Vipasana Gyan

मनुष्य एक अद्भुत प्राणी है। उसके स्वभाव में अच्छे, बुरे, शुभ और अशुभ दोनों का ही सम्मिश्रण है। उसमें संत की सी सात्विक निर्मलता भी है और साथ ही दानव की सी दूषित प्रवृत्ति भी। कब, कैसे, कौन सी प्रवृत्ति उभर कर उस पर हावी हो जाय - यह कहा नहीं जा सकता । इन दोनों विरोधी शक्तियों के कारण मानव एक ओर सद्गुणों का आगार हो सकता है, तो दूसरी ओर अशुभ, अकुशल और दुष्ट कार्यों को संपन्न करने में समर्थ भी। जो व्यक्ति संत बन कर जन-जन के हितकारी कार्य करके आर्य बनना चाहते हैं, वे प्रयत्नपूर्वक इन आसुरी प्रवृत्तियों से बच कर दैवी गुणों को धारण कर लेते हैं। मनुष्य पृथ्वी के अंदर गड़े हुए कीमती हीरे आदि को खोद कर निकालने में अथक शारीरिक और मानसिक कष्ट उठाता है, यहां तक कि कभी अपनी जान भी गवां बैठता है परंतु अपने ही भीतर सुसुप्त दैवी शक्ति को प्राप्त करने के लिए प्रयत्नशील होना नहीं चाहता, जबकि इसके लिए केवल संकल्प, वीर्य और धैर्य की ही आवश्यकता है। प्रयत्नशील हो तो निर्धन से निर्धन और नितांत अपढ़ व्यक्ति तक आध्यात्मिक उंचाइयां प्राप्त कर सकता है। मानव में उसे अधोगति की ओर ले जाने वाले जो दोष हैं, उनम...

29th September was Respected Goenkaji’s third death anniversary. The entire Vipassana Family expresses its profound gratitude to him. On this occasion, come and let us offer our deepest homage as we once again read his profoundly inspirational words that will help us in our endeavour of walking on the path of Dhamma. Deepening our practice as guided by him will be our true offering to our Teacher.  January 4, 2004, Delhi Dear students!  Two things are very important for you to truly bring meditation practice (sadhana) into your lives. One point is to have learnt this practice in a Vipassana course, or to have ripened in practice over a number of Vipassana courses, along with not missing your morning and evening daily sittings once you return home. If you miss them, you will not get the desired benefit from these courses. Otherwise, these ten-days here will turn into just a mere ritual.  In the same way as you give food to the body two or three times a ...

Question. Krishnamurty did not believe in a technique or gurus. I believe you met him, did you discuss this? Answer by S. N. Goenka:   Certainly, I met him. He was a very saintly person, and I very much understood why he is against technique and why he is against gurus. Because he observed the situation all over the country where gurus just exploit the people saying "Look I am your guru and you are my disciple, you are so weak, how can you liberate yourself ? Just surrender to me and I will liberate you. I will liberate you." This is exploitation by gurus, this is against Dhamma and when you talk of technique that means you have got one object and you are just working with one object. It does not take you to the final goal. Things are changing from moment to moment you are observing, you are observing. (This is Vipassana, this is not a technique, Vipassana is not a technique, it is a process of observation.) So I discussed with him "Well in age you a...

जागरूकता तथा समता का विकास करके हम अपने को दुःख से मुक्त कर सकते हैं। अपनी स्वयं की सच्चाई के अज्ञान के कारण दुःख का आरंभ होता है। इस अज्ञान के अंधकार में चित्त प्रत्येक संवेदना के प्रति उसे प्रिय या अप्रिय मानकर राग-द्वेष के साथ प्रतिक्रिया करता है। ऐसी प्रत्येक प्रतिक्रिया इस समय दुःख उत्पन्न करती है और एक ऐसे घटनाक्रम को गति देती है जो भविष्य में दुःख के अतिरिक्त और कुछ नहीं लाती | कारण-कार्य की इस शृंखला को कैसे तोड़ा जा सकता है ?  किसी तरह अज्ञान में किए गए पिछले  कर्मों के कारण जीवन अस्तित्व में आया है, (नाम और रूप) का प्रवाह आरंभ हुआ है। तब क्या किसी को आत्महत्या कर लेना चाहिए? नहीं, इससे समस्या का समाधान नहीं होगा । अपनी हत्या के समय मन दुःख तथा देष से भरा होता है, बाद में जो जन्म आयगा, वह भी दुःखपूर्ण होगा, इस काम से हमें सुख नहीं मिल सकता है। जीवन का आरंभ हो गया है, अब दुःख से कोई बच नहीं सकता | तब क्या किसी को ऐंद्रिय अनुभवों के आधार अपने षडायतनों को नष्ट कर देना चाहिए? कोई अपनी आंखें निकाल सकता है, जीभ को काट सकता है, नाक और कान को नष्ट कर सकता है, पर...

