Vipassana is to be with Reality, each Moment

What psychologists refer to as the "conscious mind" , the Super-Scientist Buddha called this part of the mind the paritta citta (a very small surface layer of the mind). There is a big barrier between the paritta citta and the rest of the mind at deeper levels. The conscious mind does not know what is happening in the unconscious or half-conscious. 

Vipassana breaks this barrier of ignorance, taking you from the surface level of the mind to the deepest level of the mind where conditioning takes root. Vipassana practice exposes and removes the anusaya kilesa (latent mental defilements) that are lying at the deepest level of the mind.

(from the Vipassana Newsletter)

Understand what Vipassana is and how it helps us in our day-to-day lives; how it helps us to come out of our misery, the misery of life and death.

How to live a life of peace and harmony? Siddhattha Gotama's full enlightenment enabled him to realize the truth of the way out of suffering: where misery lies, how it starts, and how it can be eradicated.

There were many meditation practices in India during Buddha's lifetime, as there are today. The Bodhisatta Gotama tried them all, but he was not satisfied because he found that he was not fully liberated from misery. Deep-rooted impurities remained. Then he started his own practical research. Through his personal experience and effort he re-discovered this technique of Vipassana, which eradicated all impurities in the mind and made him a fully enlightened person. He did not claim to have discovered Vipassana. He said the path was already there. Dhamma is timeless. A Sammasambuddha rediscovers Vipassana, when it becomes lost to humanity.

There are many techniques that give temporary relief from suffering. When you become miserable you divert your attention to something else. Then you feel that you have come out of your misery, but you are not totally relieved.

If something undesirable has happened, you become agitated. You cannot bear it want to run away from it, divert the mind. You watch a movie, or indulge in other sensual entertainments. You go out drinking, and so on. All this is running away from the difficulty. Escape is no solution to the problem. Instead, the misery is multiplying.

In Buddha's enlightenment he realized that one must face reality. Instead of running away from the problem, one must face it.

The Buddha found that all the types of meditation existing in his day consisted of merely diverting the mind from the prevailing misery to another object. He found that practicing this, actually only a small part of the mind gets diverted. Deep inside one keeps reacting, one keeps generating saṅkhāras (deep-rooted mental conditioning or habit pattern of the mind) of craving, aversion or delusion. One keeps suffering at a deep level of the mind.

To clean the mind at the root level, the object of meditation should not be an imaginary object, it should be reality—reality as it is. One has to work with whatever reality has manifested itself now within, whatever one experiences within the framework of one's own mind-body.

In Vipassana practice, we explore the reality within oneself—the material structure and the mental structure, the combination of which we call "I, me, mine." And "I" generate tremendous attachment to this material and mental structure, and become miserable when things go against the wishes of this "I, me, mine". To practice the Dhamma path that the Sammasambuddha rediscovered, we must observe the truth of mind and matter. This results in wisdom, the wisdom of experienced truth and without doubts.

Wisdom is of three types: 1) wisdom gained by listening to others, 2) that gained by intellectual analysis, and 3) wisdom developed from direct, personal experience. Before Buddha, and even at the time of Buddha, there were teachers who were teaching morality, concentration, and who were also talking about wisdom. But this wisdom was only received or intellectual wisdom. It was not wisdom from personal experience. Playing intellectual or devotional games does not help. Experience the truth, develop wisdom from  personal experience. This leads to the ultimate reality, and real happiness.

Vipassana is personally experienced wisdom. Listening to discourses and reading scriptures has limited and temporary impact on the mind. This is not direct experience of wisdom.

The entire field of mind and matter - the six senses and their respective objects - have the basic characteristic of anicca (impermanence). Buddha wanted us to experience this reality within ourselves. To explore the truth within the framework of the body, he designated two fields. One is the material structure: the corporeal physical structure. The other is the mental structure, the four factors of the mind: 1) consciousness; 2) perception; 3) the part of the mind that feels sensation; 4) and the part of the mind that reacts. So to explore both fields he gave us kāyānupassanā (observation of the body) and cittānupassanā (observation of the mind).

Know from your experience how mind and matter interact each other. To believe that one understands mind and matter, without having directly experienced it, leads to delusion. It is only direct experience that leads to the actual reality of mind and matter. This is Vipassana.

The Dhamma Hall of the Global Pagoda that enables thousands to benefit from practicing Vipassana. The world's largest stone dome without any supporting pillars can seat over 8,000 Vipassana students in group meditation.
(Photograph from Afternoon Dispatch and Courier, June, 2011)

In brief, understand how we practice Vipassana during a residential 10-day course. We start with Anapana, awareness of respiration—natural respiration. We don't make it a breathing exercise or regulate the breath as they do in prāṇāyāma. We observe respiration at the entrance of the nostrils.

If a meditator works hard continuously  in a congenial atmosphere without any disturbance, within two or three days some subtle reality on this part of the body will start manifesting itself: some sensations—natural, normal bodily sensations. Maybe heat or cold, throbbing or pulsing or some other sensations.

When one reaches the fourth or fifth day of practice (Vipassana is taught on the fourth day - namely, objectively observing the impermanence of bodily sensations), he or she will find that there are sensations throughout the body, from head to feet. The Vipassana student becomes more clearly aware of the sensations, pleasant or unpleasant. The student observes this bio-chemical reality with equanimity, without reacting with craving or aversion. Just observe objectively, without identifying yourself with the sensations.

By working correctly, by the seventh day or the eighth day, you experience subtler realities. This mind-body structure initially appears to be so solid, you now experience as a free flow of sensations, of subatomic particles. And even these tiniest subatomic particles are not solid. They are mere vibration,  wavelets. The Buddha's words become clear by experience:

Sabbo pajjalito loko, sabbo loko pakampito.

The entire universe is nothing but combustion and vibration.

Vipassana enables experiencing how the entire material world is nothing but vibration.

Vipassana is to move from the gross, apparent truth to the subtlest, ultimate truth, from oḷārika to sukhuma. The apparent truth always creates illusion and confusion in the mind. By dividing and dissecting apparent reality, you will come to the ultimate reality. As you experience the reality of matter to be vibration, you also start experiencing the reality of the mind: viññāṇa (consciousness), saññā (perception), vedanā (sensation) and saṅkhāra (reaction). If you experience them properly with Vipassana, it will become clear how they work. You experience how the mind works.

