Vipassana Meditation

 🌷 Insomnia🌷


1. How to deal with insomnia?


Vipassana helps you. When a Vipassana student can't sleep properly, if he or she lies down and observes respiration or sensations, sound sleep comes. 


Even if they don't get sound sleep, the next day they will get up feeling very fresh, as if they have come out of a deep sleep. Practice Vipassana even when lying down. Try, and you will find that it is very helpful.


2.  Que: For the past ten to twelve years, I haven't been able to sleep properly.


Ans: Vipassana will solve this problem, depending on how properly you work. If you come to Vipassana with the sole aim of getting sound sleep, then it's better you don't come! 


You should come to Vipassana to come out of the impurities of your mind. There is a great disturbance because there is so much negativity in the mind, so much worry. All these worries, negativities and impurities will start getting eradicated by Vipassana, and you will start getting very sound sleep.


---------------


🌷Que- Ans: Kalyanmitra S N Goenkaji🌷


1) Lack of will-power and laziness are obstructing my meditation. Could you kindly give me some advice.


Goenkaji: Develop will-power, strong will-power. If you are so weak that you keep on breaking your decision to meditate every day in the morning and evening, then decide that you won't take your breakfast without having sat for one hour. How many days will you miss your breakfast? You will start practising daily. 


And so far as laziness or drowsiness is concerned, just examine yourself. If the laziness is because of lack of sleep, then sleep for some time. Get refreshed. But if you find this laziness is because of your mental impurity, which has become a barrier for you, then fight it out. Have hard breathing for some time, sprinkle some cold water on the eyes, stand up, walk. Somehow or the other, get rid of it.


-----------------


🌷"When you go to bed at night, close your eyes and feel sensation anywhere within the body. If you fall asleep with this awareness, as soon as you wake up in the morning, you will naturally be aware of sensations. 


Perhaps you may not sleep soundly, or may even remain fully awake throughout the night. That is wonderful, provided you stay lying in bed and maintain awareness of sensation. 


The body will receive the rest it needs, and there is no greater rest for the mind than to remain aware and equanimous.


🌷 However, if you start worrying that you are developing insomnia, you will generate tensions and will feel exhausted the next day. 


Nor should you forcibly try to stay awake, remaining in a seated posture all night; that would be going to an extreme. 


If sleep comes, very good; sleep.


If sleep does not come, allow the body to rest by remaining in a recumbent position, and allow the mind to rest by remaining aware and equanimous."


-----------------------


🌷Que- Ans: Kalyanmitra S N Goenkaji🌷


1) You were talking about not mixing visualization, so I was asking myself, what about all the dreams we get?


Goenkaji: Dreams comes unintentionally, so if it comes, it comes. You don’t make it an object of your meditation. It comes, it passes away. 


So long as you are not making it an object of your meditation, imagination will not harm you. Just as a poet imagines something; an artist imagines something. Nothing wrong. But that is not the object of the meditation. 


The object of the meditation should always be based on reality and not on imagination.


-----


🌷 Regarding Sleep 🌷


🌷Que- Ans: Kalyanmitra S N Goenkaji🌷


1) I feel sleepy while meditating.


 Ans. Get rid of this feeling of sleepiness. How can you expect to work if you fall asleep? You are engaged in the task of awakening the mind. Therefore you should remain alert, remain awake and remain vigilant. Time and again it is emphasized- remain alert, remain vigilant. 


If sleep overpowers the mind, then try some hard breathing. Sleepiness will go away. You must fight this enemy. Sleep is your enemy at the time of meditation. At any other appropriate time, it is welcome.



🌷Que-Ans :Kalyanmitra S N Goenka  ji🌷


1) What is the definition of sin? 


SNG: Whatever defiles our mind is a sin. 


All vocal or bodily actions which disturb the peace and harmony of others, which harm others, first defile one’s own mind. Only then will one perform unwholesome actions. These are all sinful actions. 


Annual Meeting: Dhamma Giri, India January 1992 



🌷Que-Ans :Kalyanmitra S N Goenka  ji🌷


1) Quite often it is necessary to take strong action. But as you say, this should be done with mettā and compassion. On such occasions, if mettā and compassion are not generated, should one then take no action? If so, the wrongdoer could be encouraged. What should be done in such situations? 


SNG: Never encourage injustice. 


One has to oppose injustice, but with the base of mettā and karuṇā. If you oppose someone without this base, don’t justify it. Understand that this was your defect, and the next time any such thing happens you will try to generate mettā and karuṇā, and oppose the injustice with that base. 


If you keep justifying your mistakes, you can’t rectify yourself. 


Annual Meeting: Dhamma Giri, India January 1992 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vipassana Meditation

 🌷How to Apply Vipassana in Student Life.🌷                     -S. N. Goenka.  Here are a few words to help you understand how to apply the wonderful technique that you have learnt here in your day-to-day life. If you can't apply it in your day-to-day life, it is futile to spend ten days in a course like this. This is not a rite or a ritual; it is an art of living.  One learns how to live peacefully and harmoniously within and how to help others to live in peace and harmony.  🌷How can we use this technique for this purpose?  As students, you are very fortunate that the leaders of your institute have understood the efficacy of this wonderful technique and have given you an opportunity to learn it.  This technique will help you not only in your student life but also after completing your studies. You may become an executive or a chief executive officer or the owner of a particular business.  Now, as a ...
Read more

Vipassana Meditation

 📜How to Untie Knots "It’s possible that there may be only a few minutes in the hour where you are wide awake, sharp, and your mind is penetrating, but these are very valuable minutes. Don’t discount them. Use them wisely and don’t fret about what you think has been lost. You were working during the entire meditation period, although it might not have been what you expected. If your schedule doesn’t demand that you be somewhere right after sitting and at that point your mind is clear, then sit a while longer than an hour.  Every moment you sit on the cushion is valuable if you bring your mind back to the object of meditation without reacting. Then you are doing the right thing. ... One more thing: there are some people who have exactly the opposite experience. They find that the first ten minutes of the hour they are very sharp, very alert and then they drift into this fog where they don’t even know which end is up. It does not matter. Continue to sit, complete the hour. Ther...
Read more