Silent meditation
Meditation is often thought of as a religious practice, as certain techniques involve mantra repetition, which is very similar to reciting a prayer. But there is a technique that offers a secular, almost scientific approach: it invites us to focus on our breath and physical sensations; from obvious ones, like hot and cold, to subtler ones, such as vibration.
Vipassana is a pre-Buddhist meditation system, popularised by the Buddha 25 centuries ago. The name means “to see things as they really are”. Mindfulness meditation, now popular as a stress-reduction method, stems from this ancient practice.
When I first attended the 10-day residential course, I understood on an experiential level what I had known intellectually for a long time: that the mind can be our worst enemy and that, if left untamed, it can slowly destroy us. If this sounds extreme, think of negative emotions like fear, anger, resentment or hatred, all generated by thoughts in the mind, and how destructive they can be to interpersonal and collective relationships (between rival nations or religious groups, for example).
One of the advantages of the imposed Noble Silence on the course is that it encourages you to take the practice seriously — if you don’t, you go crazy! When you can’t talk or write to anyone for 10 days (the use of electronic devices isn’t allowed and you can’t even read a book), you realise just how wild the mind is. So long as we engage in conversation with someone else, we tend to follow a more or less logical path; but when the dialogue is only in our mind, it tends to branch out all over the place, with no logical sequence whatsoever — the Monkey Mind, as the Buddhist sages called it.
Another striking feature of the relentless mind chatter is how self-absorbed it can be. During the first couple of days of the course, I was ashamed with myself at how self-centred my thoughts had been, but in one of the video-recorded talks that are shown in the evenings, the late teacher, SN Goenka, points out that this is the very nature of the mind; it’s just how it works. Finally, I truly understood the concept of the mind and the ego being one and the same and I felt relieved that it wasn’t just me!
After 10 days of continuous practice, once you have mastered the technique, you will feel your entire body vibrate, as the illusion of solidity dissolves.
Everything in the universe is made of vibrating energy. Even our body is vibration, as it is made of atoms, which are made of electromagnetic particles literally spinning in orbit. Modern physics teaches us that atoms have no definite boundaries: when our hand touches a wall, for example, there is a point at which it is impossible to say whether a particular atom belongs to our hand or the wall.
The illusion of solidity is created by the limits of our physical senses. The human brain can identify a limited range of sounds and colours that interact with our sense organs through energetic vibrations. Our reality is based on our ability to perceive — and we cannot perceive all that exists, infrared light being a good case in point.
On last day of the course, the “loving kindness” (or metta) element is added to the vibration. Which makes it all the more special, because you literally feel as though you are radiating love and kindness. On my first meditation retreat, up in the Alps, I had achieved a similar result almost instantly through the Loving Kindness approach: I had felt my body float in and above the mountains; it was wonderful. But feeling love “on command” isn’t always easy. For many, it is almost impossible. Which is why the Vipassana technique is a very useful tool that ought to be taught in schools and prisons alike.
Sitting the 10-day course is a highly effective way of increasing self-awareness. It is a rare opportunity to be removed from the outside world and do almost nothing but meditate for 10 days straight, while your basic needs are met by the volunteers who run the centres (Vipassana centres can be found in most countries across the world). The technique also helps greatly with self-mastery. Just like you learn not to scratch if you feel an itching sensation or move if you feel any pain or discomfort, but rather to observe these sensations until they pass, you also learn not to act on (or react to) cravings or negative emotions. Which also arise and pass.
Psychologists have estimated that on any given day a very high percentage of our thoughts are exactly the same as the previous day. In other words, the mind has a tendency to go round in circles. No wonder we are plagued by anxiety, depression and all sorts of addictions, as many of these thoughts are driven by worry and fear. Fortunately, practices such as Vipassana meditation can help us “rewire” the brain and choose different thoughts and actions, enabling us to create lasting positive change in our lives and, as a result, in the lives of those around us.