At the apparent, surface level, it seems that I am reacting with either craving or aversion to the external world, to things happening outside. Vipassana enables realizing the subtler truth: the deepest part of the mind is continuously reacting to sensations, not to anything outside.

The sense organs come in contact with objects outside. A sensation  in the body, either pleasant or unpleasant. And the mind reacts to these sensations with like or dislike. 

Every sensation arises and passes away. Nothing is eternal. When you practice Vipassana you start experiencing this. However unpleasant a sensation may be—look, it arises only to pass away. Pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, the characteristic of impermanence remains the same. You are now experiencing the reality of anicca, impermanence - fundamental truth of the cosmos - and training your mind to remain balanced with impermanence. No depression when the wanted has not happened or is no longer there; no depression when the unwanted is there. 

Only this experience of anicca and equanimity - at the level of sensations - will change the habit pattern of the mind.

 By observing reality as it is, you gradually become free from all your conditioning of craving and aversion.

Western psychologists refer to the "conscious mind" Buddha called this part of the mind the paritta citta (a very small part of the mind). There is a big barrier between the paritta citta and the rest of the mind at deeper levels. The conscious mind does not know what is happening in the unconscious or half-conscious. Vipassana breaks this barrier, taking you from the surface level of the mind to the deepest level of the mind. Vipassana practice exposes the anusaya kilesa (latent defilements) that are lying at the deepest level of the mind.

The so-called "unconscious" mind is not unconscious. It is always conscious of body sensations, and it keeps reacting to them. If they are unpleasant, it reacts with aversion. If they are pleasant, it reacts with craving. This is the habit pattern, the behaviour pattern, of the so-called unconscious at the depth of the mind.

An example: You are in deep sleep. A mosquito bites you and there is an unpleasant sensation. Your conscious mind does not know what has happened. The unconscious knows immediately that there is an unpleasant sensation, and it reacts with aversion. It drives away or kills the mosquito. But still there is an unpleasant sensation, so you scratch, though your conscious mind is in deep sleep. When you wake up, if somebody asks you how many mosquito bites you got during the night, you won't know. Your conscious mind was unaware but the unconscious knew, and it reacted.

Another example: Sitting for about half an hour, some pressure starts somewhere and the unconscious mind reacts: "There is a pressure. I don't like it!" You change your position. The unconscious mind is always in contact with the body sensations. You make a little movement, and then after some time you move again. Just watch somebody sitting for fifteen to twenty minutes. You will find that this person is fidgeting, shifting a little here, a little there. Of course, consciously he does not know what he is doing. This is because he is not aware of the sensations. He does not know that he is reacting with aversion to these sensations. This barrier is ignorance.

Vipassana breaks this ignorance. Then you start experiencing, understanding how sensations arise and how they give rise to craving or aversion. Blind reaction to sensations is the root cause of suffering. Equanimity to sensations changes the habit pattern of the mind, eradicates all impurities in the mind gradually. The whole habit pattern of the mind changes at the deepest level.

Vipassana practice enables freeing the mind from anger, passion, fear, ego, all harmful habit patterns of the mind. Life changes for the better.

Make best use of Vipassana practice.

Be happy, peaceful, be liberated.

Application for Vipassana courses

Experiencing Law of Cause and Effect with Vipassana practice

The Fully Enlightened Sammasambuddha went to the root cause of suffering, at the depth of the mind. He realized that between the external worldly object and mental conditioning of craving is the crucial missing link- vedanā (the impermanent bodily sensation to which the mind is actually reacting).

(from the original Dhamma article Vedanā in Paṭiccasamuppāda, Vipassana Newsletter, Vipassana Research Institute)

Paṭiccasamuppāda, or the Law of Dependent Origination, is fundamental to the teaching of the Buddha. Emphasizing its importance, the Buddha said:

Yo paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passati,
so dhammaṃ passati;
Yo dhammaṃ passati,
so paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passati.¹

One who sees the paṭiccasamuppāda sees the Dhamma.
One who sees the Dhamma sees the paṭiccasamuppāda.

Paṭiccasamuppāda explains that saṃsāra, the process of repeated existences, is perpetuated by a chain of interconnected links of cause and effect; it also reveals the method of breaking this chain and putting an end to the process. The Buddha said:

Taṇhādutiyo puriso,
dīghamaddhāna saṃsaraṃ;
itthabhāvaññathābhāvaṃ,
saṃsāraṃ nātivattati.²

The man with craving as his companion has been flowing in the stream of repeated existences from time immemorial. He comes into being, experiences various types of miseries, dies again and again, and does not put an end to this unbroken process of becoming.

This is saṃsāra, the world of suffering, as explained by the Buddha. He further said:

Etaṃ ādīnavaṃ ñatvā,
taṇhaṃ dukkhassa sambhavaṃ;
Vītataṇho anādāno,
sato bhikkhu paribbaje.³

Rightly understanding the perils of this process,
Fully realizing craving as its cause,
Becoming free from craving and attachment,
One should mindfully lead the life of detachment.
Such an approach, he said, will have great benefit-

Nandī-saṃyojano loko,
vitakkassa vicāraṇaṃ
Taṇhāya vippahānena,
nibbānaṃ iti vuccati.⁴

Pleasure is the binding force in the world.
Rolling thought processes are its ever-changing base.
With the complete eradication of craving,
The state called nibbāna is attained.

These statements made by the Buddha describe the nature of saṃsāra, the state of suffering, and the nature of nibbāna, the state of final emancipation. But how can detachment be developed, and craving eradicated?

This is the practical aspect of Dhamma discovered by Siddhattha Gotama through practice of Vipassana, the realization that made him a Buddha. Out of infinite compassion, he shared this practical knowledge of liberation through the teaching of paṭiccasamuppāda.

According to this law of nature, twelve links form the wheel of becoming (bhava-cakka). They are:

1. avijjā (ignorance)
2. saṇkhāra (volitional activities)
3. viññāṇa (consciousness)
4. nāma-rūpa (mind and matter)
5. saḷāyatana (six sense doors)
6. phassa (contact)
7. vedanā (sensation)
8. taṇhā (craving)
9. upādāna (clinging)
10. bhava (becoming)
11. jāti (birth)
12. jarā-maraṇa (decay and death)

Dependent on avijjā arise saṇkhāra;
dependent on saṇkhāra arises viññāṇa;
dependent on viññāṇa arise nāma-rūpa;
dependent on nāma-rūpa arise saḷāyatana;
dependent on saḷāyatana arises phassa;
dependent on phassa arises vedanā;
dependent on vedanā arises taṇhā;
dependent on taṇhā arises upādāna.