गुरुदेव की जिस एक बात ने मुझे उनकी ओर सर्वाधिक आकर्षित किया वह थी उनकी शुद्ध धर्म की सार्वजनीन व्याख्या। सचमुच बुद्ध ने शुद्ध धर्म ही सिखाया। सांप्रदायिकता के संकीर्ण दायरे से परे । और यही गुरुदेव की भी शिक्षण-विधि थी। इसे भिन्न-भिन्न संप्रदाय और समाज के लोग आसानी से धारण कर सकते हैं और लाभान्वित हो सकते हैं। मैंने गुरुजी में ऐसा कोई भी सांप्रदायिक भावावेश नहीं देखा, जिसके कारण कोई व्यक्ति अन्य संप्रदायवालों को अपने संप्रदाय में दीक्षित करने के लिए आतुर होता हो । वे किसी प्रकार की भी औपचारिक सांप्रदायिक दीक्षा को महत्त्व नहीं देते थे। यह सच है कि वे परंपरागत बौद्ध थे और ऐसा होने का उन्हें गर्व था। पर उनके लिए बुद्ध की शिक्षा कासार शुद्ध सार्वजनीन धर्म था, सांप्रदायिक ता नहीं। उनकी दृष्टि में बुद्ध का सच्चा अनुयायी वही है जो सद्धर्म धारण करता है। उनका लक्ष्य था लोगों को बुद्ध शासन में स्थापित करना ।याने धर्म में स्थापित करना। इसीलिए वे बार-बार समझाते थे कि बुद्ध-शासन क्या है - सब्ब पापस्स अकरणं, कुसलस्स उपसम्पदा । सचित्त परियोदपनं, एतं बुद्धान सासनं ॥  सभी अकुशल पाप ...

By walking down the path of Vipassana meditation, we arrive at experiences that season and mature our personalities. The personal transformation we each undergo becomes the cata-lyst for social change as we influence everything around us. The great Vipassana meditation teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, wrote: “Impermanence (anicca) is, of course, the es-sential fact which must be first experienced and understood  by practice.” Anicca is a gateway, an opening. The complexity and multiplicity of the phenomena of the world can appear like a thicket, but as a person walks the path of Vipassana meditation a clearing emerges. U Ba Khin wrote: “Anicca is the first essential factor … for progress in Vipassana meditation, a student must keep knowing anicca as continuously as possible.” The Pali word anicca is translated into English as impermanence or change. But anicca is not merely a concept; it is a sign, a marker like the stone cairns a pilgrim encounters on one of those cloud-huggin...

Experiential wisdom that comes from meditation practice confirms that we alone are solely responsible for who and what we are. We cannot escape this law of nature. This understanding strengthens our desire to practice and serve Dhamma. It has a strong driving power that supports us in the dark moments of meditation or at times when we are tired and the mundane world seems to be winning us over. As plants from sprouted seeds eventually bear more such seeds in future, in our daily lives momentary thoughts, words, and deeds sooner or later give their results accordingly. That future might be bright or dark. If in the present we make right efforts toward wholesomeness, awareness, and equanimity, the future becomes brighter. If through ignorance we react with craving and aversion, the future will be fraught with darkness. The teachings of the Buddha show us how to develop the awareness of anicca and the habit pattern of equanimity in the face of both pleasant and unpleasant sensat...

Address by S. N. Goenka to the Millennium World Peace Summit, UN General Assembly Hall, United Nations, New York 29 August 2000 In late August of 2000, Goenkaji participated in the Millennium World Peace Summit, a gathering of 1000 of the world’s religious and spiritual leaders. This address was delivered to the participants at a session in the General Assembly chambers at the United Nations, under the auspices of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The purpose of the meeting was to promote tolerance, foster peace, and encourage interreligious dialogue. With the many different viewpoints represented, the potential for disagreement was strong. In his presentation to the delegates, Goenkaji tried to highlight what they, and all spiritual paths, have in common: the universal Dhamma. His remarks were received with repeated ovations. Friends, leaders of the spiritual and religious world: This is a wonderful occasion, when we can all unite and serve humanity. Religion is religion only...

This article about wisdom was originally published in the Hindi Vipaœhya Patrika. This has been translated and slightly adapted. Let us liberate ourselves from the bondage of ignorance. To become liberated from ignorance means to be liberated from the bondage of dukkha (suffering) in this life and duk-kha resulting from the cycle of future births and deaths. It is ignorance that keeps us bound to dukkha in this life and in future lives. What is ignorance?  It is the state of dullness, heedlessness, unskillfulness. Because of ignorance, we keep generating new saªkh±r±s (mental reactions) and keep defiling our minds with fresh negativities. We are barely aware of what we are doing: how we imprison ourselves with the bonds of craving, with the bonds of aversion; and how, in our ig-norance, we tighten the knots of these bonds. We can eradicate ignorance by remaining aware, alert, and attentive every moment. Then we will not allow new saªkh±r±s to make deep impressions...

Annual Meeting: Dhamma Giri,  India February 2, 1985 Closing Address My dear Dhamma sons and Dhamma daughters The time has come once again for many to learn Dhamma. As Sayagyi U Ba Khin used to say, "The clock of Vipassana has struck." We are fortunate to have the opportunity to develop our pāramīs by assisting Dhamma to spread. It will spread because it is bound to, not because of the efforts of a particular person or group. We are only tools of the Dhamma. How swiftly things have been moving, and all because of Dhamma! Dhamma is so great, so powerful! It can give full competence to the most incompetent person, highest ability to one lacking all ability. Dhamma finds the means to help those whose time has ripened to become liberated. Therefore in the last fifteen years so many people have taken up the burden of serving others by spreading Dhamma. Actually this is not a burden but rather a good fortune. And in this way Dhamma has spread beyond all expectat...