Theory, Techniques, Research

Before incorporating meditation into my life, I needed to determine which types of meditation I wanted to focus on. I also sought to understand why meditation is an effective method for achieving my goals of peace, as well as how to practice it effectively. In the following sections, I discuss various types of meditation, key findings from current research on meditation's effects on the brain, and provide a guide to the practice of my chosen form of meditation.

Water Over Rocks. Photograph by Madelyn Swelstad.

Types of Meditation

It can often be difficult to differentiate types of meditation into rigidly defined categories. Overlap among the themes, goals, and methodologies among different styles should take precedence over their discrepancies. However, their unifying qualities may be best observed through a study of their differences. Many of the differentiated "types" of meditation are essentially highlighting specific aspects of general meditation practices. For instance, while many meditation techniques involve noticing bodily sensations, body scanning meditation places its primary emphasis here. Below is handful of the common meditation styles briefly detailed.

Focused Attention

Also known as concentration meditation, simply as focus meditation, or as samatha in Pali (an ancient Indian language), this style aims to develop one's capacity to remain vigilantly focused despite distractions. It is practiced by continually returning one's focus on the chosen object of meditation every time attention is lost. The most common focal point is the breath, such that the meditator notices the in and out cycles of breath or the sensation of breathing. However, the object of focus could be anything including a mantra, the counting of mala beads, or bodily sensations. The goal is to cultivate internally generated focus, as opposed to a guided meditation where something external--a voice--causes focus. Rather than focusing on an object harboring significance of its own, this meditation cultivates focus, "focusing for its own sake." With practice, focused attention meditation dampens reactivity and increases general ability to focus. Focus is very important to all styles of meditation, as it is difficult to become continuously aware if one is unable to focus. (Focused Attention Meditation)

Mindfulness

Mindfulness meditation, also known as open monitoring, known as sati in Pali, is the most popularly researched style of meditation in the West. To practice, the meditator becomes witness to their emotions, thoughts, and sensations, observing them without following them or becoming carried away by them, cultivating attentiveness to the present experience without focusing on anything specific. Sometimes one will focus on an object (e.g. breath) to help maintain focus, whilst still noticing any thoughts that come up. The meditator is instructed that if any pain or itch were to arise, not to try to remedy it but to watch the cycle of its rise and fall. Through this, the intensity of pain is not necessarily reduced but becomes less bothersome. The goal is not to erase pain but to transform one's experience of it. This practice allows meditators to become less emotionally reactive to the sensations of the mind and body, preventing them from spiraling into emotional distress. (“Mindfulness Meditation”)

Vipassana

Translated form Pali, Vipassana means "to see things as they really are" or simply "insight." Thus vipassana is also referred to as insight meditation. While there are multiple schools of thought with respect to vipassana, this style is akin to mindfulness meditation with the additional goal of becoming free from one's own distorted perception of reality. This allows one to clearly see the nature of existence and suffering, its causes and remedies. While not always referred to by the name "vipassana," this style of observing the mind to gain insight is one of the oldest forms of meditation and is believed to have been used by the Buddha to gain enlightenment around 500 BCE (Chow). Vipassana seeks to gain understanding into the nature of the mind and reality in pursuit of finding liberation from suffering. Some of the key insights that are cultivated include: understanding impermanence, foregoing attachments, unifying all aspects of the self, and unifying the self with the world. These understandings are discovered through directed mindfulness which helps develop one's ability to witness or observe life and oneself--and therefore these truths--with more awareness. (Edwards)

Loving Kindness

Also known as mettā in Pali, this practice develops a deeper altruistic compassion towards the self and others. To practice, the meditator begins thinking benevolently towards the self and repeats the mantra, "May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease." They then move to thinking of close loved ones, repeating, "May you be safe. . ." The meditator then thinks of those who they feel neutrally about, they move to enemies, and finally the meditator wishes this kindness for all beings. The purpose of this practice is to place oneself in the shoes of another, to become aware of their needs, and to gain a compassionate desire to alleviate their suffering and protect them from their own destructive behavior. The meditator may find themselves becoming less well defined, less permanent, or fixed. Overall, the practice increases the acceptance of oneself and others. (Staff)

Mantra

Also known as transcendental meditation, mantra meditation is characterized by the repetition of a mantra, which is a word, phrase, or sound that aids in the task of focusing. The mantra can be spoken aloud or within one's mind. The most popular mantra is the syllable "om," which represents the universal consciousness and existence. (Mendel and Mindworks Team, “What Is Mantra Meditation? - Match Your Intention.”)

