Sep 27, 2011

Directions to reach Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, India

Everyone is most welcome to visit the Global Vipassana Pagoda.

Visiting the Global Pagoda is free of charge. There is no entry fee.

Timings: 9.00 am to 7.00 pm

(The last ferry leaves Gorai jetty to the Global Pagoda at 5.25 pm)


* Vipassana students - those who have taken one or more 10-day Vipassana courses as taught by Sayagyi U S.N.Goenka - are permitted to meditate inside the main dome Dhamma Hall of the Global Pagoda.


( Food facility in the Global Pagoda premises is limited to a small food stall offering tea / coffee, light snacks like samosas and soft drinks. Larger food stalls are there in the adjacent Essel World complex.

Safe drinking water and very clean toilet / wash-room facilities are available in the Global Pagoda premises.)

How to reach Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai / Borivali, Mumbai, India:

The Global Pagoda can be reached overland by car, as well by ferry. Pre-paid taxi services are available at the Mumbai domestic and international airports. Ask for "Esselworld", if "Global Vipassana Pagoda" draws a blank stare. The Global Pagoda is within the Esselworld Park premises.

Reaching Global Vipassana Pagoda by Road from Mumbai City / Domestic Airport / International Airport / Railway Stations in Mumbai
  1. Reach Western Express Highway and go North towards Dahisar/Borivali/Ahmedabad.
  2. Cross the Dahisar Toll Booth and keep going straight.
  3. When you reach the Mira-Bhayandar crossing, turn Left towards Mira-Bhayandar. The crossing has a statue of Shivaji Maharaj positioned at the centre.
  4. Keep going straight till you reach Golden Nest Circle. At the Golden Nest Circle, take a left turn and stay on the main road.
  5. Keep going straight till you take a hard right turn at the end of the road. This point will come after Maxus Mall, which comes on your right. After the hard right turn, take a left at the T point junction.
  6. Keep following directions to Esselworld or Global Vipassana Pagoda from this point forward.
  7. When you reach the Esselworld Parking Lot, go ahead a few metres and take a right turn towards Esselworld. Tell the guard at the security post that you want to go to the Pagoda.
  8. Keep going straight till you reach the Helipad. At the Helipad, take a right turn to the Global Pagoda Road through the Sanchi Arch.

The Pagoda is about 42 km from the Domestic Airport Terminal.

Please click here For more detailed directions and maps

Hiring a car for airport pick-up to Global Vipassana Pagoda:

Private taxis and vehicles can also be hired from many car rentals in Mumbai, besides the airport pre-paid taxi service. Rates may vary. Many Vipassana students make use of the services of private taxi operator Mr Jagdish Maniyar. Contact : Tel (Res): 91-22-26391010 or cell phone 09869255079. As of February 2011, Mr Maniyar charges Rs 800 ( approx US $17, 13 Euros) for airport pickup to Global Pagoda (inclusive of road taxes). From Mumbai airport to Dhamma Giri Vipassana centre, Igatpuri, he charges Rs 2,550 (approx US $56).

From Borivali Railway station:
From Borivali Station (Western Railway, Mumbai) please use the western exit gates of the station (for the train from Churchgate, the exit is on the left). One can take Bus number 294 or hire an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) to Gorai Creek. The bus fare is Rs. 6 and auto rickshaw fare is approx Rs. 25 (approx US $0.50) to Rs 35.
For the auto-rickshaw, please take one heading to your right, after crossing the road from the western exit of the railway station. The Gorai jetty is approximately 10-15 minutes-ride from Borivili station. Please take the ferry for Esselworld from Gorai Jetty. The return fare for the ferry is Rs. 35/- per person.
On arrival at Esselworld, you will see signs guiding to take you to Global Pagoda (which anyway is too big to be missed !).
The Dhamma Pattana Vipassana Centre is less than five minutes walking distance from the Esselworld Jetty gate.

Other Bus Numbers to Gorai: From Kurla railway station (West) - 309 L; From Mulund station (West) - 460 L;From Ghatkopar Bus Depot - 488 L (please re-confirm before boarding bus)

Wishing you a very happy and most beneficial visit to the Global Pagoda.

