Vipassana Meditation and The Role of Silence

 

Vipassana Meditation is a type of meditation which is said to be the style adopted by Gautam Buddha for meditation. This practice of meditation was lost to humanity and has been rediscovered some decades back as the need for leading a stress-free life in the modern world gained momentum. High pitch and fast-life cities like Delhi where people are stressed out in daily chores and face many types of problems, Vipassana is playing an important role in taking away their stresses and anxieties and helping them lead a life of wellness.

Vipassana meditation Delhi derives directly from the Buddhist trainers and the centers here teach it in the way it has been laid out in Buddhist traditions. In this practice, the individual is required to look the real aspects of life. This reality might be happy or saddening but one has to accept all the positives and the negatives equally gracefully.

Let us take an example. We all know we will be dying one day. This is the biggest reality but ‘knowing’ it is different from ‘realizing’ it deeply. By ‘knowing’ it, we put the full stop there and then slowly brush it aside while being busy in our chores. However, by ‘realizing’ it deeply, we change our lifestyle to look into what we are doing, why and how. This deepens our thought and makes us change our lifestyle towards leading a more complete, stress-free life.

Silence plays a very important role in the practice of Vipassana mediation. During the Vipassana course, the learners are required to observe silence for about 10 days. They are not required to speak to their co-learners. The only people they can speak to are the administrators of the center for their requirement. Gossiping or talking without substantial purpose is prohibited. With this practice, one of our senses is sought to be blocked so that we can draw ourselves more inwards. It is only by drawing inwards that we are able to realize the reality of our inevitable death at some time, shed our egos and also do away our suffering. It has to be understood that, spiritually, suffering is related to the mental and emotional blocks that we impose on ourselves. By keeping quiet and resisting the tendency to speak, we can observe the relevance and irrelevance of what others are doing, become more wiser and might even have a changed perception of the world. This brings them closer to the real aspects of life, and knowing its significance, brings a mature awareness of life so that it can be enjoyed by keeping stress away.

Vipassana meditation centres in Delhi also teach this style in the same manner in which the Buddhists teach in monasteries in Himachal Pradesh. The centres having roots in their original place have centres in Delhi for the benefit of the people here who want to learn meditation in the way the monks do. The residents of the city benefit with the presence of these centre and lead a stress-less life.