Thus, this vicious circle of misery rolls on. In other words, the origin of each link depends upon the preceding one. As long as this chain of twelve causal relations operates, the wheel of becoming (bhava-cakka) keeps turning, bringing nothing but suffering. This process of cause and effect is called anuloma-paṭiccasamuppāda (direct Law of Dependent Origination).
Every link of anuloma results in dukkha, suffering, as a result of avijjā, which is at the base of every link. Thus, the process of anuloma clarifies the first two Noble Truths: dukkha-sacca, suffering, and samudaya-sacca, its origination and multiplication.

Our task is to emerge from the bhava-cakka of dukkha - through the practice of Vipassana meditation.
Explaining how to do so, the Buddha said that when any one of the links of the chain is broken, the wheel of becoming comes to an end, resulting in the cessation of suffering. This is called paṭiloma-paṭiccasamuppāda (the Law of Dependent Origination in reverse order) which clarifies the third and fourth Noble Truths, nirodha-sacca the cessation of suffering and nirodha-gāminī-paṭipadā-sacca, the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.

How can that be achieved? At which link can the chain be broken? Through deep insight, the Buddha discovered that the crucial link is vedanā. In the anuloma-paṭiccasamuppāda, he says 'Vedanā-paccayā-taṇhā'.

Vedanā is the cause of taṇhā, which gives rise to dukkha. In order to remove the cause of dukkha or taṇhā, one must not allow vedanā to give rise to taṇhā; in other words, one must practice Vipassana meditation at this crucial juncture so that avijjā becomes vijjā or paññā (wisdom). One has to observe vedanā, to experience and to comprehend the truth of its arising and passing away, anicca.

By Vipassana meditation, as one experiences vedanā in the proper way, one comes out of the delusion of nicca-saññā (perception of permanence) by the development of anicca-bodha or anicca-vijjā (the wisdom of impermanence) towards vedanā.

This is practiced by observing with equanimity the arising and passing away of vedanā. With anicca-bodha, the habit pattern of the mind changes. Instead of the earlier pattern of vedanā-paccayā taṇhā, through anicca-vijjā it becomes vedanā-paccayā paññā. As paññā becomes stronger and stronger, naturally saññā, and with it, taṇhā, becomes weaker and weaker.

The process of multiplication of suffering with the base of avijjā then becomes the process of the cessation of suffering, with vijjā as the base. As this process continues, a time comes when there is the complete cessation of vedanā as well as taṇhā-'Vedanā-nirodhā, taṇhā-nirodho.

This state of liberation is a state beyond mind and matter, where both vedanā and saññā cease. One can experience this for a few seconds, minutes, hours, or days when, according to one's own capacity, one becomes established in nirodha-samāpatti by practising Vipassana.

View of Dhamma Pattana Vipassana Centre, from atop the adjacent Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, India. Dhamma Pattana (meaning 'harbour of Dhamma') is one of over 160 Vipassana centres worldwide offering residential Vipassana courses where the Dhamma is shared in purity, without any fee or charges, including for boarding and lodging.

After the period of nirodha-samāpatti, when one comes back to the sensuous field of mind and matter, one again experiences vedanā. But now the whole habit pattern of the mind has changed, and continued practice leads to the stage where one does not generate aversion or craving at all because anusaya and āsava (the deep-rooted mental impurities) are eradicated. In this way, by the breaking of one link-vedanā, the whole process is shattered and the wheel of repeated existence is completely broken.

To progress on the path of Dhamma, one has to work at the level of vedanā because it is at this junction one changes the direction of the wheel of misery.

With vedanā starts the turning of the bhava-cakka, leading (because of avijjā) to vedanā-paccayā taṇhā, which causes suffering. This is the path, which ignorant persons (puthujjana) follow, since they react to vedanā and generate taṇhā.

However, from vedanā, the dhamma-cakka, or the wheel of cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gāminī-paṭipadā) can start to rotate, leading to vedanā-nirodhā, taṇhā-nirodho-the end of craving, as a result of anicca-vijjā or paññā, leading to the cessation of suffering. This is the path which wise persons (sapañña) follow by not reacting to vedanā, because they have developed anicca-bodha by the practice of Vipassana.

Many of the contemporaries of the Buddha held the view that craving causes suffering and that to remove suffering one has to abstain from the objects of craving. But this was only an apparent truth. The Buddha went to the root cause of suffering, at the depth of the mind. He realized that between the external worldly object and mental conditioning of craving is a missing link-vedanā (the impermanent bodily sensation).

Whenever we encounter an object through the five physical senses or the mind, a sensation arises; and based on the sensation, taṇhā arises. If the sensation is pleasant we crave to prolong it, and if it is unpleasant we crave to be rid of it. It is in the chain of Dependent Origination that the Buddha expressed his unique, immeasurably beneficial discovery:

Phassa-paccayā vedanā
Vedanā-paccayā taṇhā.⁵

Dependent on contact, sensation arises.
Dependent on sensation, craving arises.

Therefore, the immediate cause for the arising of craving and suffering is not something outside of us but rather the sensations that occur within us. To free ourselves from suffering we must deal with this inner reality of sensations through Vipassana practice - i.e by maintaining perfect equanimity to sensations, instead of the earlier habit pattern of reacting to them with craving or aversion. This is the practical way to emerge from suffering.

By developing anicca-vijjā (the wisdom of experiencing impermanence at level of sensations) through Vipassana practice, we cut the knots of our misery and experience the true nature of Dhamma. Therefore, vedanā is the cause of our bondage when not properly observed; it is also the means of liberation when properly observed - by experiential understanding of the Dhamma, the law of paṭiccasamuppāda.

May all beings be happy,be peaceful, be liberated from all suffering.

