Whose doctor is the best? Mine mine mine! 4/n

How do you pronounce Vipaasana? Is it Vipaaasana? Like Shavasana?

No, it's not Vipaaa-sana. It's not a Yoga asana. It's Vi-pashh-ana (Pali) or Vi-pashyana (Sanskrit) - means to see things as they are, to see the right way, to see yourself the way you are, to observe everything the way they are. The correct pronunciation is 'vi-pashh-ana' - BUT learning how to pronounce it correctly won't make any difference, practice will, abundantly. Practice and determination will do a lot to your mind, even if you are not pronouncing the word correctly. 

One of the things that Buddha wanted everyone to understand was that wisdom at an intellectual level, is not complete wisdom. Also, wisdom from discussions and thinking is also not complete wisdom. Wisdom gained from experience makes all the difference. 

There are three types of 'Panya' (Wisdom):

• Sut-maya Panya (wisdom gained from others' experiences or through reading and other sources)
• Chinta-maya Panya (wisdom gained from rational thinking, debates & discussions)
• Bhavana-maya Panya (wisdom gained through one's own experience)

Note - Not everybody's Vipassana experience will be the same. That's because our realities are not the same. We are bound to have different experiences. But at a macro level, our minds are bound to become calmer, sharper and full of love and compassion because that's what 'panya' does to all if you practice.

That's too much wisdom for one post. STOP!

Whose doctor is the best? (The joke that Goenka ji tells his students)

We are all seeking answers. Most of us want to know about our creator or how we came into being, what our purpose in life is, what are we here to do and so on. As a result of seeking answers, we end up with one deity or the other, one guru or the other, one teacher or the other. 

Let us assume that we have an ailment and we are seeking a solution. We go to our favourite doctor (the one that our parents or elders have told us is the best doctor - our family doctor) and the doctor gives us a prescription. He says take these meds thrice a day and you will be fine. Every God/Guru/Doctor gives you meds to practice love, compassion and harmony. But when will the meds work? Only when we take them and experience them. But what is that we do? We go back to our neighbourhood and shout - hey look, my doctor has the answers, my doctor is the best, he has given me this amazing prescription. We memorise the prescription and chant the contents everyday, thrice a day. We can recall everything from the prescription at the tip of our tongue. Our neighbour also comes with his doctor's prescription and says his doctor is the best. How will you be at peace if all you do is intellectualise the prescription and don't practice it? Please take the medicine of love and compassion and treat everyone equally and you will see that you are peaceful. That's what all doctors want you to do. No religion wants you to hate each other. If your religion requires you to hate another being, you better find a new one to find peace.

I was fairly surprised to experience how non sectarian my experience was. It doesn't matter what religion you come from, what your background is, inside the campus you will be treated with love, respect and compassion. You are not allowed to carry anything that represents any organised religion. Buddhism is an organised religion, which started after Buddha's death. Buddha clearly didn't organise it, so you are not even allowed to flaunt your Buddhism inside the campus. Inside the campus, you will not find a single photo or statue of Buddha. He clearly didn't like hero-worship and that's what the org has maintained. He is not called God, he's called the enlightened one, a mere human who understood the truth. He's called a teacher, who taught this truth to others. 

Keep your organised religion at home. For the ten days that you are there, you will learn the truth of the universe that doesn't require you to know God. It doesn't require you to take a shower every morning, wear robes, light incense, offer sweets or flowers, chant mantras or verses and so on. The truth works for everyone, in all conditions.

Learning 3 or a universal truth : The primary victim of your anger towards anyone, is YOU. Even before you have expressed your anger for someone - your heart starts racing, you start experiencing bodily sensations, you start breathing faster, you start sweating, your mind is agitated and you lose your balance. So, who are you really harming by being angry? YOURSELF.

I have experienced this wisdom and it works in rain or sun. It works even though I do not pray. It doesn't require me to believe in anybody's doctor. It just works. This is my bhavana-maya panya, this is the wisdom I have gained from my own experience.

On day 4, you are taught Vipassana. The first three days, you are taught aana-pana meditation, the art of focusing on your natural breath. This ain't pranayama, you are not moderating your breath. You are just being a witness to your natural breath without judgement and reaction. In the first 3 days you are also taught how to bring your attention back to your breath without anxiety or self-criticism or self-doubt. I am so tempted to make a flow-chart of how it works, that's how I best understood the technique.

The best part is coming soon.

To be continued...