Observing yourself you understand that the mind is made from ideas and they come and go. Trying to find yourself in the thoughts, you can’t, you must fail. It is a failure of the thinker, the control. In the practice of meditation, you only the meditation, the meditator remains.
Through physical sensations on the body. On day four, students shift their attention from their breath to their body. Meditators are guided dhamma ganga howto go through each part of the body without responding to them and become aware of the sensations that were various. And what one finds is all sorts of sensations. Pain, pressure, lightness, heaviness, heat, cold, tingling, vibration, etc..
I have a buddy who had lots of sexual problems because of anxiety! The worries about his life paralyzed him from the waist down. It is a terrible thing, but he began doing things that are great to beat his stress and meditating and studying. You wouldn’t even know he had any sort of stress issue today!
Nobody will tell you it is easy to make this time, but those who have made the sacrifice and have done so will tell you it is well worth it. It makes you more effective, Since you become more relaxed. You can do more. Also, when vipassana meditation you come home youwill not just flop out on the coach and will have more energy. Another side-effect that many have discovered is they need less sleep. Well there is !
BN: Yes, that is the key. This retreat we taught some of the tales and a couple of questions were asked by people about the stories. The questions are longer than the conversation, and most of the questions are about the individual’s individual life. These are more important than the questions about the stories. The stories are a springboard for what the people really need to ask. I talk for about an hour and then we have dialogue for about an hour and a half. People today get to bed about 10 o’clock and then get up at 3:45 a.m.. At 4 o’clock in the morning, meditation is begun by the retreatant.
For the longest time because my initial dhamma ganga, I have found the notion of waking up early and meditating 1 hour in the morning and one hour in the day really attractive. Since I am a freelancer with no big responsibilities like family, children, job, – I really have no excuses! At one point I discovered I was becoming frustrated and angry with myself for not being able to achieve this thing that I know will give me peace and pleasure.
While concentrating on inhaling and exhaling, some people today find themselves to be swinging. If you’ve got a similar experience, just say,’swinging, swinging’. While you are concentrating on it. Regardless of this concentration, if swinging becomes wilder, either lean against a wall or lie on your bed. The swinging will disappear.
All of the wisdom of the universes and beyond is within the mind. All you’ve got to do is calm the mind, then direct it toward paths other than those which all of your life has been traveling until that innate wisdom has a chance.