Understanding the key differences between Vipassana and other forms of meditation is essential. There are essentially two styles of meditation discussed in Buddhism. They represent many facets of one’s cognitive abilities, behavioral patterns, or states of awareness. Vipassana and Samatha are their names in Pali, the language of the earliest Theravada texts.

Vipassana, often known as “Insight,” is the practice of paying close attention to the present moment with an unclouded view. Depending on the context, samatha might mean either “concentration” or “tranquility.” It’s a mental state achieved by forcing oneself to concentrate intently on a single thing without letting the mind stray. When this is achieved, a profound peace settles over body and mind, an equanimity that can only be fully appreciated via direct experience.

Samatha is the central focus of most meditative traditions. The meditator concentrates on one thing at a time, whether it be a prayer, a specific box, a chant, a candle flame, an image of a deity, or anything else. The meditator enters a blissful condition that lasts till the end of the sitting period. It’s lovely, important, and irresistible—for a little while. The second part, insight, is what Vipassana meditation is all about.

In Vipassana meditation, the practitioner’s focus is used to chip away at the barrier of delusion that has been keeping him from experiencing the vibrant light of reality. It is a progressive unfolding of ever-deepening insight into the nature of reality. Although it may take years of meditation, eventually the meditator will break through the barrier and find themselves in the presence of light. The metamorphosis is at an end. It’s called Freedom, and it lasts forever. All Buddhist paths ultimately lead to enlightenment. However, there are numerous ways to reach that destination.

Buddhist Meditation in its Earliest Form
Vipassana is the Buddhist meditation technique with the longest history. The technique is taken verbatim from a discourse attributed to the Buddha, the Satipatthana Sutta [Foundations of Mindfulness]. Mindfulness or awareness can be developed directly and gradually via the practice of Vipassana. The process takes years and is carried out in discrete stages. The focus of the student’s efforts is shifted to an introspective investigation of many areas of his own life. The meditator learns to become increasingly aware of his own unfolding life.

The practice of Vipassana is non-aggressive. However, it is extremely comprehensive. It is a set of mental exercises aimed at increasing one’s awareness of one’s own life experience, and it is both old and formally organized. It involves paying close attention, looking carefully, and testing thoroughly.

Our sense of smell sharpens, our sense of touch expands, and our awareness of the nuances of these sensations grows. We learn to pay attention to our internal dialogue without becoming immersed in it. Learning to recognize the truth of the transience, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness of phenomena is the goal of Vipassana meditation.

We mistakenly believe that we are already engaging in this practice. It results from our being so unaware of the constant flow of our own experience that we might as well be asleep. We aren’t paying close enough attention to realize that we’re not. It’s a Catch-22 yet again.

Insight through Meditation
Mindfulness helps us see behind the facade of the ego and into the true nature of our being. The reality of life finally hits us. It’s not all smiles and clapping and rewards and scoldings. It’s all in your head. If we take the time and make the effort to look, though, we will find that life has a lot richer texture than that.

Mindfulness practice known as Vipassana can help you see the world in a new light. For the first time, you’ll understand what’s going on in your life and how you fit into it. It’s an exercise in introspection where you actively investigate your own life by observing and taking part in it as it unfolds.

Ignore all I’ve been taught, I say. Put aside your preconceived notions, biases, and categorizations.
The following mindset is required for successful practice: “Forget what I have been taught. Put aside your preconceived notions, biases, and categorizations. The meaning of life is something I’m eager to discover. I’m curious as to the nature of being alive. I’m not satisfied taking someone else’s word for the meaning of life; I want to understand it for myself. I really need to witness it firsthand.

You will achieve your goals in meditation if you approach it with this mindset. You’ll start to take a dispassionate, outsider’s view of events, seeing them for what they really are: a series of shifting, ever-changing moments. Then, life takes on an indescribable depth that defies words. This is something that can only be understood by direct experience.

Vipassana and Bhavana
Insight meditation is known as Vipassana Bhavana in the Pali language. The word bhavana has its origins in the Sanskrit root bh, which meaning to develop or change. Therefore, Bhavana means “cultivation,” and it is always associated with the mind when employed in this context. Bhavana refers to training one’s mind. Vipassana originates from two sources. Passana refers to the act of seeing or gaining insight. The prefix “vi” is loaded with multiple meanings. Essentially, it means “in a unique manner.” And there’s the double meaning of “into” and “through.”

Definition: To see something clearly and precisely, to recognize its parts as separate, and to see through to the core in order to grasp its essential nature. This method of investigation yields knowledge of the inspected object’s essential nature. Vipassana Bhavana, when taken as a whole, refers to mental training for the purpose of developing the kind of perception that yields wisdom and comprehension.