--
Notes: (All references are from VRI edition)
1. Majjhima Nikāya 1.306
2. Suttanipāta 745
3. Ibid. 746
4. Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.1.64
5. Mahāvagga (Vinaya Piṭaka) 1
---------

*Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses

* How to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

* Rare opportunities to earn and share merits in participating in Global Vipassana Pagoda projects

Vipassana and making best use of life - and death

(The following was originally published in the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal and Vipassana Newsletter, as Dhamma article  'What happens at Death' )

To understand what happens at death, let us first understand what death is. Death is like a bend in a continuous river of becoming. It appears that death is the end of a process of becoming, and certainly it may be so in the case of an arahant (a fully liberated being) or a Buddha; but with an ordinary person this flow of becoming continues even after death. Death puts an end to the activities of one life, and the very next moment starts the play of a new life. On the one side is the last moment of this life and on the other side is the first moment of the next life. It is as though the sun rises as soon as it sets with no interval of darkness in between, or as if the moment of death is the end of one chapter in the book of becoming, and another chapter of life begins the very next moment.

Although no simile can convey the exact process, still one might say that this flow of becoming is like a train running on a track. It reaches the station of death and there, slightly decreasing speed for a moment, carries on again with the same speed. It does not stop at the station even for a moment. For one who is not an arahant, the station of death is not a terminus but a junction from where thirty-one different tracks diverge. The train, as soon as it arrives at the station, moves onto one or another of these tracks and continues. This speeding "train of becoming," fuelled by the electricity of the kammic reactions of the past, keeps on running from one station to the next, on one track or the other, a continuous journey that goes on without ceasing.

This changing of "tracks" happens automatically. As the melting of ice into water and the cooling of water to form ice happens according to laws of nature, so the transition from life to life is controlled by set laws of nature. According to these laws, the train not only changes tracks by itself, it also lays the next tracks itself. For this train of becoming the junction of death, where the change of tracks takes place, is of great importance. Here the present life is abandoned (this is called cuti-disappearance, death). The demise of the body takes place, and immediately the next life starts (a process which is called patisandhi - conception or taking up of the next birth). The moment of patisandhi is the result of the moment of death; the moment of death creates the moment of conception. Since every death moment creates the next birth moment, death is not only death, but birth as well. At this junction, life changes into death and death into birth.

Thus every life is a preparation for the next death. If someone is wise, he or she will use this life to the best advantage and prepare for a good death. The best death is the one that is the last, that is not a junction but a terminus: the death of an arahant. Here there will be no track on which the train can run further; but until such a terminus is reached, one can at least ensure that the next death gives rise to a good birth and that the terminus will be reached in due course. It all depends on us, on our own efforts. We are makers of our own future, we create our own welfare or misery as well as our own liberation.

The Global Vipassana Pagoda as it was during construction circa 2003, and as it might be in the year 5500 A.D - in keeping with the universal law of impermanence: everything arises to pass away; nothing is permanent. Vipassana practice enables coping with this truth calmly every moment.

How is it that we are the creators of the tracks that receive the onrushing train of becoming? To answer this we must understand what kamma (action) is. The healthy or unhealthy volition of our mind is kamma. Before performing any action at the mental, vocal, or physical level, whatever wholesome or unwholesome volition arises in the mind is the root of that action. The consciousness arises due to a contact at a sense door, then the sañña (perception and recognition) evaluates the experience, sensations (vedana) arise, then a kammic reaction (sankhara) takes place. These volitional reactions are of various kinds. How strong is the volition? How slow, deep, shallow, heavy or light? According to this the intensity of these reactions will vary. Some are like a line drawn on water, some like a line drawn on sand and some a line on rock. If the volition is wholesome, then the action will be the same and the fruits will be beneficial; and if the volition is unwholesome, then the action will be the same-it will give fruits of misery.

Not all of these reactions result in a new birth. Some are so shallow that they do not give any substantial fruits. Some are a bit heavier but will be used up in this lifetime. They do not carry over into the next life. Others being still heavier continue with the flow of life into the next birth, but they themselves do not give new birth. Nevertheless they can continue to multiply during this life and the next. Many kammas however, are bhava-kammas, or bhava-sankharas, those that give a new birth, a new life. Each one of these bhava-kammas (actions that give rise to the process of becoming) carries a magnetic force that is in tune with the vibrations of a particular plane of existence. The vibrations of a particular bhava-kamma will unite with the vibrations of the bhava-loka (world, plane) that has the same intensity, and the two will attract each other according to the universal laws pertaining to forces of kamma.

As soon as one of these bhava-kammas is generated, this "railway train of becoming" gets attracted to one or the other of the thirty-one tracks at the station of death. Actually these thirty-one tracks are the thirty-one fields of existence. They are the eleven kama lokas (realms of sensuality: the four lower realms of existence, and the seven human and celestial realms); the sixteen rupa-brahma lokas (where fine material body remains), and the four arupa-brahma lokas (non-material realms, where only mind remains).

At the last moment of this life, a specific bhava-sankhara will arise. This sankhara capable of giving a new birth will get connected with the vibrations of the related realm of existence. At the moment of death the whole field of thirty-one realms is open, so it depends on which sankhara arises as to which track the train of existence runs on next. In the same way a train gets shunted onto a new track, the force of the bhava-kamma reaction provides the push to the flow of consciousness into the next existence. For example, the bhava-kamma of anger or malice, being of the nature of heat and agitation, will unite with some lower field of existence. Similarly, one with the nature of mettā (compassionate love), having peaceful and cool vibrations can only unite with some brahma-loka. This is the law of nature, and these laws are so perfectly "computerized" that there is never any flaw in the operation.

At the moment of death, generally, some intense sankhara will arise; it may be either of a wholesome nature or an unwholesome nature. For example, if one has murdered one's father or mother, or perhaps some saintly person, in this lifetime, then the memory of this episode will arise at the moment of death. Likewise if one has done some deep meditation practice, a similar state of mind will arise.

When there is no such dense bhava-kamma to arise, then a comparatively less dense kamma will arise. Whatever memory is awakened will manifest as the kamma. For example, one may remember a wholesome kamma of giving food to a saintly person, or one may remember killing someone. Reflections on such past kammas as these may arise. Otherwise, objects related to the particular kamma may arise. One may see the plate full of food that was offered as dana, or the gun that was used to kill another. These are called the kamma-nimittas (signs).

In another case, a sign or a symbol of the next life may appear. This is called gati-nimitta (departing sign). These nimmitas correspond to whichever bhava-loka the flow is being attracted towards, such as the scene of some celestial world, or perhaps of an animal world. The dying person will often experience one of these signs as a forewarning, just as the train's headlight illuminates the track ahead. The vibrations of these nimittas are identical to the vibrations of the plane of existence of the next birth.