Zen

Zen, like most Buddhist traditions, aims to cultivate a deeper understanding of reality. While relaxation is often a byproduct, it is not the primary goal. Zen utilizes three main techniques to understand reality: focused breath meditation, open monitoring, and intensive group meditation (i.e. meditation retreat, discussed later). Zen sometimes guides students through the use of koans, spiritual riddles that point to the nature of reality. (Mendel and Mindworks Team, "What is Zen Meditation? Benefits & Techniques")

Body Scanning

Also known as progressive relaxation, the process of body scanning seeks to relieve stress, relieve tension, and deeply relax through increased bodily awareness. The process may involve slowly tightening and releasing body parts from one end of the body to the other, or simply relaxing these muscle groups from head to toe. (“Body Scan Meditation”)

Movement

Movement meditation involves meditation while the participant is moving mindfully and with awareness. They notice sensations internally and externally of the body and can be helpful for individuals who struggle to sit still in meditation.

Examples include:

Yoga
Walking meditation
Tai chi

(Flarey)

Death Awareness

Also known in the Buddhist tradition as maranasati, meditation on death is a process of remembering death and its ability to strike at any moment. In this process, the meditation aims to liberate the individual from fear of death through the confrontation of it while simultaneously nurturing an urgency to take action. In practice, one concentrates on the idea of death and may observe the decomposition of corpses. The Buddhist equivalent of "YOLO."(Bond)

A Few More Types . . .

Some of the Most Common Types . . .

Why Meditate?

Shifts in Neurochemistry

A meta analysis performed by Ricard et al. synthesized a body of data collected from various studies on focused attention, mindfulness, and loving-kindness meditation. It uncovered commonalities that may occur among the previous section's listed types of meditation and generalized how these meditation practices could impact an individual. Before diving into the benefits of meditation, let's first become clear on what exactly we are defining as the process of meditation.

River Bank. Photograph by Madelyn Swelstad.

Neurological Process of Meditation in 4 Phases

Mind Wandering

mind is unfocused and passive

Distraction Awareness

refocusing attention to the object of meditation (e.g. breath, bodily sensations)

Sustaining Focus

attention is maintained

Reorientation of Awareness

attention is now focused on the object of meditation

The Brain During Meditation

During meditation, the brain cycles through four phases of function that underpin the process of continually bringing one's attention back to the object of meditation. Beginning from a non-meditative state, the brain is in the mind wandering phase. During this phase, the brain's default mode network (DMN) is active. (Ricard et al.) This region of the mind is most notably active when the mind is not focused but in wakeful rest, often participating in self referential processing where the individual is processing information about the world in relation to oneself. This region is also active during tasks that recall the past, imagine the future, and think of others and is active around 50% of the time in our awake life. High levels of activity in the DMN is associated with lower levels of happiness, anxiety disorders, attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Alzheimer's Disease. (Brewer et al.)

When the meditator recognizes their mind has wandered from their object of focus, this recognition constitutes the distraction awareness phase, activating the meditator's salience network. The salience network acts as a mediator, controlling the switching between the default mode network that handles internal processing and the central executive network that controls external processing. (Ricard et al.) A healthy mind will have only one of these networks active at a given time, so the salience network must listen for external stimuli and decide which of the other two networks will react to this new information and when to switch to from a chosen network to the other. The salience network decides how much pain, reward, emotion, and motivation are “heard” by the brain. In other words, it acts as a filter, determining wether or not a stimuli receives attention. (Crawford, The Salience Network)

Once attention is shifted into the central executive network, also known as the frontoparietal network (FPN), the meditator has successfully entered the reorientation of awareness phase. (Ricard et al.) This network manages many high level functions including attention, problem solving, decision making, manipulation of information in working memory, and is involved in goal directed behavior. This behavior can be described as the brain actively reacting in accordance with reward or punishment and is antithesis to reflexive or habitual behavior. This stage in meditation is marked by disengaging from distraction and refocusing on breath. (Lewis Crawford, The Central Executive Network (CEN))

While the meditator's mind remains focused on their object of meditation, they are in a state of maintaining focus. This is characterized by sustained activity in the frontoparietal network. (Ricard et al.)