For any further details and assistance, please contact:

Global Vipassana Pagoda
Telephone: 91 22 33747501 (30 lines)
Email: pr@globalpagoda.org

Pagoda Address:
Global Vipassana Pagoda
Next to Esselworld, Gorai Village,
Borivali (West), Mumbai 400091

For sending any post/courier, please use this address:

Head Office Global Vipassana Foundation
2nd Floor, Green House, Green Street, Fort
Mumbai – 400 023

Telephone: +91 22 22665926 / 22664039
Fax: +91 22 22664607

Dhamma Pattana Vipassana Centre
Inside Global Vipassana Pagoda Campus
Next to Esselworld, Gorai Village,
Borivali (West), Mumbai 400091
Tel: [91] (22) 3374 7519
Fax: [91] (22) 3374 7518
Email: info@pattana.dhamma.org

* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for beginners' 10-day residential Vipassana courses

* One-day Vipassana courses at Global Pagoda (for those who have completed a 10-day Vipassana course)

New website of Global Vipassana Pagoda

Sep 21, 2011

Experiencing Anicca - for True Happiness and Freedom from Suffering

( from Sayagyi U Ba Khin's Dhamma discourse) 
Anicca (continuous change, impermanence), dukkha (suffering), Anatta (egolessness) — are the three essential characteristics of things in the teaching of the Buddha. If you experience anicca correctly, by practice of Vipassana, you will know dukkha as its corollary and anatta as ultimate truth. It takes time to understand the three together. 

Impermanence (anicca) is, of course, the essential fact which must be first experienced and understood by practice of Vipassana. Mere book-knowledge of the Dhamma will not be enough for the correct understanding of anicca because the experiential aspect will be missing. It is only through experiential understanding of the nature of anicca as an ever-changing process within you that you can understand anicca in the beneficial Dhamma way. As in the days of the Buddha, so too now, this understanding of anicca can be developed by persons who have no book-knowledge whatsoever of Buddha's universal, practical teachings.

To understand impermanence (anicca) one must follow strictly and diligently the Eightfold Noble Path, which is divided into the three groups of Sila, Sammadhi and Pañña — Morality, Mastery of the Mind and Wisdom.


The Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, India, was built to commemorate the birth centenary year of Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899 - 1971)


Sila, or living a wholesome life (without killing, stealing, wrong speech such as lying, hiding the truth, back-biting, speaking harshly, sexual misconduct such as adultery, refraining from taking any intoxicants even in small quantities) is the basis for Sammadhi, or mastery of the mind leading to one-pointedness of the mind. 

It is only when Sila is good that Sammadhi is good, and only when Sammadhi is good that one can develop Pañña. Therefore, Sila and Sammadhi are the prerequisites for Pañña. By Pañña is meant the understanding of anicca, dukkha and anatta through the practice of Vipassana, i.e., insight meditation.

Whether a Buddha has arisen or not, the practice of Sila and Sammadhi may be present in the human world. They are, in fact, the common denominators of all religious faiths. They are not, however, sufficient means for the goal of the path of Dhamma — the complete end of suffering. In his search for the end of suffering, Prince Siddhattha, the future Buddha, worked his way through to find the path which would lead to the end of suffering. After solid work for six years, he found the way out, became completely enlightened, and then taught men and gods to follow the Path which would lead them to the end of suffering.

In this connection we should understand that each action — whether by deed, word or thought — generates an active force called 'Sankhara" (conditioning of the mind, generated by habit-pattern of blind reaction). Each action, with good or bad kamma, goes to the credit or debit account of the individual, according to whether the action is good or bad. There is, therefore, an accumulation of past sankharas with everyone, which functions as the supply-source of suffering and for creating a new life, which is inevitably followed by suffering and death. It is by the development of the power inherent in the understanding of anicca, dukkha and anatta , that one is able to rid oneself of past sankharas accumulated in one's own personal account. 

This process begins with the correct understanding of anicca, while further accumulations of fresh actions and the reduction of the supply of energy to sustain life are taking place simultaneously, from moment to moment and from day to day. 

It is, therefore, a matter of a whole lifetime or more to get rid of all one's accumulated sankharas. He who has rid himself of all sankharas comes to the end of suffering, for then no sankhara remains to give the necessary energy to create another lifetime. On the termination of their lives the perfected saints, i.e., the Buddhas and arahants, pass into Parinibbana, reaching the end of suffering. 

For us today who take to Vipassana meditation, it would suffice if we can understand anicca well enough to reach the first stage of an ariya (a Noble person), that is, a sotapanna or stream-enterer, who will not take more than seven lives to eradicate all sankhraras amd come to the end of suffering.