A good Vipassana meditator has the capacity to avoid the tracks leading to the lower realms of existence. He clearly understands the laws of nature, and practises to keep himself ready for death at all times. If he has reached an advanced age, there is all the more reason to remain aware every moment. What preparations are undertaken? One practises Vipassana, remaining equanimous to whatever sensations arise on the body and thereby breaking the habit pattern of reacting to the unpleasant sensations. Thus the mind, which is usually generating new unwholesome sankharas, develops a new habit of remaining equanimous. Very often at the time of death, if there are no very heavy sankharas to arise, habitual reactions occur; and as the new sankhara is being made, an old one from the storehouse might get stirred up onto the surface, gaining in strength as it arises.

At the approach of death, it is very likely that one will experience very unpleasant sensations. Old age, disease and death are dukkha (misery). They produce unpleasant sensations of a grosser type. If one is not skilful in observing these sensations with equanimity, then one will be likely to react with feelings of anger, irritation, maybe malice, which provides an opportunity for a bhava-sankhara of like vibration to arise. However, as in the cases of some well developed meditators, one can work to avoid reacting to these immensely painful sensations by maintaining equanimity at the time of death. Then, even those related bhava-sankharas lying deep in the bhavanga (seat of birth-producing kamma) will not have an opportunity to arise. An ordinary person will usually remain apprehensive, even terror-stricken at the approach of death and thus will give occasion for a fearful bhava-sankhara to surface. In the same way, grief, sorrow, depression, and other feelings may arise at the thought of separation from loved ones, and the related sankhara will come up and dominate the mind.

A Vipassana meditator, by observing all his or her sensations with equanimity, weakens the sankhara and thus does not allow it to arise at the time of death. The real preparation for death is this: developing a habit pattern of repeatedly observing the sensations manifesting in the body and mind with equanimity and with the understanding of anicca.

At the time of death, this strong habit of equanimity will automatically appear and the train of existence will link up with a track on which it will be possible to practise Vipassana in the new life. In this way, one saves oneself from birth in a lower realm and attains one of the higher realms, which is very important because Vipassana cannot be practised in the lower realms.

A meditator who is on the point of death is fortunate to have close relatives or friends nearby who can help maintain a good Dhamma atmosphere, free from lamenting and gloom; people who can practise Vipassana and generate vibrations of mettā, which are most favourable for a peaceful death.

At times a non-meditator will attain a favourable rebirth at the time of death due to the manifestation of wholesome bhava-sankharas such as generosity, morality and other strong wholesome qualities. But the special achievement of an established Vipassana meditator is that he enables himself to attain an existence where he can continue to practise Vipassana. In this way, by slowly decreasing the stock of accumulated bhava-sankharas stored in the bhavanga of his flow of consciousness, one shortens one's journey of becoming and reaches the goal sooner.

One comes into contact with the Dhamma in this life because of great merits one has performed in the past. Make this human life successful by practising Vipassana. Then whenever death comes, it will come with the experience of an equanimous mind, bringing with it well-being for the future.

N.B.: The analogy of a running train changing tracks should not be mistaken for transmigration, as no entity goes from one life to the next. Nothing passes to the next life except the force of the accumulated kamma sankharas.

May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated from all suffering.

---

*Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses

* How to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

* Rare opportunities to earn and share merits in participating in Global Vipassana Pagoda projects

Sangha-dana at Global Vipassana Pagoda

A Sangha-dana has been arranged at Global Vipassana Pagoda on 12 January 2012, Thursday ,at 11 am. About 150 venerable monks from Thailand are coming to India on pilgrimage, and will reach Global Vipassana Pagoda on 11 January 2012 in the evening. Sayagyi U Goenka will be present during the Sangha-dana.

Vipassana meditators wishing to benefit and share merits from taking part in this Sangha-dana may contact: 1). Mrs. Madhuben Savla, Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri, India. Pin Code-422 403, Tel: [91] (02553) 244076; Email: info@giri.dhamma.org 2). Mrs. Amitaben Parekh, Mobile: 098200-76958, Mumbai. Email: info@pattana.dhamma.org

May all venerable monks and nuns reach their final goal of full liberation in this very lifetime.

Sadhu. Sadhu.Sadhu.

---

*Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses

* How to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

* Rare opportunities to earn and share merits in participating in Global Vipassana Pagoda projects

Vipassana and Solving the Mystery of Life

( Original Dhamma article 'The Comprehension of Vedanā, the Sambodhi of the Buddha - by Vipassana Research Institute')

For ages, the seers and sages of India have sought to unveil the central mystery of the world: the question of suffering, so very apparent in life, and how suffering may be ended.

Many seekers, in their quest, developed theories and philosophies, some based on their own experiences of penance or meditation practice, others based merely on speculative thinking. These seekers were intent on knowing what life is. Why do we live? How can the end of suffering be reached? How can decay and death be overcome?

During the Buddha's lifetime, some thinkers believed that if at the end of the present life a man's behaviour was sufficiently excellent, he would be reborn in a higher world than the present. Some samaṇas and brāhmaṇas, not depending on imagination or poetic fancy, were familiar with more refined states of mind, and higher stages of consciousness which they had experienced in various types of meditation practices. They presented their own theories and new concepts.

The states of concentration that these Indian saints attained were not peculiar to one set of religious beliefs, and there were common features to many systems of thought. They could not, however, regard them as 'perfect' in all respects. In the Brahmajāla-sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya we come across some sixty-two such views or diṭṭhi which for the most part deal with the following questions:

(i) The nature of 'self' (attā): is it consciousness, is it eternal?
(ii) Is the world eternal or finite?
(iii) Is life (jīva) or being (sattā) the same as body?
(iv) Does the Tathāgata, the person who has realized the Truth in this life, continue to live after death?

Interest in such matters was so intense in those days that many schools of thought came into existence, some with large following. In another sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya, the Tevijja-sutta, a reference to brahmasahabyatā or 'union with Brahma' occurs. This is the theory which took a wider dimension in the Vedānta of later times.

