Every Vipassana meditator has a different technique to enduring aditthana. Also in life everyone has different techniques to being able to endure difficult situations, where they feel they might explode. This short piece invites you to consider the sitting of aditthana, a key requisite of sitting a 10 day course, and what insight it can …
How Do I Fit In?
Walking the path of Dhamma gives me a strange feeling of isolation. Often, I feel like I'm walking around an entire society of people with a secret. I don't want to hide this secret, but I also know that it's not a secret I can simply share with words. Instead, I need to live it, patiently …
Giving Up Sensual Pleasures
I've been observing life a bit more subtly recently causing me to revisit my attachment to sensual pleasures. Early in my career as a Vipassana meditator it was quite challenging for me to give up drinking, not because I loved consuming alcohol, but because I enjoyed the high of escaping the burdens of life for …
Love During War
I can only imagine the amount of suffering on a battle field; there are scars, both physical and mental, that would last a lifetime. As I ponder the depth of pure love, I believe it has the strength to cleanse these old wounds. Maybe in an extraordinary person, the ability to love may even be …
Patience
Life is so mysterious. One part of my mind wants answers, and wants them now. I know there are answers to these riddles, and I imagine being much more content once I figure them out. Instead, what I usually find is another riddle. Often, I discover that forced solutions end up being the wrong solutions. …
When opinion is no more a tool to decide
Inside our head we carry an in-built measuring scale. This scale is no less unique than the finger prints or irises. However this scale is not something which we are genetically endowed with but it is something we develop. The entire stimulus received and all the reactions generated in one’s existence so far are working …
Helping Each Other Live The Life Of Dharma
Dhamma Projects invites you to take part in a global experiment taking place both face to face and online. Once a month, where possible at the same time, Vipassana communities across the world will sit together with the aim to support and encourage each other to live the life of dharma. What that means and looks …
How Should I Love Now?
I'm starting to realize that there is not one simple answer to the question of how to be a loving person. My current state of mind has a large influence on what it means for me to be loving in this current moment. If I'm agitated or angry, it's probably better for me to take …
Watching Sports with Equanimity
I've always been a big college basketball fan which makes March Madness, the college basketball tournament, one of the most celebrated times of year. My family competes every year to see who can guess the most winners which always brings extra excitement. This year I sat a three day course just before the tournament started so the …
Maintenance as Love (Part 2)
Maintenance is the work of keeping something in proper condition. There is a difference between attaining a condition and maintaining that condition. Goals involving attainment are usually accompanied by a sense of urgency, enthusiasm, and the promise of a relatively quick payoff. Maybe the goal is to create a fancy garden in an abandoned courtyard, …
Living Vipassana 