The Benefits of Meditation

The analysis performed on this process of meditation (central to the previously discussed types of meditation) analyzed various neurological differences during and outside of meditation between expert and novice meditators. In general, meditation induces neuroplasticity, the idea that the adult brain is able to change itself. This includes the idea that adult brains are able to form new neural connections, in the case of meditation, strengthen neural pathways associated with attention, emotional regulation, compassion, and other functions in the brain. Additionally, neuroplasticity encompasses neurochemical changes, in meditation, this can mean increased levels of dopamine or serotonin, both neurotransmitters that regulate feelings of happiness. Meditation was shown to increase the volume or activity in regions of the brain that process attention, sensory information, and bodily sensations, as well as decrease volume or activity in regions that are associated with stress, such as the amygdala. It was also shown to increase one's ability to focus on tasks. More specific to the three types of meditation studied explicitly, focused attention was shown to best increase an individual's ability to sustain focus. Mindfulness meditation was shown to best reduce anxiety and one's ability to reduce emotional response to pain. Loving-kindness was best shown to increase brain activity in empathy and emotional regulation related regions. Overall, these findings affirm the discoveries that meditation may be effective in treating depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping, and chronic pain, as well as in helping an individual cultivate a sense of overall well-being. (Ricard et al.)

My Chosen Style

While the scientific findings indicate that any of these styles of meditation are likely to yield a wide variety of benefits, for this project I have chosen to focus (no pun intended) on the vipassana style of meditation. Vipassana combines the contemplation of fundamental Buddhist insights with the practice of mindfulness meditation, helping individuals free themselves from attachments and aversions. In some ways, I chose this style because I find it to be a combination of many of the previously mentioned styles of meditation. With long periods of pointed focus, most meditation styles, including vipassana, are inevitably founded upon concentration meditation. Vipassana, in particular, is also frequently accompanied by supplemental meditations like loving-kindness, death, mantra, and/or movement meditations. To add to the mindfulness focused vipassana, I will begin my sessions of formal meditation with a brief (e.g. 5 of the 25 minutes of a session) period of loving-kindness meditation leading into a mindfulness meditation.

I have chosen vipassana because it not only allows me to explore the benefits generally outlined in mindfulness meditation and related styles, but it additionally allows me to explore some of the insights deemed "liberating" by the Buddhists. While vipassana originates from and is closely related to Buddhism, vipassana focuses more on the practice of mindfulness meditation and insight related to that meditation. On the contrary, Buddhism additionally encompasses many practices, beliefs, and rituals apart from meditation. As noted in the article "What Is Vipassana?," "Vipassana meditation as a path to mental liberation is accessible to everyone, regardless of background or religious beliefs." While some Buddhists recognize it is unnecessary as a Buddhist to adopt the ritualistic or mystical component of Buddhism in order to reap the desired benefits of the religion (i.e. meditation), I prefer to clearly distinguish my practice as secular, thus studying vipassana rather than Buddhism. I have chosen to study vipassana as it remains separated from religion, while its insights are derived from Buddhism's philosophical teachings.

In all, vipassana attempts to ameliorate our relationship to a variety of metaphysically challenging topics that I am interested in gaining more perspective or intuition on. It studies the ability to let things be as they are without expectation, attachment, or resistance. It helps one develop their internal witness, or observer, to life and oneself. It aims to open one to accepting dualities of persona and shadow, ego and body, and individual and environment. It teaches one to generate a deeper sense of wholeness, integrating the internal self with the external world. I have chosen to study vipassana because it is a neurologically backed, experiential way to explore the nature of reality and one's mind.