The ascetic Gotama, on his way to becoming the Sammsambuddha, had himself made a thorough practical investigation of these schools of thought - either undergoing their practices and penances, or meeting with adherents and discussing their views with them. He concluded that these views were unacceptable and could not lead to liberation from all suffering. i.e, leading to total purification of the mind. Hence he called these delusional views ' micchā' (false) and rejected them as not leading to full enlightenment.

A painting depicting an event in the life of Sammasambuddha Gotama, displayed in the Information Gallery of the Global Vipassana Pagoda. These intricate artworks comprise the single largest thematic collection of paintings in the world.

The Buddha said that whatever one had experienced or whatever conclusions these schools of though had arrived at by analytical insight were ultimately based on phassa or contact derived from the six sense organs. He said that as long as one does not truly comprehend the origin (samudaya) and passing away (atthaṇgama), the relishing (assāda) and the danger thereof (ādinava) and the escape (nissaraṇa) from the six spheres of sense contact (phassāyatana), then one cannot transcend this world of birth, decay and death.

Yato kho bhikkhu channaṃ phassāyatanānaṃ samudayaṃ ca atthaṇgamaṃ ca assādaṃ ca ādinavaṃ ca nissaraṇaṃ ca yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ayaṃ imehi sabbāni uttaritaro pajānāti.

The Buddha's contemporaries never realized nissaraṇa, transcendence of the realm of saḷāyatana (the six sense organs) and so remained in the sphere of phassa (contact). As long as they did not truly comprehend phassa or the simultaneous arising of vedanā (sensation), they remained prone to either craving or aversion to these sensations (vedanā).

Not realizing the true nature of vedanā as anicca (impermanent, changing) they could not emerge from the realm of vedanā and comprehend the ultimate truth.

In contrast, the Buddha in his meditation practice of Vipassana passed through the entire sphere of saḷāyatana, and understood that the ultimate truth rests in going beyond it, the ceasing of saḷāyatana, the ceasing of phassa and therefore also the ceasing of vedanā (nirodha).

To reach the stage of nibbāna, he made a strenuous effort to realize the true nature of sensations arising, based on phassa, or contact, essentially rooted in contact, conditioned by contact. In the Pubba-sutta of the Saṃyutta-nikāya, the Buddha emphatically says that before his Enlightenment, this thought occurred to him:

What are the vedanā (sensations)? What is the arising (samudaya) of them? What is the ceasing of them (nirodha)? And what is the way leading to the ceasing of them?

He made a thorough investigation of these questions through the development of insight (Vipassanā) and by his deep meditation he could rightly understand the relishing of sensations (assāda), the danger in them (ādinava) and ultimately how to go beyond them (nissaraṇa).

He thus realized the true nature of vedanā; only then did he proclaim himself to be a Fully Enlightened One (Sammāsambuddha). In the ñāṇa-sutta of the Saṃyutta-nikāya the Buddha says that the knowledge (ñāṇa), the vision (cakkhu), the insight (paññā), the wisdom (vijjā) and the light (āloko) that he attained at the end of his deep practice of Vipassana were none other than the true comprehension of vedanā-their arising, their ceasing and the way leading to their cessation. He had explored the entire sphere of vedanā, and their complete cessation (nirodha). This is the Sambodhi (full enlightenment) that he attained under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya.

It is true that the Buddha discovered the Law of Dependent Origination, Paṭiccasamuppāda, contributing a new dimension to Indian spiritual thought. However, when we approach this fundamental law of nature analytically, we find it is exactly the same as the true comprehension of vedanā, which can arise every moment within ourselves.

It is well known that phassa and vedanā are included in the twelve-fold link of the Paṭiccasamuppāda truth about life. The Buddha realized the basic characteristics of vedanā as anicca (transitory), dukkha (suffering) and anattā (having no substance). He also went beyond the realm of vedanā and experienced the truth - the sublime happiness of nibbāna (nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ).

By transcending the sphere of saḷāyatana, one experiences this stage of nibbāna where all the six sense doors cease functioning. This is the saḷāyatana nirodha. When the sense doors have stopped functioning, there is no possibility of phassa, and there is phassa-nirodha. This stage leads to vedanā-nirodha and thus taṇhā-nirodha. This is the nirodha-gāminī-paṭipadā, and has been very well illustrated in several discourses of the Buddha.

The dukkha-nirodha-gāminī-paṭipadā (path leading to the cessation of suffering) or the majjhima-paṭipadā (Middle Path) that he taught is also described as vedanā-nirodha-gāminī-paṭipadā, or the path leading to the cessation of vedanā (sensations).

The Buddha admonishes the monks that a samaṇa or brāhmaṇa achieves the consummation of his Vipassana practice only when he perfectly realizes the vedanā (impermanent bodily sensations) as they really are, and goes beyond them. Then one reaches the final Dhamma goal.

----
* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses

* How to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

* Rare opportunities to earn and share merits in participating in Global Vipassana Pagoda projects

Rare opportunities to earn and share merits participating in Global Vipassana Pagoda projects

Sabbadanam dhammadanam jinati
(The highest dana is the dana of Dhamma)
- Sammāsambuddha Gotama

The Global Vipassana Pagoda was built with selfless Dhamma service and voluntary donations from people worldwide, for the benefit and happiness of many.

"As with all other kamma, so too the kamma of dāna is good or bad according to the volition of one’s mind... The mind when giving must be free of craving, free of aversion, and free of ignorance... While giving such dāna, we do not consider our own benefit. Instead, we are delighted to see the happiness and welfare of the person receiving our dāna. When we take delight in the happiness of others, our minds become pure and tender and is freed from the limitations of narrow self-interest." 
-  Sayagyi U S.N. Goenka. Right Volition of Dana

Most infinite gratitude to Venerable Webu Sayadaw (1896 - 1977). He strongly exhorted Sayagyi U Ba Khin to teach Vipassana. He thereby enabled countless beings in modern times to benefit from Dhamma, through the visionary, Dhamma service of U Ba Khin's student and representative, Principal Vipassana Teacher Sayagyi U S.N.Goenka.

Infinite gratitude to Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Sayagyi U Goenka for compassionately emphasizing that theory and meditation practice of the Buddha's teachings must go together, and are equally important. Theory without meditation is being lame, in not taking actual steps to purify the mind and walk on the path of Dhamma. And practice without theory is walking blind.

May all beings benefit from the correct practice of Vipassana, and be liberated from all suffering.