The fact of anicca, which opens the door to the understanding of dukkha and anatta and eventually to the end of suffering, can be encountered in its full significance only through  practicing the teachings of a Buddha - for so long as Vipassana practice and teaching relating to the Eightfold Noble Path and the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya dhamma) remains intact and available to the aspirant.

For progress in Vipassana meditation, a student must keep experiencing anicca as continuously as possible. The Buddha's advice to monks is that they should try to maintain the awareness of anicca, dukkha or anatta in all postures, whether sitting, standing, walking or lying down. Continuous awareness of anicca and so of dukkha and anatta (at the level of bodily sensations) is the secret of success. 

The last words of the Buddha just before he breathed his last and passed away into Maha-parinibbana were: "Decay (or anicca) is inherent in all component things. Work out your own salvation with diligence." This is in fact the essence of all his teachings during the forty-five years of his Dhamma service. If you will keep up the awareness of the anicca that is inherent in all component things, you are sure to reach the goal in the course of time.

As you develop in the understanding of anicca, your insight into fundamental truths of nature will become greater and greater, so much so that eventually you will have no doubt whatsoever of the three characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anatta.

It is then only that you will be in a position to go ahead for the goal in view. Now that you know anicca as the first essential factor, you would try to understand what anicca is with real clarity as extensively as possible so as not to get confused in the course of practice or discussion.

The real meaning of anicca is that impermanence or decay is inherent nature of everything that exists in the Universe — whether animate or inanimate - and the Vipassana practitioner experiences this truth of anicca at the level of objectively observing one's constantly changing, impermanent bodily sensations. The Buddha taught that everything that exists at the material level is composed of kalapas. 

Kalapas are material units very much smaller than atoms, which die out immediately after they come into being. Each kalapa is a mass formed of the eight basic constituents of matter, the solid, liquid, calorific and oscillatory, together with color, smell, taste, and nutriment. 

The first four are called primary qualities, and are predominant in a kalapa. The other four are subsidiaries, dependent upon and springing from the former. A kalapa is the minutest particle in the physical plane — still beyond the range of science today. It is only when the eight basic material constituents unite together that the kalapa is formed. 

In other words, the momentary collocation of these eight basic elements of matter makes a mass just for that moment, which is known as a kalapa. The life-span of a kalapa is termed a moment, and a trillion such moments are said to elapse during the wink of a man's eye. 

These kalapas are all in a state of perpetual change or flux. To a developed student in Vipassana meditation they can be felt as a flow of subtle sensations, rapidly arising and passing away.

The human body is not, as it may appear, a solid stable entity, but a continuum of matter (rupa) co-existing with mentality (nama). To know that our very body is tiny kalapas all in a state of change is to know the true nature of change or decay. This change or decay (anicca) occasioned by the continual breakdown and replacement of kalapas, all in a state of combustion, must necessarily be identified as dukkha , the truth of suffering. 

It is only when you experience impermanence (anicca) as suffering (dukkha ) that you come to the realization of the truth of suffering, the first of the Four Noble Truths basic to the doctrine of the Buddha. Why? 

Because when you realize the subtle nature of dukkha from which you cannot escape for a moment, you become truly afraid of, disgusted with, and disinclined towards your very existence as mentality-materiality (nama-rupa), and look for a way of liberation to a state beyond dukkha , and so to nibbana, the end of suffering through total purification of the mind. 

What that end of suffering is like, you will be able to taste, even as a human being, when you reach the level of sotapanna, a stream-enterer, and develop well enough by practice to attain to the unconditioned state of nibbana, the peace within. But even in terms of everyday, ordinary life, no sooner than you are able to keep up the awareness of anicca in practice will you know for yourself that a change is taking place in you for the better, both physically and mentally.

Before entering upon the practice of Vipassana Meditation, that is, after Sammadhi has been developed to a proper level, a student should acquaint himself with the theoretical knowledge of material and mental properties, i.e., of rupa and nama. 

For in Vipassana one experiences not only the changing nature of matter, but also the changing nature of the mind, of the thought-elements of attention directed towards the process of change going on within matter. At times the attention will be focused on the impermanence of the material side of existence, i.e., upon anicca in regard to matter, and at other times on the impermanence of the thought-elements or mental side, i.e., upon anicca in regard to mind. 

