The need to slow down and be present has never been more vital. Our modern, fast-paced lifestyle exacts a great price in terms of health, relationships and peace of mind. Meditation offers a solution to this crazy way of living. It slows down the mind and anchors our attention in the here and now increasing focus and clarity, improving decision-making, boosting performance and releasing creativity.
Through meditation, we gradually acquire and affirm our connection to what is really true deep inside. Inner experience of the truth tranforms both our internal and external worlds for the better because it simultaneously reveals everything false within us and our true Self, the divine seed at the core of our being. However, accessing this truth takes self-discipline.
Benefits of meditation
Insight Meditation
Insight meditation or vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It is a profound practice aimed at nothing less than purification of the mind and transformation of your everyday life. I’ve practiced daily since 2012 and take a 10-day silent retreat each year.
Vipassana meditation is a step beyond mindfulness practice. Mindfulness helps calm the mind and sharpen awareness however once the mind is deeply concentrated, the constantly changing nature of mind and matter can be observed directly within the framework of one’s own body. Vipassana penetrates the apparent truth to reach the ultimate truth of the entire psycho-physical structure.There is a realisation from direct experience that everything is impermanent, all mind and matter is in a constant state of flux.
With continued daily practice, vipassana meditation leads the mind deeper into the heart, dissolving knots tied by old habits of reacting in an unbalanced way and releases more of our true nature, the authentic Self. It builds tolerance to life’s difficulties, finding ways of dealing with them that are healthy and productive. As a result, we naturally become more balanced, wiser and happier.
Read more about vipassana meditation
Learn to meditate
Insight meditation courses in the Buddhist tradition as taught by S N Goenka
Inside the world of vipassana meditation - 10 days of demanding, illuminating silence
BBC World Service Heart and Soul podcast
27 minutes
Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
The Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 282)