Ten Past Days

Breath out, breath in, observe, be happy. Ten days I spent in a vipassana meditation course silently learning to observe reality AS IT IS moment to moment. The foundation is so simple, the practice is straightforward and yet the depths and complexity of this experience is difficult to describe. There are three basic elements that lead you into a deep exploration of mind and matter: morality, concentration, and wisdom. The first is self-explanatory in that any action you make should have strong moral integrity. Maintaining this gives you a pure foundation that will allow you to experience concentration, and wisdom without the pollution and misconceptions that arise from immoral acts. Concentration is another key component to this journey, and on the surface level everyone can concentrate, however in order to truly study your mind and body a very deep and practiced concentration must be learned and eventually develop into natural habit. Wisdom is a word that encompasses such a large array of understandings it is important to understand its varying possibilities. The most basic wisdom is gained by listening to others. Wisdom of intellect is the analytical understanding of a topic. Both of these are important in life however vipassana demands and creates wisdom of far greater value… Wisdom of experience is wisdom gained from direct personal experience and is essential to further understanding of the mind. By gaining and practicing wisdom of experience you begin to understand and change the reactions of your body and mind at the root level thus opening life to happiness, peace, and love on a consistent and personal basis.

The beauty of sitting and studying your mind is that there is always more to discover. While observing the sensations on my body, I learned from many directions and slowly thoughts got very pointed. You have no choice but to examine your reality: tensions, stresses, pleasures and pain arrive and pass away. It becomes apparent that as balanced as you may feel on the surface, many impurities and imbalances exist. Even more astounding lies the capacity to understand the universe in its essence by examining the trillions of molecules that create our physical perceptions through an immense rapidity of arising and passing. While I meditate there is no doubt that my mind is in constant state of anicca (impermanence), thoughts come and go with the rapidity of a fire flickering. There is no turning away from the fact that all things come and go. Honestly observing the reality of all your sensations, and thoughts in the moment gives you a great capacity to react to these things. Habitually reactions to sensory objects create an action or attitude of craving or aversion. By these principles we lead our lives leaving the door open to a variety of miseries entering our life and creating imbalance. Meditation teaches you the capacity to change the habit of your mind and react to things from a balanced prospective that does not create craving or aversion. In stopping this fundamental reactionary process you stop creating habits formed by the inner self that obstruct pure happiness, love, and compassion. Further the old habits from the depths of your unconscious begin to arise and by observing this process with equanimity (evenness of mind or temper) these habits have no option but to pass away. Again so simple: be aware, remain equanimis and naturally your mind will purify, thoughts will sharpen, and life will be easier lived happy.

Where to go from now is a question very much rolling around in my head. I have gained wisdom of all three types during these ten days and will no doubt apply this through every day living. Will I practice vipassana meditation on a regular basis? My immediate response was probably not. I can quickly justify this by applying the reality that I am happy, I show love, and have compassion for the world. My life is full of experience that has created a healthy joyful environment that I have been able to share with others. If you ever have skied with me you would agree that its hard to be anywhere than the moment. The focus and meditation I achieve during skiing or yoga are healthy for me and don’t require long periods of sitting. However I have a strong sense that vipassana meditation has the capacity to sharpen my mind and allow me to understand things on a deeper level with more quickness. The fact that immediately after my return was the memorial of a close friend of mine Ethan Townsend has pulled me away from the position of applying the knowledge and continuing life without regular meditation. Ethan was perhaps the most intelligent, and joyful, loving man I know which inspires me to exercise my brain to fuller extents. It feels irresponsible to not take steps that improve the functions of my mind and increase the capacity to help others while I well know the world has lost one of its sharpest most pointed individuals. So yes I will discipline myself to meditate with a more than sporadic frequency. And I will recommend that anybody set aside ten days of their life to go to a vipassana course without expectations and an open mind to learning. May all beings be happy. Peace Brook