Daisy on Gravel. Photograph by Madelyn Swelstad.

Vipassana Overview

Vipassana is comprised of multiple parts. It encompasses both a formal meditation where the meditator participates in solely the activity of meditating, and unlike some forms of meditation, vipassana also provides instructions for how one should act in their general daily life, that is, informal meditation. Vipassana also encourages attending a long meditation retreat where the individual participates in intensive, continuous periods of meditation. To reach enlightenment, it is advised that one engaging in the vipassana lifestyle should meditate for an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening, practice an hour with others once a week, attend a ten-day silent retreat once a year, and practice mindfulness throughout the day ("Guidelines For Practicing Vipassana Meditation"). However, enlightenment is not the goal for everyone, many individuals choose to use the practice on a smaller scale. For this project, I will practice formal meditation for thirty minutes every morning, I will attend a ten-day silent retreat in Thailand, and I will practice mindfulness (informal meditation) throughout the day.

Vipassana Table of Contents

What Counts as Insight

Back to Where it All Began

What It All Means

This is a paragraph area where you can add your own text. Just click “Edit Text” or double click here to add your own content and make changes to the font. It's a great place to tell a story about your business and let users know more about you.

Formal Meditation

While there are many ways to practice Vipassana (the Buddha taught sitting, standing, walking, and laying postures), the following outlines a traditional sitting formal meditation.

Set a timer. When first starting, this can be anything, even one to five minutes. As this becomes more comfortable, slowly increase time.
Find a comfortable seat. Do not be deceived, this can be a tricky step, requiring trial and error of various positions and props--chair, block, cushion, pillow--in order to reduce pain or leg numbness (speaking from experience).
Straighten the back while not becoming too rigid. Maintaining good posture, especially without back support, if able, helps keep the mind alert.
Drop the chin slightly down and either gaze gently downward without focusing on what appears before your eyes or close your eyes.
Feel the breath, noticing the sensation of breath flowing in and out the nostrils, the rising and falling of belly, and the movement of the chest, to name a few. You do not need to change your breath in any way, like breathing more deeply, but rather observe it in its natural state.
Sometimes it can be helpful to mentally name each in and out movement of the breath, labeling them (with a mantra) "in" and "out" or "rising" and "falling."
Notice when the mind wanders from the breath. When this happens, gently bring your attention back without judgment or expectation. This will happen frequently. Practice observing these thoughts, feelings, and sensations without reacting to them and without getting sucked into changing or interacting with them. The goal is not to eliminate thinking but to observe it.
When the timer goes off, gently open your eyes, noticing the environment, your body, emotions, and thoughts, maintaining an awareness throughout your day.

Adapted from “Getting Started with Mindfulness”

Spider Web Window. Photograph by Madelyn Swelstad.

Vipassana Retreat

In addition to daily formal meditation and informal mindfulness, vipassana practice suggests a yearly ten-day silent meditation retreat. The retreat includes a rigorous schedule with around eight hours of sitting meditation, standing or walking meditation, and yoga meditation. There can be guided or unguided meditations and lectures detailing the practice of meditation. The retreats prohibit phones, books, journaling, and talking, all to limit distractions, emphasize continuous presence in each moment, and nurture uninterrupted introspection. Vipassana retreat deepens one's experience of life and meditation by allowing them an intensive experience of practice.

Screenshot 2024-07-15 at 11.35.21 AM.png

Retreat schedule from Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage

Exploring Insight

The Eightfold Path

Wisdom

Morality

Meditative Concentration

Right view
Right resolve
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration

{

these parts are the "meditation"

this part is the "insight"

}

these parts are important to prepare and develop the mind for meditation

this is why we meditate

How exactly does vipassana differ from mindfulness meditation? It holds more tightly to the Buddhist teaching of the Eightfold Path. We will now dive deeper into this teaching, understanding what insight meditation means by "insight," and how meditation fits into the larger framework of vipassana and the Eightfold Path.