Ongoing projects in the Global Vipassana Pagoda:

* Designs on the Pagoda, decorating the canopy, canopy pillar, and Dhamma verses on the Pagoda walls. The Parikrama path will be laid with a special marble from Burma (to ease walking barefoot even on hot days). Estimated cost of completion of these projects: US $260,000; INR 1,25,00,000
* Landscaping the outer areas of the Pagoda, building parks and roads, laying water lines etc. Estimated cost: US$ 530,000, INR 2,50,00,000
*Gong Tower : $25,000, INR 12,50,000
*Cell Pagoda Dome: $80,000, INR 40,00,000
* Two auditoriums: $180,000, INR 90,00,000
* Dhamma Library: $60,000, INR 30,00,000
* Security and Information Centre: $445,000, INR 2,22,50,000
* Maintenance: Estimated cost $900 (Per day) $324,000, INR 1,62,00,000
* Boundary Wall: $335,000, INR 1,67,50,000
* Pagoda Parikrama Flooring: $670,000, INR 3,35,00,000
* Landscaping: $670,000, INR 3,35,00,000
* Estimated Total Funds needed: $3,579,000, INR 17,89,50,000

Corpus Fund for the Global Vipassana Pagoda

The Global Vipassana Foundation has established a Corpus Fund for uninterrupted management of the Vipassana Pagoda, to maintain the Pagoda successfully for centuries without any outside pressure.

This Corpus Fund cannot be utilized by any individual for personal gain. The income from this Fund, deposited in an Indian Government Bank, will be used for maintenance and daily expenditure of this unique Dhamma monument.

How to donate to the Global Vipassana Pagoda

1. Donate Online using Indian or International debit and credit card
2. Donation through Cheque/Draft
   Donation Cheque/Draft favoring “Global Vipassana Foundation” payable at Mumbai can be sent to the following address:
   Kamlesh Vikamsey
   Khimji Kunverji & Co.
   Sunshine Tower, Level 19,
   Senapati Bapat Marg,
   Elphinstone Road,
   Mumbai 400013,
   India
   Tel: +91 22 2439 1111
    
   
3. Donations through Core Banking (within India )
   Donations to “Global Vipassana Foundation” can now be remitted from anywhere in India through any branch of the AXIS BANK LTD. under core banking system.
   Global Vipassana Foundation
   AXIS BANK LTD, MALAD (WEST)
   A/C NO: ‐ 911010032397802
   SWIFT CODE:‐ AXISINBB062,
   IFSC CODE:‐ UTIB0000062,
   MICR CODE:‐ 400211011
   Address:
   SONIMUR APARTMENT, TIMBER ESTATE,
   S.V.ROAD, MALAD (WEST)
   MUMBAI‐ 400064
   
   
4. Donations from Outside India can be remitted through SWIFT transfer to Bank of India
   SWIFT Transfer details are as follows:
   Name of the Bank : J P Morgan Chase Bank
   A/c. No. : 0011407376
   Swift: CHASUS33
   Address :
   New York, US
   Global Vipassana Foundation
   Bank Of India
   Stock Exchange Branch.
   A/C No008610100011250
   Swift Code BKIDINBBBLD
   Address:
   PHIROZE JEEJEEBHOY TOWERS,
   (NEW STOCK EXCHANGE BUILDING) DALAL STREET,
   FORT, Mumbai 400001
   

Copy of communication may please be enclosed to kamlesh@kkc.in.
For donation made through option 3 & 4 Please Inform
Kamlesh Vikamsey
Global Vipassana Foundation
Khimji Kunverji & Co.
Sunshine Tower, Level 19,
Senapati Bapat Marg,
Elphinstone Road,
Mumbai 400013,
INDIA
Tel: +91 22 2439 1111 Or
Email to: Kamlesh@kkc.in
Please inform all relevant details such as Name, Address & Contact Number, so that the receipt of your donation can be sent to you.

  

http://www.globalpagoda.org/donation

----
* Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses
* Dhamma reasons why no fees are charged for Vipassana courses - including for boarding and lodging
* How to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

What is Purpose and Benefits of the Global Vipassana Pagoda?

(Updated and based on the Dhamma article Why the Grand Vipassana Pagoda? Vipassana Newsletter, October 1997)

The Global Vipassana Pagoda has been built to share the benefits of Vipassana - the universal, practical quintessence of the Buddha's teachings. Vipassana practice is to purify the mind and achieve true happiness.

The Global Pagoda is a commemorative symbol of gratitude to my benevolent teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin. He had wished and predicted that Vipassana will again return to India, and from India spread around the world.

Through Vipassana practice and information displays, the Global Pagoda serves to dispel many myths, misconceptions and delusions about the Buddha and the timeless Dhamma teaching of Vipassana.

The historical truth is that the Buddha neither taught ‘Buddhism’ nor converted anyone as ‘Buddhist’. The Buddha taught the universal, practical Dhamma to live a wholesome, happy life.

The Vipassana Research Institute Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD , with the entire teaching of the Buddha and related literature in Pali, contains 146 volumes with 52,602 pages and 7,448,248 words. The word "Buddhism" or "Buddhist" is not found in it.

'Dhamma' is the word used for the teaching of the Buddha, not "Buddhist Dhamma". Prefixes to the word "Dhamma" are qualitative, not sectarian: for eg, saddhamma (true Dhamma), ariyo dhammo (noble Dhamma), dhammo sanātano (eternal Dhamma), and so on.

In the Buddha's lifetime, those who practiced his Dhamma teaching were never called 'Buddhists' . These six words were used to describe them: dhammim, dhammiko, dhammattho, dhammacarim, dhammavihari, dhammanusari.

This word 'Buddhist' may have come into use after India lost Vipassana, the practical essence of the true teaching of the Buddha. Instead. rites and rituals were practiced in the delusion that such blind beliefs were the Buddha's teaching.

The Buddha's true teaching of Vipassana gives immense benefits to all, shattering artificial barriers of caste, race, class and religion. The universal acceptance of Vipassana is proof that the Buddha's teaching is for all, not just to people of any particular sect.

After all, morality, mastery of the mind, purifying the mind and compassion is the essence of all religions. Vipassana is the practical quintessence of all religions.

The Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon (Rangoon)

The Global Vipassana Pagoda is modeled on the Shwedagon as mark of gratitude to Myanmar (Burma), for preserving the teaching of Vipassana in pristine purity for over 2000 years.

