“Speak of Zen only after the third request.” So say the Zen masters regarding telling others about the wonders of Zen meditation. In the Vipassana world, there’s no clear rule such as suggested by the ‘third request,’ but there is a similar feeling that it’s best to be circumspect about sharing your experience – a …
Subtle Intimacy
Before being introduced to Vipassana life was about feeling the best and strongest positive sensations I could. I liked the sugar in a banana so upgraded to a candy bar and eventually was eating triple chocolate brownie blast ice cream. I like the adrenaline of jumping off a swing set so I upgraded to cliff jumping and …
The Missing Piece
I've been in many conversations about the logic of various religions. We would put each set of religious beliefs up against the scientific method and each other. Logic says that there must be one right way and many wrong ways. In the beginning I viewed Vipassana in the same discussion. I would try to explain …
Giving Up
Recently, I’ve missed a few sittings. Sometimes because I hadn’t finished “living” until midnight; other times because I didn’t do it as soon as I woke up there simply wasn’t enough time to do an hour. Other times, I’ve “cheated” on the practice; I’ve stopped midway through a sitting and thought, “That should be …
Purifying the Creative Process
Some say art has no place in Dhamma, and others say the path lessens the desire to alter artistic visions. I’m not exactly sure what it’s going to mean for me and my art yet because I haven’t gone into a heavy production phase since I’ve been on the path. My “personal art” creation process, …
Money and Sex
written by Sanjeev Prasher from Amritsar, India I observe that vipassana students generally shy away from discussing or accepting the truth about these two things- 'Money and Sex'. I have been practicing vipassana for the last 10 years and observe that our interest decreases in sex as we make progress on this path. It also …
The Brain in our Belly
One of the biggest obstacles to developing an effective meditation practice is our tendency to live totally in our heads. Most modern cultures, and especially Western culture, inculcate the value of reason and rationality above all else, creating the dominance of the cranial brain. While this may have given us certain distinct advantages in the …
Meditator Ego
After taking a 10-day course I felt like I had just been introduced to the right way to live life. As I started to meditate regularly I started to identify a separation between myself and all of the non-meditators around me. I felt like I was walking on the right path, the path to liberation, …
The Divided Path
My life has long been about answering the question: what should I be doing? Whatever this experience is, how should I approach it? As a meditator and a medical student, I find myself being pulled hard in two seemingly different directions. When I get my mind in the right place to excel at medicine, I …
Can I Be Happy If Others Are Sad?
The world is so big. Our problems are all tangled together. It's easy to get overwhelmed. Where do we start? What should we do? I've always come back to the idea that I need to help myself first before I can help others, but where is the limit? How much do I need to have …
Living Vipassana 