While there are many insights Buddhism teaches, enlightenment or liberation from suffering is viewed as the ultimate insight, with all other insights or teachings helping one to realize this. The Eightfold Path, one of the foundations of Buddhism, outlines this path of insights that lead one to enlightenment. The insights gained through this path help one overcome the illusion of the independently existing self, the illusion of permanence, and the pain brought by these illusions. This path is not meant as steps in an order, rather tenets that create an environment suited for enlightenment. They are not intended as commands but a method for practicing self-discovery, for practicing insight. (Namchak, “Noble Eightfold Path | Namchak Community | Tibetan Buddhism”)

The Eightfold Path can be further broken down and categorized as the Three Higher Teachings. The first of these can be described as morality, discipline, ethics, virtue, or sīla. It is a foundational practice that creates an environment of greater simplicity and clarity of mind, laying the groundwork for happier states of mind, and increasing one's time for meditation. Meditation, meditative concentration, or sati is the method used for transforming the mind into even greater states of simplicity, that generate wisdom. Wisdom is the insight that simplifies the mind, allowing one to see what should be abandoned and what should be pursued. Morality creates more room for meditation, meditation allows one to develop wisdom, and wisdom creates more drive for morality. This cycle is the Threefold Training or the Three Higher Teachings. (Namchak, “Noble Eightfold Path | Namchak Community | Tibetan Buddhism”)

The word "right" is used in each of the eight principles of the Eightfold Path. It can also be defined as skillful, balanced, best, wise, or thorough. Additionally, some of the principles have different translations, thus differences in naming will be marked.

Nirvana/Nibbana: though variation exists between teachings, this is the extinguishing of craving/suffering and the cessation of the cycle of rebirth (samsara); liberation from suffering, blissful being

Enlightenment: while at times used interchangeably with Nirvana, this is the broader concept spanning multiple religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Western thought), meaning profound realization/understanding about the true nature of reality. In Buddhism, it is the process or state of gaining profound realization (insight) that leads to the attainment of nirvana.

(“Enlightenment and Nirvana”)

Morality

The Three Higher Teachings

Meditation

Wisdom

What Counts as Insight?

Wisdom--The First of the Three Higher Teachings

With a practice entitled "insight" meditation, it naturally begs the question, what are the insights one is seeking in this practice? Insight meditation places an emphasis on not just meditating, but meditating on the nature of one's own mind and of reality in the pursuit of greater freedom from suffering. The first two tenets of the Eightfold Path detail the insights (wisdom) one aims to realize experientially through meditation. Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, wrote, "Those who understand the mind reach enlightenment with minimal effort."

Right view, understanding

Having the right view means seeing the world as it really is through the lens of the Four Noble Truths and the Three Marks of Existence (suffering or dissatisfaction, impermanence, interconnectedness). From a more religious standpoint, right view also includes karma and rebirth. These concepts of rebirth or karma can be contentious for some, appearing too mystical, Buddhists often believe however, that these concepts should be adopted if they are useful for an individual and should otherwise be disregarded. "If you find certain things in Buddhism that are useful to you – take them. If there are others you find weird – leave them. The objective is not to get people to join some sort of club. It is to offer tools to be happier." (“Can You Be a Buddhist If You Don’t Believe in Karma and Reincarnation?”)

Right view essentially states that for liberation from pain, one must understand the nature of their pain. Understanding the Four Noble Truths means that one understands the nature of suffering and its antidote. The Three Marks of Existence describe the characteristics of life and everything found in it; the existence of one of these characteristics leads to the existence of the others. Right view details that one can only be free from suffering once they have fully understood these fundamental concepts through direct experience in meditation. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

The Four Noble Truths

The truth of suffering (dukkha): life involves both obnoxious and subtle forms of suffering, dissatisfaction, and discontentment; we do not find any ultimate happiness or lasting satisfaction with anything we experience
The truth of the origin of suffering: the cause of suffering is craving, attachment, and aversion to reality; the cause of suffering is our mistaken belief that the impermanent pleasures of the world will bring us lasting happiness; we also suffer because of the belief that we are fundamentally separate from others and the rest of reality, causing us to falsely believe we are superior and more deserving or inferior and less deserving
The truth of the cessation of suffering: through the cessation of craving, we can end our suffering; since the mind is the reason we suffer, we can train our mind such that we no longer suffer, a state known as nirvana or enlightenment
The truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering: the way to end suffering is adherence to the Noble Eightfold Path, living ethically, mindfully, and generating wisdom

(Conway, “What Are Buddhism’s 4 Noble Truths?”)

