have been living in a self-created virtual reality all along? Each person is living in their own particular world of virtual-reality, without ever crossing into another boundary.
An argument, without any objective, in what is real and what is unreal would never be conclusive. Therefore, as one refers to the effort being put into one’s practice to see things as they truly are, one needs to continue with the next question, “What is the purpose of such seeing?” Certain facts, like ethnicity may simply make one feel that “I am different from you” or “I am much better than you.” Beyond that, things may get carried away to the point of ethnic cleansing, or it may just simply result in racism and the desire to harm others as we see these days.
The purpose of Vipassana is to see things as they truly are, in order to free oneself from all sorts of mind-luring attachments, and be liberated from being imprisoned by the dark force of delusion. We may not realize how dangerous this delusion is, until we have to struggle through some of the consequence that we have created. Isn’t better off if we can realize the truth of life? For example, we do not need to go to war based on the differences in our beliefs, or we do not have to suffer because of our thoughts. This filters down to common daily problems. For example, by simply leaving all the work behind at the office, one does not have to bring the stress back home.
Now we have a rough idea that Vipassana is to see things as they truly are in order to free oneself from clinging. And by freeing oneself from clinging, one does not have to suffer because of insubstantial matters. The crucial question now becomes: What are the "things" that one should see as they truly are? It is analogous to us realizing that it is now time to go to war to free ourselves from slavery, but then who are the enemies? Where are they? When will we meet them?
The answer for those who consider practicing Vipassana at home is that “things” that we should see as they truly are, basically, are everything we cling to unnecessarily. What are these unnecessary things that can turn around and hurt us as if they are our enemies? Try asking yourself whether you have experienced some of these situations:
Have you ever been cheated by someone out of a couple of dollars, yet it kept you thinking about it repeatedly? It can be said that not only you were cheated, but your own thoughts also stole your happiness.
Have you ever agreed to end your relationship with someone, but you were still jealous of your ex-lover, thinking about the past with regret, considering how happy he or she is with others?
Have you ever cheered for a team, but the other team won, which means you have also become a loser? But if you look at it carefully you have not lost or gained anything along with the loser at all.
The above questions are just examples to demonstrate how unbelievably people suffer greatly from clinging to insubstantial matters. But the frightening fact is that each day we may cling to as much as 9 unessential issues out of 10.
Occasionally you may admit to yourself or complain to others that you were so stupid to be obsessed with insubstantial or trivial matters. Despite knowing that it was stupid, you could not stop thinking about it. You were unable to control it, and could not be aware of it.
Only if one truly understands Vipassana, one can save oneself from these clinging. To truly understand the meaning of Vipassana is the initial step. And the first step is to accept it truthfully through investigation with a simple thought that anything that is not controllable according to our wish cannot be called ours. For example, when we accept that thought is not ours, we would feel as if we have withdrawn over half of ourselves from suffering rooted in the thought, resulting in an instantaneous weakening of such thought.
It is like a single strand of hair obscuring the view of the whole mountain. And it is funny that we cannot see through the tricks, unable to grasp the situation. As we are unable to grasp it, we easily become victims that fall prey to this phenomenon. Most people live to be a slave of their desires which are the cause of various degrees of suffering. And they may not be able to die peacefully because of the lifelong suffering that has erodes their hearts. By understanding the meaning of Vipassana and realizing that by simply changing perspective of life toward the way of Vipassana, we do not need to go anywhere, or perform any ritual. Yet happiness has already replaced suffering, while we are alive and still breathing, before dying with ignorance, not knowing the cause of every new suffering.
Conclusion
Vipassana is to see things as they truly are. Everything outside and inside ourselves is impermanent and actually uncontrollable according to our wish. So we should let go of mistakenly clinging which overwhelmingly causes us to suffer mentally in things that should not have concerned us. The job of Vipassana practitioners is simply to transform their perspective, from a demander, a desire-worshipping warrior, and an egotistical person, to an observer, a knower, and a person who fights for the truth as it truly appears.
No comments:
Post a Comment