Concentration (Vipassana 2)

I started to write about the Vipassana technique in the ‚Bihar‘ article some days ago. This is a technique, which was preserved in Myanmar, in some monastery/ies for 2500 years in its pure form. Only since the 1950th/60th it came back to the ‚people‘.
It’s a very scientific approach to understand, on a experience level, the mind and body system. Step by step, as the practitioner gets more and more open, he/she understands what lies behind mind and matter.

So the five given rules are also called ‚morality‘ and they are the base of the Vipassana teaching.
Morality is the foundation
Concentration the second step and
Wisdom is the final step.

Today I write about concentration.

Concentration means to reach a stage of equanimity. Equanimity is a stage, where the practitioner does not thing about the future, nor about the past. Further the practitioner should not be attached in any craving or aversion.
Our mind likes to think, and it’s always the future or the past where it’s entangled. Equanimity is reached, when we can let go of the future/past thought and can dwell in the ‚Here and Now‘.

Then. Mind is not only the interlect, but also the so called unconsciousness. The unconsciousness is also a ’storage mind‘. The mind stores here memories. These storaged memories are from attachments.

Every time we have a positive feeling and we are attached to it (we want it to stay/we want to have it) we accumulate craving defilements. Every time a specific craving arises again and again, the accumulated storage of this cravings ’support‘ the actual craving. As a result the storage gets bigger and bigger. It becomes so big, that it turned into suffering. I want this or that so much, but it’s not happening, so it becomes craving and suffering.
The same with aversions. Something I do not want to have. For example anger. Something is happening in the outside, what makes me angry. Because anger is not a comfortable feeling, I do not want to have it. But, when I am angry and I express my anger, all the storage ‚anger‘ also supports the actual anger. Anger becomes bigger and bigger and in the end the ’storage anger‘ grows. The anger that I do not want to have is an aversion and turns into suffering.

Concentration has to be reached by not thinking of the past or future. And not getting intangled in cravings or aversion.

Concentration can be reached by only Observing without interacting with it.

The object of Observing will be the breath. Breath has naturally no thoughts not any aversion or craving. It is just what it is. Breath. It can be observed.
Any time thoughts or feelings of aversion or craving are showing up, the practitioner needs to come back to the observation of the breath.
In Vipassana the observation of the breath is be done at the nose area, observing he incoming and outgoing breath.

This is a very difficult task in the beginning, but excersising makes the master. The practitioner is advised not to judge him/herself if any disturbance in the practise is arising. If the mind takes you away, as soon as you realize, you come back to your breath. No judgement to yourself has be done. Just accept the fact of what happened and come back to your breath.

Then concentration is arising.
Concentration of being in the here and now.
Just observing
Just observing the breath.
Equanimity