Anicca: Impermanence

Everything disintegrates. Our human tendency is to cling to pleasant things and push away unpleasant ones. Because everything in life is impermanent, this clinging and aversion inevitably leads to unnecessary suffering. What we cherish will eventually leave, and what we wish to avoid will eventually become ours. (Thera et al.)

Meditation is essential for understanding impermanence, as it allows us to directly observe the passing nature of thoughts, sensations, and feelings. For instance, during meditation, we are instructed to simply observe pain or an itch without trying to remedy it. By observing the discomfort, we can watch it arise and fall away on its own. (Thera et al.)

Clinging to a changing reality will lead to suffering. Denying this reality brings suffering, while accepting it guides us to peace.

Suffering

The Three Marks of Existence

No Self

Impermanence

Dukkha: Suffering, Unsatisfactoriness, Stress

In life, we naturally encounter discomfort. Dukkha is our inherent aversion to these unpleasant experiences and our inability to find freedom from them. Lasting satisfaction cannot be found outside of enlightenment. While pleasant experiences may not be traditionally described as "suffering," they still fall under the umbrella of dukkha because they do not provide enduring happiness. When these pleasant experiences end, their absence often brings pain. Thus, both unpleasant and pleasant experiences are forms of dukkha. (Dukkha)

Enlightenment does not mean avoiding pleasant experiences but rather enjoying them fully and being able to let them go without attachment when they cease. Additionally, we struggle with constant effort to maintain a permanent sense of self, despite our inherently transient nature, thus this too brings dukkha. Dukkha is the pain of impermanence, the perpetual pain of wanting. (Dukkha)

Anatta: "Not Self," Interconnectedness

It is often misunderstood that the Buddha said there is "no self." Instead, he remarked that contemplating the existence or non-existence of a self is unhelpful in one's journey toward enlightenment. The concept of "not self" means that no being has a permanent, separate self, often described as a soul. Everything, including our "self," is an aggregate of causes and effects. The boundary between an independent, self-sufficient self and the outside world is not distinct; we are ever-changing processes. We tend to over-identify with faculties we cannot fully control and with experiences that are only temporary. This misidentification with transient thoughts, feelings, sensations, and situations causes dukkha. The teaching of "not self" advises us to cease identifying with any temporary phenomenon, recognizing that the self is a conglomeration of many things. (Hoang)

Rebirth, reincarnation (samsara): the Buddhist belief that an individual's actions in a past life determine the nature and quality of their rebirth into a new life. This cycle of rebirth and its resulting life circumstances are shaped by the karma accumulated through one's actions in previous lives and can only be escaped through nirvana. (Conway, “The Significance of Reincarnation (The Buddhist Path)”)

Karma: Simply, this is the Eastern idea that your good or bad actions will have good or bad consequences to you. (Namchak, “What Is Karma in Buddhism?”)

Right resolve, intention, aspiration, motivation

The right resolve, or right motivation, is a passionate desire to be freed from suffering and maintain committed motivation to seek freedom. It is the understanding that nothing in the realm of cause and affect (i.e. our typical daily lives) can result in lasting happiness. Right resolve directs desire towards peace and away from worldly pleasures, bringing one towards non-attachment of the world. This desire for liberation originates with compassion for all of life, beginning with the self and expanding to encompass the desire to free all life from the cycle of suffering. For some, this tenet is taken to the extreme, involving the renouncement of worldly life and the commitment to the ascetic life of a monk. Right resolve is practicing trust and commitment to the path. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

How to Act

Right speech

This is the renouncement of speaking in ways that are harmful, divisive, or untruthful. Speaking should aid thoughtful communication and be comprised of carefully selected words, promoting connection. (Namchak, “Noble Eightfold Path | Namchak Community | Tibetan Buddhism”)