Theravada Vipassana Meditation is a Related Topic.

We believe that this is the same approach that was taught by Gotama Buddha to his disciples. The Buddha’s initial lecture on mindfulness, the Satipatthana Sutta, instructs practitioners to first pay attention to their breathing before moving on to other physical and mental experiences.

We’re just sitting here, observing our nostrils. At first glance, this seems like a completely bizarre and pointless process. Let’s look at the rationale for this first, then get into the specifics.

Focusing on what’s most important
Our first inclination could be to wonder why we need to employ a focal point at all. After all, our goal is to raise consciousness. Why not just sit there and pay attention to whatever thoughts come up? There are, in fact, meditations along those lines. Sometimes referred to as “unstructured meditation,” these practices are notoriously challenging.

The mind can be deceiving. The process of thinking is inherently convoluted. That’s what we mean when we say that we get stuck in our own thoughts. The chain reaction begins with a single idea and continues on to the next and the next and the next. Fifteen minutes later, we snap out of it and discover we’ve been daydreaming, having a sexual fantasy, worrying about our money, or anything else the whole time.

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The breath is our focal point. It’s like a magnet that pulls your thoughts back to it whenever they wander off. A focal point is required before anything can be considered a distraction. That’s the lens through which we may examine the constant shifts and disruptions that are inherent to our everyday thought processes.

Intimidating Elephants
Meditation is compared to taming a wild elephant in ancient Pali writings. Once an animal was trapped, it would be tied to a post with a sturdy rope. The elephant is unhappy when you do this. There are days of screaming, trampling, and pulling at the rope. The realization that he is trapped eventually dawns on him, and he relaxes.

You can now safely feed him and handle him to a certain extent. You can educate your elephant to perform a variety of chores without ever having to tie it to a post or rope. You have successfully tamed an elephant and may now put it to good use.

Cognate: Respiration

The elephant represents your overactive mind; the rope represents our object of concentration; and the post represents our breathing. The result of this procedure is a mind that has been educated and focused to the point where it can do the extremely difficult work of seeing through the fog of illusion that obscures truth. Mindfulness meditation makes the mind more manageable.

What’s the Point of Taking Air in?
The next logical inquiry is why one would focus on breathing as a central object of meditation. Why not try to come up with something more exciting? There’s no single correct response to this question. A good meditative focus should be something that helps you become more present in the moment. It must be reasonably priced, readily accessible, and lightweight. And it shouldn’t make us feel any of the negative emotions—like greed, anger, or delusion—that we’re trying to get over.

All of these conditions are met by breathing. Everyone on the planet suffers from it. It’s something that everyone always has on them. It is free and readily available to everyone from the moment of birth till the moment of death.

The act of breathing is one that does not require any sort of conceptualization or analysis on the part of the observer. In addition, it is a dynamic process, an ever-evolving facet of life. Breathing occurs in rhythmic cycles that include taking a breath in and then releasing it. This makes it a microcosm of the living world.

All living beings share the experience of breathing. Having a first-hand appreciation for the procedure increases one’s sense of oneness with all other forms of life. Your underlying oneness with all existence is revealed. The act of breathing, in the end, takes place in the here and now.

Finding your breath is the first step in meditating on it. What you’re after is the actual, palpable experience of breathing in and out through one’s nostrils. This is the area typically found inside the nose’s tip. However, depending on the individual’s nose profile, the precise location differs.

Take a big breath in and focus on the spot within your nose or on the top of your nose where you feel the air moving through the most. Now, let your breath out through the exact location you felt it coming in. From this vantage point, you can trace the entire respiratory cycle.

Sometimes Difficult
Expect to run into several problems as you begin this process. Your thoughts will buzz like a bumble bee and dart in all directions at once. Don’t fret too much. The concept of “monkey mind” is widely known. It’s an issue that every master meditator has faced at some point. They overcame the challenge in some way, and you can, too.

When this occurs, simply acknowledge that your mind has been wandering. Without getting angry or criticizing yourself for wandering, gently but firmly bring your attention back to the bodily experience of breathing. Repeat this process the following time, and the time after that, and the time after that.

Vipassana meditation is essentially a method of reprogramming the mind. Total, unbroken awareness in the present now is the state you’re going for. This means being aware of everything happening in your own perceptual universe as it happens.

This is an extremely lofty objective that will not be completed overnight. We’ll start off slow and work our way up. We begin by focusing our full attention on a very little period of time—our very first breath. And if you do, you’ll open up a whole new world of possibilities for yourself.