When one is contemplating the impermanence of matter, one realizes also that the thought-elements simultaneous with that awareness are also in a state of transition or change. In this case one will be knowing anicca in regard to both mind and matter together.

All I have said so far relates to the understanding of anicca through bodily sensations of the process of change of rupa or matter, and also of thought-elements depending upon such changing processes. You should know that anicca can also be understood through other types of feeling as well. anicca can be contemplated through feeling:
(i) by contact of visible form with the sense organ of the eye;
(ii) by contact of sound with the sense organ of the ear;
(iii) by contact of smell with the sense organ of the nose;
(iv) by contact of taste with the sense organ of the tongue;
(v) by contact of touch with the sense organ of the body;
(vi) and by contact of mental objects such as thoughts, emotions, memories etc, with the sense organ of the mind. 

One can thus develop the understanding of anicca through any of six sense organs. In practice, however, we have found that bodily sensations cover the widest area for introspective meditation to purify the mind at the deepest level.
 
There are ten levels of knowledge in Vipassana, namely:
(i) Sammasana: theoretical appreciation of anicca, dukkha and anatta by close observation and analysis. 
(ii) Udayabbaya: knowledge of the arising and dissolution of rupa and nama by direct observation, at the level of bodily sensations.
(iii) Bhanga: knowledge of the rapidly changing nature of rupa and nama as a swift current or a flow of rapidly arising and passing away subtle sensations; in particular, clear awareness of the phase of dissolution.
(iv) Bhaya: knowledge that this very existence is dreadful
(v) Adinava: knowledge that this very existence is full of evils.
(vi) Nibbida: knowledge that this very existence is disgusting.
(vii) Muncitukamyata: knowledge of the urgent need and wish to be liberated from this very existence.
(vii) Patisankha: knowledge of the fact that the time has come to work with full realization for salvation with anicca as the base.
(ix) Sankhara upekkha: knowledge that the stage is now set to get detached from all conditioned phenomena (sankhara) and to break away from egocentricity.
(x) Anuloma: knowledge that would accelerate the attempt to reach the Dhamma goal.

These are the levels of attainment which one goes through during the course of Vipassana meditation; in the case of those who reach the goal in a short time they can be known only in retrospect. 

Along with one's progress in understanding anicca, one may reach these levels of attainment, subject, however, to adjustments or help at certain levels by a competent teacher. One should avoid looking forward to such attainments in anticipation, as this will distract from the continuity of awareness of anicca, which alone can and will give the desired reward.

Let me now deal with Vipassana meditation from the point of view of a householder in everyday life and explain the benefit one can derive from it — here and now — in this very lifetime.

The initial object of Vipassana is to activate the experience of anicca in oneself and to eventually reach a state of inner and outer calmness and balance. This is achieved when one becomes engrossed in the feeling of anicca within. The world is now facing serious problems which threaten all mankind. It is just the right time for everyone to take to Vipassana and learn how to find a deep pool of quiet in the midst of all that is happening today.

Anicca is inside of everybody. It is within reach of everybody. Just a look into oneself and there it is — anicca to be experienced. When one can feel anicca, when one can experience anicca, and when one can become engrossed in anicca, one can at will cut oneself off from the world of ideation outside. Anicca is, for the householder, the gem of life which he will treasure to create a reservoir of calm and balanced energy for his own well-being and for the welfare of the society.

The experience of anicca, when properly developed, strikes at the root of one’s physical and mental ills and removes gradually whatever is bad in him, i.e., the causes of such physical and mental ills. This experience is not reserved for men who have renounced the world for the homeless life. It is for the householder as well. In spite of drawbacks which make a householder restless in these days, a competent teacher or guide can help a student to get the experience of anicca activated in a comparatively short time. 

Once he has got it activated, all that is necessary is for him to try and preserve it; but he must make it a point, as soon as time or opportunity presents itself for further progress, to work for the stage of bhangañana – the experience of dissolution of the solidity of the body, as a flow of rapidly arising, passing of subtle sensations.

If he reaches this stage of bhanga there will be little or no problem because he should then be able to experience anicca without much ado and almost automatically. In this case anicca will become his base, to which all his physical and mental activities return as soon as the domestic needs of daily life for such activities are over. 

However, there is likely to be some difficulty for one who has not reached the stage of bhanga. It will be just like a tug-of-war for him between anicca within, and physical and mental activities outside. So it would be wise for him to follow the motto of work while you work, play while you play. There is no need for him to be activating the experience of anicca all the time. It should suffice if this could be confined to a regular period, or periods, set apart in the day or night for the purpose.