Right action

Right action refers to acting in a ways that actively support life, generosity, and respect. It encompasses the Five Precepts:

Refrain from taking life or harming sentient beings
Refrain from theft
Refrain form sexual misconduct (abstinence for monks)
Refrain from lying and malicious speech
Refrain from intoxicants

(Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

Right livelihood

This principle means engaging in work that is harmonious with the ethical principles of Buddhism and avoiding professions that involve harm or dishonesty. Examples of unethical professions includes engaging in the sale of weapons, alcohol, meat, and slavery, however modern examples may include some branches of social media engineering, marketing, law, or business. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

While often not the most popularly discussed of the Three Higher Teachings, ethics still plays a role in vipassana. On retreats, the Five Precepts (outlined in the following section) are specifically taught as an example of the ways ethics remains an important practice for vipassana. Maintaining this code of ethics serves not only to create a more peaceful external environment for oneself and others, but serves to clear the mind of distractions to meditation. After all, is it not more challenging to be mindful when one must maintain lies, is filled with guilt, or is drunk?

Ethics--The Second of the Three Higher Teachings

Back to Where It All Began

Meditation--The Third of the Three Higher Teachings

Meditation is the piece that differentiates vipassana from other forms of personal development often seen in the West. While self help tells the individual what to do to improve their life, vipassana additionally teaches the individual how to train their mind to actually do this. Self help often tells one what to think, where meditation teaches one how to experience this insight for themself, sparking an understanding so profound that it begins to transform their perception of reality.

Right effort

On a journey towards enlightenment, one must abstain from harmful behaviors and cultivate beneficial behaviors. This includes generally nurturing wholesome thoughts and qualities. Right effort recognizes that some behaviors will help you towards liberation, while others will pull you away. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”) This principle of right effort may feel similar to modern personal development practices in the West.

This tenet also helps shed more light on the place for mindfulness. A reoccurring theme of confusion among Western meditators is understanding when to simply notice what is happening and when to take action. Having right mindfulness (detailed more below) does not mean that one only ever notices negative behaviors, never doing anything to fix them. Rather one must balance both noticing negative behaviors and doing the work to nurture better ones. Where mindfulness places the emphasis on noticing the world without needing to change it, right effort acknowledges the need to make changes to one's own behavior when appropriate. The challenge is in the balance between these two. In my understanding, the Western world places too much emphasis on changing things and not enough on being mindful of them.

Buddhist texts additionally describe here the common obstacles to meditation (tamed with right effort) as the Five Hinderances:

The Five Hinderances (Veils)

Desire: Desire is the seeking of pleasure through the five senses or through the chasing of pleasant thoughts. It is characterized by a sense of lack, attachment, or discontentment. Conversely, desire is also what brings us to meditation and keeps us alert. The antidote to desire as it pulls us away from our object of meditation is the remembrance that the only true way to contentment is a peaceful mind.
Aversion: Aversion encapsulates feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred, frustration, annoyance, and self-criticism. Conversely, aversion can also help us set boundaries.
Restlessness: Restlessness is the quality of too much energy, resulting in fidgeting. We can be moved closer to a state of clam by focusing on our exhale or paying attention to the ways in which we are already calm.
Drowsiness: Drowsiness can appear as too little energy, a literal inability to stay awake but also sometimes a subtler form, half hearted action with little effort or concentration. Too little energy can be remedied with opening the eyes, sitting up straighter, meditating in a cooler place, or practicing walking or standing meditation.
Doubt: Doubt can surface in many forms, doubt about the teachings, oneself, or one's own abilities. It often encapsulates the reason that people fail to keep up with consistent practicing. The antidote to doubt is to simply keep practicing, letting the results speak for themselves.

(“The Five Hindrances”)

wheel-of-dharma-transparent-5a2105677723

Dharma Wheel Rotating. Graphic by Wikimedia Commons contributors.

Dharma Wheel (particularly with eight spokes): symbolic representation of the Noble Eightfold Path; each of the eight spokes supports the turning of the wheel, while no one comes first (“What the Dharmachakra (or Dharma Wheel) Represents to Buddhists”).