The Global Vipassana Pagoda has been built only from voluntary donations and services from thousands worldwide - from all religions - who wish to share the benefits of Vipassana with others. The completion of the Global Pagoda is proof of the gratitude of the many to Dhamma; it reflects the deep wish of the many for the true welfare and happiness of all beings.

Historically, such pagodas are solid. But with innovative techniques of architecture, a vast meditation hall has been built as a hollow stone dome of the pagoda. This enables thousands of Vipassana students to meditate together. One gains strength from combined purity of practice in such group sittings. Mumbai has tens of thousands of Vipassana practitioners, and the number is increasing.

At the top of the stone dome, in its centre, bone relics of the Buddha have been enshrined. These relics of the Buddha were generously donated by the Mahabodhi Society of India and the government of Sri Lanka. Many millions in coming centuries will visit the Global Pagoda to pay respects and gratitude to Dhamma, and the Buddha.

The Buddha said the best way to show one's gratitude and respect to Dhamma and the Buddha is to purify the mind - by sitting cross-legged, upright and ardently practicing insight meditation of Vipassana. The Global Pagoda, as the world's largest meditation hall, provides this practical facility.

The Global Pagoda dome Dhamma hall enables one to benefit from group meditation of Vipassana. It is very inspiring to see many thousands of people from diverse backgrounds and communities silently and ardently practicing together pure scientific path to true happiness.

The adjacent Dhamma Pattana Vipassana centre conducts residential 10-day Vipassana courses for beginners, and longer courses for experienced students. Dhamma Pattana is one of over 160 Vipassana centres worldwide where people can take a deep dip in Dhamma.

The nearby exhibition gallery of the Global Pagoda has traditional paintings depicting important events of the Buddha's life and teachings. Visitors learn that Sakyamuni Gotama Buddha was neither a god, nor an incarnation of any god. nor a prophet of any god. He did not become the Buddha because of divine grace. Perfecting his paramitās (wholesome mental qualities that help to dissolve egoism and thus lead to liberation), by exerting strenuous efforts for innumerable lives, he attained supreme enlightenment in his final life. He was therefore called a sammāsambuddha (one who becomes a Buddha by his own efforts). He was not a mythological being, but a completely historical person.

He was called superhuman because he attained the highest state that can be attained by a human being. For 45 years, until he passed away at age of 80, he compassionately taught the technique of Vipassana to suffering humanity. Having completely eradicated craving, aversion and ignorance, he was called Bhagavā. Having rediscovered and taught nature's laws of kamma (volitional action), the law of cause and effect, he was called a supreme theist. In ancient India of those days, this was the only acceptable definition of theism.

The Buddha said the Dhamma truths, and the practical path of Vipassana to experience the Dhamma truths, already existed before him, and will do so after him. With supreme effort, a sammāsambuddha rediscovers the lost teaching, and shares the teaching out of compassion for all beings.

With the loss of Vipassana, India forgot the universal and practical nature of the Buddha's beneficial teaching. As long as it was "Dhamma", people did not hesitate to practice it. But as soon as it began to be called "Buddhism", the delusion spread,"This is the dhamma for 'Buddhists', not for us".

Fortunately, a few wise people in the neighbouring country of Myanmar preserved this universal technique of Vipassana in its pure form for centuries, from generation to generation. It has arisen again. It has returned to India. It has arisen again in the world.

The Buddha did not establish any religious sect. He never had any intention of converting anyone. He taught the pure Dhamma with only one objective, "bahujana hitāya, bahujana sukhāya" (for the good of many, for the happiness of many) and not merely for the good of any single religious sect.

Gullible people blindly believed that purification of the mind and liberation from the cycle of existence could be attained through meaningless rituals. With infinite mettā and compassion, the Buddha made strong efforts to bring such deluded people to the path of Dhamma, the path of sīla (morality), samādhi (mastery of the mind) and paññā (wisdom).

He taught the way to make pure Dhamma an integral part of daily life through the practice of Vipassana. It enabled people to come out of delusions that merely reading and recitation of their scriptures, or praying to some invisible power, might save them from suffering. Vipassana practice enables one to experience the benefits, the urgency and importance of purifying the mind, how the law and cause and effect is supreme, and how one reaps what one sows.

The question is often asked: Why is this pagoda built in a Burmese and not India architectural style? Why is it a replica of the Swedagon pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon)?

In the ancient pure tradition of India, two important yardsticks measure one's progress in Dhamma: 1) pubbakari, serving others selflessly without expecting anything in return; 2) kataññu katavedi, gratitude.

We have regained this priceless technique of Vipassana, which had been lost for over 2,000 years, from Myanmar (Burma) which preserved it in its pristine purity. About 2,500 years ago, when the pure Dhamma teaching went from here to different countries - primarily through efforts of Emperor Asoka - they expressed their gratitude to India by building stupas in an Indian architectural style. So, when devoted people there saw these stupas, they would remember their gratitude to India.

As centuries passed, the original Indian architectural style was influenced by local architecture, and the stupas of these different countries assumed characteristic differences. We have now received this technique from Myanmar. It is our duty to express our gratitude towards Myanmar.The Global Vipassana Pagoda is a symbol of this gratitude.

For centuries, those seeing this pagoda will remember the debt of gratitude to Myanmar. With the arising of this feeling of gratitude, their Dhamma volition will be strengthened. One becomes more happy, peaceful.

In the over four decades after Vipassana practice is again spreading throughout India and the world, it has completely proved that the original teaching of the Buddha is not meant to be confined within the bounds of a religion. It is universal. People of all religions, races, castes and communities of the world are benefiting.

Vipassana enables the self-realization that one's problems are within. It provides a pure, proven, scientific method to work hard to purify one's mind. One changes oneself for the better, instead of expecting others to change. The purer mind has nothing but compassion and goodwill for all beings.

One can believe with conviction that with the widespread practice of Vipassana, aversion and ill-will between individuals, and sectarian strife between different religions and communities will end. Peace, harmony and goodwill will grow among people of India and around the world.

May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated from all suffering.

-----

Vipassana meditation courses worldwide, course venues, online application for Vipassana courses

* Directions to reach Global Pagoda, Gorai / Borivili, Mumbai

* Benefits of Pure Volition of Dāna