During this time, at least, an attempt must be made to keep the attention focused inside the body, with awareness devoted exclusively to anicca; that is to say, his awareness of anicca should go on from moment to moment so continuously as not to allow for the interpolation of any discursive or distracting thoughts which are definitely detrimental to progress. In case this is not possible, he will have to go back to respiration-mindfulness, because sammadhi is the key to the contemplation of anicca. To get good samadhi, Sila (morality) has to be perfect, since sammadhi is build upon Sila. For a good experience of anicca, sammadhi must be good. If sammadhi is excellent awareness of anicca will also become excellent

There is no special technique for activating the experience of anicca other than the use of the mind, adjusted to a perfect state of balance, and attention projected upon the object of meditation. 

In Vipassana the object of meditation is anicca, and therefore in the case of those used to focusing their attention on bodily feelings (sensation), they can feel anicca directly. (It is must be clearly understood that the understanding of anicca is the objective awareness of the arising and passing of bodily sensations.)

In experiencing anicca in relation to the body, it should first be in the area where one can easily get his attention engrossed, changing the area of attention from place to place, from head to feet and from feet to head, at times probing into the interior. At this stage, it must clearly be understood that no attention is to be paid to the anatomy of the body, but to the formations of matter — the kalapas — and the nature of their constant change, as experienced at the level of sensations.

If these instructions are observed, there will surely be progress, but the progress depends also on paramis (accumulation of merits) and the devotion of the individual to the work of meditation. If he attains high levels of knowledge, his power to understand the three characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anatta will increase and he will accordingly come nearer and nearer to the goal of the ariya or noble saint, which every householder should keep in view.

This is the age of science. Man of today has no Utopia. He will not accept anything unless the results are good, concrete, vivid, personal, and here-and-now. When the Buddha was alive, He said to the Kalamas:
Now look, you Kalamas. Be not misled by report or tradition or hearsay. Be not misled by proficiency in the scriptural collections, or by reasoning or logic or reflection on and approval of some theory, or because some view conforms with one's inclinations, or out of respect for prestige of a teacher. 

But when you know for yourselves: these things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy, these things are censured by the wise; these things when practiced and observed, conduce to loss and sorrow — then you reject them. But if at any time you know for yourselves: these things are wholesome, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the intelligent; these things, when practiced and observed, conduce to welfare and happiness, then, Kalamas, do ye, having practiced them, abide. 

The time-clock of Vipassana has now struck — that is for Vipassana in practice throughout the world. We have no doubt whatsoever that definite results would accrue to those who would with an open mind sincerely undergo a course of training under a competent teacher — I mean results which will be accepted as good, concrete, vivid, personal, here-and-now, results which will keep them in good stead and in a state of well-being and happiness for the rest of their lives.

May all beings be happy and may peace prevail in the world.
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* Online application for Vipassana courses
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Sep 9, 2011

The Path out of Deep Suffering

by Sayagyi U S.N. Goenka


(The following is adapted from Sayagyi Goenka's discourse to Vipassana meditators in California, USA, on 26 August, 1986. It was first published in the Vipassana Research Institute publication 'For the Benefit of Many', which is a compilation of Dhamma talks and answers to questions from Vipassana students.)

To benefit from the best fruits of Dhamma, one must become established in Vipassana and progress on the path. To progress on the path of Dhamma it is absolutely essential that you practise Dhamma, and to practise Dhamma it is essential that you understand Dhamma.

If you do not practise Dhamma and merely develop attachment to it-taking it as a dogma, a cult or an organized religion-then Dhamma is no longer Dhamma for you. When you understand Dhamma in its true nature, the deep essence of Dhamma, then the outer shell has no importance.

To understand what Dhamma is you have to understand what silā is and why it should be practised; you have to understand what sammā-samādhi is and why this type of samādhi should be practised; you have to understand what real paññā is and why it should be practised.


The Buddha made people understand at the experiential level why they should observe silā, and then gave them the ability to really observe silā. At the intellectual level one may understand, I should not do this, it is unwholesome. I should do that, it is wholesome. And yet in daily life we keep performing unwholesome actions. One of the ancient scriptures points this out, saying:

Janami dharmam, na ca me pravrittih;
Janami adharmam, na ca me nivrittih.