Dharma: the teachings of Buddhism; the nature of reality as taught by an enlightened person; the way to freedom from suffering (“What Is Dharma in Buddhism?”)

Right mindfulness

This is the precept that most explicitly refers to meditation. It is the precept that has received the most attention from non-Buddhist sources due to meditation's relatively foreign nature to most of the Western world in combination with its promising clinical results. It is also the tenet that talks of general mindfulness (informal meditation), rather than a purely formal practice abstracted from every day life.

Right mindfulness is observing present sensations, thoughts, and emotions with non-judgemental awareness. It forms the foundation of meditation. This mindfulness allows one to observe reality past one's plentiful delusions, witnessing the impermanence and interconnected nature of thoughts, emotions, sensations, and the external world. It allows us to understand from an experiential perspective the wisdom taught in this practice.

This is the step that helps one actually see clearly enough to notice when one is engaging in negative habits, and stopping them through this awareness. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

For Vipassana, the differences in the application of mindfulness are divided between prominent teachers U Ba Khin and Mahasi Sayadaw. U Ba Khin advocated developing concentration through breathing meditation before being able to succeed in mindfulness meditation. Once concentration is developed, one can observe the insights of their mind. In contrast, Sayadaw believed that mindfulness and concentration could be cultivated simultaneously, particularly by mentally labeling thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise. (“What Is Vipassana?”)

Right concentration, samādhi, unification of the mind

Concentration and mindfulness are interconnected but not the same. While mindfulness refers to the mind's ability to watch itself, samādhi refers to the mind's ability to focus its attention on one object. Increasing this ability to hold attention increases the mind's ability to focus long enough to watch itself and the external world, eventually gathering insight.

With right mindfulness and effort, we can enter a state of right concentration (samadhi) where the mind engages in an undistracted state of singly-focused awareness. This state is characterized by the bliss of freedom from suffering and non-attachment. It sometimes includes a pointed focus on intentional directions of mind, generating insight and peace. (Conway, “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path?”)

What It All Means

I began this assignment not knowing what type of meditation I wanted to practice, with only a faint understanding of how meditation impacts the brain, and only a surface level understanding of how to practice meditation. I now have an understanding of the direction I want to take this project and how to get there.

Vipassana meditation is an scientifically backed tool to experientially understand the true nature of your mind and reality. It helps an individual see that no worldly thing can bring lasting satisfaction. Instead, we should focus our efforts to seek peace through the observation of our mind.

Bench in the Grass. Photograph by Madelyn Swelstad.

Sources

Bodhidharma. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. North Point Press, 1989.

“Body Scan Meditation.” Headspace, https://www.headspace.com/meditation/body-scan. Accessed 19 July 2024.

Bond, George D. “Theravada Buddhism’s Meditations on Death and the Symbolism of Initiatory Death.” History of Religions, vol. 19, no. 3, 1980, pp. 237–58.

Brewer, Judson A., et al. “Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 108, no. 50, 2011, pp. 20254–59.

“Can You Be a Buddhist If You Don’t Believe in Karma and Reincarnation?” David Michie, 26 Apr. 2016, https://davidmichie.com/can-you-be-a-buddhist-if-you-dont-believe-in-karma-and-reincarnation/.

Conway, Sara-Mai. “The Significance of Reincarnation (The Buddhist Path).” Mindworks, 4 Mar. 2023, https://mindworks.org/blog/the-significance-of-reincarnation/.

---. “What Are Buddhism’s 4 Noble Truths? | Mindworks Meditation.” Mindworks, 15 Oct. 2022, https://mindworks.org/blog/what-are-buddhisms-4-noble-truths/.

---. “What Is the Buddhist Eightfold Path? (The 8 Elements).” Mindworks, 26 Feb. 2023, https://mindworks.org/blog/what-is-buddhist-eightfold-path/.

Crawford, Lewis. The Central Executive Network (CEN). https://www.o8t.com/blog/central-executive-network. Accessed 15 July 2024.

---. The Default Mode Network (DMN). https://www.o8t.com/blog/default-mode-network. Accessed 15 July 2024.