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Hello all,

I would like to take this moment to share with you a wonderful opportunity that I've recently gotten to experience. Vipassana is a technique of meditation that was (re-)discovered by Gautama the Buddha circa 500 BC.

It is extremely simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy to practice. It is, especially at first, very trying and requires a large deal of will-power and determination. Essentially it is observation of the internal sensations of the body, but there is a good deal of subtlety to the technique and to really get grounded in the practice it's pretty essential to find a good teacher.

It's for this reason that I would like to make you aware of the existence of a world-wide organization, called simply Vipassana Meditation, which teaches this technique free of charge. Beginner's courses are ten days long, include room and board, and throw one head over heels into a monk's lifestyle, with five basic precepts, noble silence, and no distractions from the outside world, whether it's an iPod or the heaviest book of philosophy in your library.

Here's their website, they have courses all over the world: Vipassana Meditation Website

The five precepts are: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct (in this case, celibacy), no intoxicants and no lying.

Vipassana meditation is taught as a universal path of liberation from suffering, not restricted to any sect, totally free from dogma, and applicable to any person, regardless of race, sex, creed, sexual preference, hair color, etc.

The method is taught very systematically and rigorously through tape recording and video discourses by the founder of the organization, S.N. Goenka. Simply experiencing this incredible personality is enough justification to join the course, not to speak of the immense personal benefit it brings to anyone who practices it with patience and understanding.

Goenka explains the theory behind the method, using largely a frame-work based on the teachings of the Buddha, such as the four noble truths and the noble eight-fold path. However, he repeats time and time again that nothing is just to be accepted at face value, that all these ideas have to be experienced directly, and that the immense value of this meditation is that it allows one to directly experience and gain one's own insight into the nature of reality. A noble person, he states, is one who says what they feel and feels what they say, not one who repeats someone else's truth, or avoids the reality of their own experience.

The theory is totally scientific and rational. It uses the systematic and unbiased approach of the scientist but applies it to the internal sensations of the body, rather than the external objects of sense perception.

Vipassana Meditation is an incredible organization, it's completely funded by the donations of past students and it's an amazingly supportive social network. Anyone who graduates from a ten-day course can continue taking them as an old student, and can also come as a volunteer, working in the kitchen and getting in at least three hours of meditation a day. That means that anyone who takes one ten-day course, free of charge, could feasibly spend the rest of their life bouncing from center to center, working and meditating and receiving the benefits of the technique.

I don't want to turn this into a giant debate about the pro's and con's of Buddhism or any other organized religion, I just want people to be aware of this opportunity and aware that I personally think it's invaluable and an incredibly experience, if also at times very difficult, for anyone and everyone. If anyone has any questions about the technique or the theory behind it, I'll be happy to answer them.

Goenka repeatedly emphasizes that this technique is non-sectarian and universal. You can be an atheist, a Buddhist, a Taoist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Shaman, Wiccan, a police officer, and you can receive the benefits of the technique. The path, or the law, or the dhamma, is very simple. Do good, don't do evil, and purify the mind. So simple, yet so complex. What is good, what is evil, what is purifying the mind? Good is to bring peace and harmony to other beings, evil is to cause other beings to suffer, and purifying the mind means to bring it to a state of balance and equanimity, in which it can see things for what they really are. Anything more is frivolous intellectual debate, one simply has to practice and one will gain a deeper understanding of the good, the evil, and the nature of the mind. Again, it's all about experience. Accept the theory, don't accept the theory, just practice the method diligently and honestly observe the consequences it has in your life.

Hopefully many of you will look into this, and some of you will be inspired to try it. Again, it's for everyone. I think it's great, and I feel that I see many confusions in my life with far greater clarity, and my sense of purpose and direction has been greatly strengthened by it. Please approach this information objectively and if you decide to try it, or have tried it, share your feelings about it!

Peace and love,
Tom

Mindy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E8tJaag7KM

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