I know very well what is dharma and yet I cannot follow it.
I know very well what is contrary to dharma, and yet I cannot abstain from it.

Someone who becomes a Buddha discovers a way for people to abstain from unwholesome actions. He makes people realise what actually happens when you kill, steal, commit adultery, lie, or consume alcohol or drugs.

Going deep inside, you start to understand, I cannot kill anybody unless I generate negativity in my mind-anger, hatred, ill will, animosity, some negativity or the other. And you also realise, As soon as I generate negativity in my mind, nature starts punishing me. I become miserable then and there. Realising this universal truth the Buddha said,

Idha tappati, pecca tappati.
You start suffering now and you continue to suffer in the future.


The seed of the unwholesome action that you have planted makes you suffer here and now, and it will grow and give very bitter fruit.

The Buddha gave a simile: If you take a rope and twist it repeatedly the rope will become tighter and tighter. Every time you break silā you twist that rope further, and you become tense deep inside. The tendency to react in the same way becomes a habit, and you twist it again and again; thus your misery continues to grow. He said that, quite possibly, at the surface level of the mind you don't know that you are creating tension inside. How does it happen that you are unaware of this?

If you look at a burning ember covered by a thick layer of ash it appears as if the charcoal is not burning, as if there is no fire. In the same way, ninety-nine percent of your mind is burning and the one percent at the surface might be distracted by enjoying this or that sensual pleasure. Because you have not seen inside you do not know that you are burning.

Every time you break silā you justify it, and at the surface level you feel perfectly all right. You say to yourself, I killed that fellow because he was bad. Or you may say, Why should he have that? What was wrong with my taking it? I'm quite happy now. Or else you say, I had sexual relations but I didn't harm anybody; it was not a rape, we both consented. What is wrong with that? Or again you say, I took only a little glass of wine and I didn't get intoxicated. What was wrong with that? After all, when I'm in society somebody offers me a glass of wine and by accepting it I am not disturbing the peace and harmony of society, I am helping it. Everybody's happy.

A Buddha will smile with compassion, at the ignorance of the reality within. Such people experience false ' happiness ' with the layer of ash covering the truth. They don't know that they are burning deep inside and that they keep giving fuel to this burning. Every time you break any silā you are giving more and more fuel to this fire and you become more and more miserable. This cannot be understood by arguments or discussions. Only when you go deeper can you realize that every vocal or physical action that breaks the law of nature simultaneously causes harm to yourself.

When you go deeper you also see that as you start performing wholesome actions, either physical or vocal, the fire burning inside dies down and you start feeling peaceful. The Buddha said, Idha nandati, pecca nandati, katapuñño ubhayattha nandati. Because you are cultivating a mental habit pattern of generating peace, harmony, and real happiness, this mental state continues. All actions, either physical or vocal, made with the base of a pure mind cause happiness-not the happiness of that small layer of ash covering a burning ember, but happiness at the depth of the mind.

Samādhi is concentration. How should you concentrate? And why should you concentrate in this particular way? This was the enlightenment of the Buddha: Sammā-samādhi must be a samādhi that leads us to paññā. and its object must be the reality pertaining to your own body and mind.

What is known in the West as the conscious mind is actually a tiny part of the mind. The part of the mind called the unconscious or the half-conscious keeps feeling the sensations on the body and reacting to them. The surface part of the mind is like the layer of ash covering the burning ember: You can play with this and put some ice there so that you feel as if the burning has ceased and that you are perfectly happy. If you meditate using verbalization, it is only the conscious mind that is verbalizing; the deep unconscious has nothing to do with it. Likewise it is the tiny part of the mind, the conscious mind that visualizes, or imagines, or gives some suggestion, or plays some intellectual or emotional games. The mind deep inside has nothing to do with all this, and yet you feel as if you are peaceful.

When you go to a cinema, bar or theatre, you divert your agitated conscious mind and enjoy sensual pleasures. When you intoxicate your conscious mind with alcohol or drugs, again you forget your misery for some time. In the same way, when you intoxicate your mind with different kinds of meditation, you forget your misery. You forget the red-hot charcoal that is burning deep inside.

The enlightenment of the Buddha was to go to the depth and understand the law of cause and effect. He understood that whenever one reacts with craving or aversion, misery follows; this is the law of nature. He investigated why one reacts in this way.

