Insight Meditation
Meditation,
like exercise, comes in different forms, each with its own benefits. The two
main categories are (1) concentration meditations (also called tranquility or Samatha meditations), and (2) insight
meditations (or Vipassana),
which are Anu’s main focus. (See Classes/Workshops for the description of Meditation 101; the class includes both
types of meditations, starting with Samatha
types to improve concentration, then moving to Vipassana).
Meditation
has been part of many spiritual traditions, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim
(Sufi), Hindu and Buddhist.
Insight
meditation, although developed in the 20th Century, is based on the
Buddha's teaching of 2500 years ago, and has now been passed on to millions of
people around the world, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike. The way Anu teaches Vipassana,
it is completely nonsectarian and devoid of religious trappings.
It does
come with a philosophy and ethics, a spiritual world view emphasizing
compassion, interdependency, and the wisdom of purifying one’s motivational
field of greed, hatred and narrow self-interest. Sometimes it’s taught without
reference to this context, but that limits the scope of Vipassana: its
ability to foster a thoroughgoing liberation from the effects of stress – the
stress that’s inherent in the challenge of living a human life. We are
capable of smiling and being happy independent of circumstance. What we need is
a little guidance – and practice.
The beauty
of Vipassana is its simplicity: it is the practice of just being where
we are at – with mindfulness, clarity and equanimity.
Often the
first benefit of meditation is an abrupt awareness of how chaotic and
undisciplined our mind and how driven are our thought processes. We are
addicted to thought.
Vipassana practice allows the controlled release of sensations,
thoughts, images, memories, desires, emotions – the
whole panoply of mental contents – while we are anchored in present-time
reality, watching the parade go by, free of our habitual prejudices. Cravings
and aversions, past and future, bubble up to the surface of the mind and pass
away without provoking a reaction, deconditioning the
mind.
We become
calmer, more aware and less prone to be troubled when we encounter obstacles or
don’t get our way. We get to see our loving nature beneath self-protective
layers of fear and anger, and experience Vipassana practice itself as an
expression of love.
Meditation
is increasingly the subject of scientific study. Fascinating research is being done
using the new brain imaging techniques, showing that Vipassana activates the happiness center of the
cerebral cortex, actually changing the brain in what appears to be a permanent
way. Much of the later research has been encouraged and inspired by the Dalai
Lama, who recently wrote about the use of meditation
as a buffer for destructive impulses. The scientific abstract of the 2003 Davidson study is from the
journal, Psychosomatic Medicine.
At the Massachusetts Medical Center, outcome studies of a Vipassana program for patients with anxiety and panic disorder showed not only a reduction of symptoms after the program and at three months follow-up but also sustained long-term benefits (after three years). Chronic pain patients have shown a remarkable beneficial effect on their symptoms, including less use of pain meds, increased activity levels and decreased mood disturbance as well as a lower degree of suffering. A study of treatment of psoriasis patients showed an increased rate of clearing of skin lesions in those patients who did insight meditation while they were getting their UV light treatments. Stress reduction programs based on Vipassana have lessened patients’ psychological and medical symptoms and enhanced the quality of their lives.
Three
studies presented or published in 2005 confirmed the benefits of
mindfulness-based practice. First, at the American College of Rheumatology
Annual Conference, researchers from the University of Maryland showed that
practice 6 days a week significantly reduced psychological distress, swollen
joints, and sed rate (a measure of inflammation) in a
group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Read the press release of this
presentation here.
Secondly,
at the University of Kentucky, researchers studied people performing a
psychomotor vigilance task at the computer. They did much worse after sleep
deprivation, but after 40 minutes of meditation, even if still sleep-deprived,
their performance bounced back to normal. 40 minutes of sleep also restored
their performance, but only after about an hour of recovery from post-sleep
grogginess. In contrast, the effect of meditation was immediate. Results were
discussed in New
Scientist in November 2005.
In the third study,
brain imaging led by Massachusetts General Hospital showed that Insight
Meditation practitioners had increased gray matter in areas of the brain having
to do with attention and emotional-cognitive integration, compared to a control
group of non-meditators. The recent findings on brain plasticity make it likely
that the meditation is actually causing the brain to respond in those areas
stimulated by the meditation technique. And that meditation thus may counter
the brain atrophy that often takes place with aging.
Much more
could be said about the benefits of Insight Meditation. And scientific research on these benefits are increasing every year. But we
do not need to rationalize our practice as being therapeutic in order to engage
in Vipassana
and to enjoy its life-enhancing properties. It is a spiritual
experience of pure openness and a creative expression of human culture.
Want more
on Vipassana meditation? These annotated links will keep you busy for decades!