At the apparent level it feels as if you react to things outside. Whatever you see, hear, smell, taste, touch or think that is pleasant, it seems that you react to that sensory contact with craving. Similarly whatever unpleasant contact you have at any of the sense doors, it seems that you react to it with aversion. That is true, but only at the surface level. There is a missing link that you cannot understand without practising Vipassana. You do not react to the external objects coming in contact with the respective sense doors; you react to the sensations within your body caused by the contact. When the sensation is pleasant, you react with craving; when the sensation is unpleasant, you react with aversion. If this link is missing you are not working at the depth of your mind, you are simply working at the surface.

People who work only with the conscious mind fool themselves, and it doesn't actually help them. You have to go to the depth, limit your attention to your own mind-and-matter phenomenon, and observe the interaction taking place there. The unconscious mind deep inside is constantly in contact with the bodily sensations. Mind and matter are so interrelated that every moment anything that happens in the mind influences the body, and anything that happens at the physical level influences the mind.

The Buddha was the first person in this era (there were many Buddhas before who had discovered the same thing) to find out this truth, and with compassion and goodwill to place it before people, Look, this is the law. Understand this law with your own experience, and come out of your misery.

Someone might forget this truth and say, Whether I go to this or that teacher the meditation is the same. I would reply, If the guru teaches you to feel bodily sensations and develop equanimity towards them, then it is the same. It doesn't matter whether it is called Vipassana or not, whether it is the teaching of the Buddha or anyone else. But if the guru does not teach you to work like this, and still you say, His teaching is the same, you are harming yourself because you are forgetting your bodily sensations, to which you keep reacting with craving and aversion.

This ash that covers the truth inside must be removed. Any object of meditation that helps this ash to grow is not a useful object of meditation; any object of meditation that removes the ash and makes us feel the misery inside is helpful.

This is the first noble truth, Look how much burning is going on, how much tension there is. This can only be experienced when you start feeling sensations within the body. Every bodily sensation is a misery because out of ignorance you react and generate suffering. How can this be stopped? How can the mind that is so enslaved by this habit pattern be freed from slavery?

It can only be done by practice; intellectual discussions, debates, or accepting the truth at the devotional level will not help. These can give us guidance and show us how we should work, but then we actually have to work. Those who want to progress on the path of Dhamma have to understand what Vipassana meditators are doing and the real reason why we work in this way.

Of course you should not despise others. Those who teach meditation techniques that work only at the intellectual level are also helping people; at least the conscious mind is purified to some extent and this is helpful. But for your own work understand that liberation will only come when you go to the root cause of misery. Unless you eradicate the root of the misery, you can't eradicate your misery.

Dhamma is so simple and yet people have made it so complicated. There cannot be anything simpler than Dhamma. It has been made complicated by adding this or that philosophy, this or that belief. Just practise; don't make it complicated. Those who have made it complicated have harmed themselves and harmed others. You have the true path but it's a long path. To change the habit pattern of the mind takes time; but a beginning has been made. Even if you have taken one course, a good beginning has been made. Make use of this and start to decondition the mind at the deepest level.

As you go deeper in your meditation while practising all the five silās, you will start understanding that any breakage of silā increases the ash on the surface of the mind, and simultaneously increases the burning inside. So realize the truth of burning, the misery within. Don't be deluded by this surface ash, by this small part of the so-called conscious mind.

Also understand that only by practising Dhamma can you benefit from Dhamma. If you take one 10-day Vipassana course but do not practise every day you will be helped, but only to a small extent. Or if you take one course every year but you don't practise daily, the habit pattern of your mind cannot be changed; and that blind habit pattern has to be changed.

Every time you practice Vipassana, you change this habit pattern little by little, you de-condition your mind little by little until you reach the stage where the mind is totally unconditioned; all the past habit patterns evaporate.


For this, you have to work seriously. You have this wonderful facility here, and you have made good use of it.

Once Dhamma starts growing, it keeps growing and nobody can stop it. Grow externally and a large number of people will benefit. Grow internally and deep inside you will benefit. If you yourself do not benefit and you only think of benefiting others, it won't work.

Develop in Dhamma for your own benefit and for the benefit of others; for your own welfare and for the welfare of others; for your own liberation and the liberation of others.

Bhavatu sabba mangalam!
May all beings be happy!

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(original article : The Essence of Dhamma , Vipassana Newsletter, Nov 15, 2005.
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