Vipassana Meditation - Chiselling the Walls of Illusion by Vijay Raisinghani

More than 2500 years ago, the Great Enlightened Master - Gautama Buddha gave the world a beautiful meditation technique. That wonderful technique of meditation was to form the foundation of Spiritual Enlightenment of hundreds of thousands of meditators throughout the ages. Till this date, the meditation technique that Buddha gave has enlightened more persons than all the other meditation techniques combined together.

Buddha gave the world the meditation technique called Vipassana. "Vipassana" is a Pali word and it means "Pure Watchfulness". It implies watching and observing the reality around us as it is, without any bias whatsoever. Vipassana is also called "Anapansati Yoga". It's the meditation technique that's practised by a majority of the Buddhist meditators.

The technique of Vipassana essentially involves watching the breath and the breathing process. Through this watching, the mind calms, the awareness of the meditator improves dramatically over time. He is able to witness the reality and true nature of things as they are, without any mental bias whatsoever. He comes out of all conditionings and this inner cleansing gives rise to immense tranquillity and bliss.

The Vipassana Meditator is a blissful person and has a great sense of humour. His mental sharpness improves and he is not attached by anything. Life becomes a drama and he enjoys every moment of it. The awareness that arises in the time of meditation gradually spreads to all the activities of the day. This mental focus and dexterity also brings great success and accomplishments to the Vipassana meditator in all the spheres of his life as an added bonus. This success comes as he participates in the activities of his day to day life totally and not partially.

The small but powerful ray of awareness that starts initially from being aware of the breath, gradually spreads into the more subtle realms of the mind like the thoughts, feelings, emotions and the subconscious mind. Hence layers after layers of the inner mind are peeled gradually and one gets freed of those conditionings. This releases a lot of trapped energy that was entangled in these negative layers of the subconscious mind.

Thus the Vipassana meditator is always in a great state of relaxation and is like a reservoir of energy. His life force is not wasted and leaked in the continuous thought process that goes on always in the ordinary mind uncontrollably. He becomes a true master of himself and his mind. He is able to use it as an equipment rather than being used by it.

In the beginning stages, the meditator needs greater time and silence to get deeper into the Alertness. Witnessing is an art that needs to be learnt gradually. Slowly the mind calms and is not distracted easily. A 10 day meditation retreat is very helpful as it serves as a foundation for the beginner and he gets easily grounded into the watchfulness and learns the knack of Awareness. Then he can practise the meditation and remain watchful uninterrupted even in the most distracting place.

The benefits of Vipassana meditation are numerous. It improves the patience and frees from all vices like addictions and uneasiness. The gains of Vipassana can be felt right from the very first session, but they require regular and continuous practise for the deeper gains to materialize over time. It requires commitment and perseverance on the part of the meditator.

By and by the meditator is able to chisel his way through the illusions of the world and achieve a total clarity. He becomes aware of his own being and true self. He is a true winner and his triumph is beyond words. Vipassana can be done on a standalone basis or can be done along with other meditation techniques, which can greatly enhance the overall results of meditation.

About the Author

Vijay Raisinghani is a Successful Currency Trader in Jakarta, Indonesia. Besides being an Active meditator, his interests include Spirituality, Meditation, Buddhism and Zen. Check out www.gurumaa.com , www.soulcurrymagazine.com and www.yogawonders.com for more Meditation Articles.

Life Lessons: Unconditional Acceptance by Pat Campbell

A couple of years ago I met a dear old lady who I will call Annie (not her real name). She was 97 and very frail and unable to walk but with a mind as bright as a button. I only knew her for a few short weeks before she passed on but I felt I knew her for a lifetime. We shared so much of ourselves in that short time and I feel very blessed to have known her. I was closer to her than my own mother who had passed on some 14 years previously.

I attended Annie’s funeral and it was there that I received the first part of a profound enlightenment. When the eulogies were being given, I suddenly experienced what I call "the God feeling" very strongly. (This intense feeling of total love goes way beyond anything mortal and it has often accompanied major "aha" moments, especially in the early days of my relationship with God. I soon came to understand that God wanted me to know that the new insight or piece of wisdom came from Him. The knowledge that I have acquired during these moments I call "absolute knowings" because I have known beyond a shadow of doubt that these learnings were absolute truth.)

It became apparent to me that God wanted me to listen very carefully to what was being said. Annie's son was talking at the time about the way that Annie totally accepted everyone she encountered in her life, regardless of their situation, belief, habits or attitudes. She truly did know that we are all one and treated everyone equally. And I thought to myself, "What is the lesson here? I do endeavour to accept everyone! This doesn’t seem to be anything that I haven’t already learnt."

It was a few days later before I realised that it was myself that I had to learn to accept unconditionally. I already accepted others as they are (along with their faults) but I have always been very hard on myself for the slightest little mistake, misdeamour or oversight on my part. It was okay for others to be less than perfect but I couldn't accept that in myself.

It never ceases to amaze me how different events in our lives (and past lives) fall together to create a complete story. Shortly after Annie's funeral, I had a thought that kept popping into my head that I had done a terrible wrong to a friend of mine in another lifetime. I didn't want to think about it because it was really a very big transgression but my thoughts kept returning there regardless. And then I had a dream (something I don't do very often as I am more likely to have "waking dreams"). In the dream I was the victim of the same transgression and the perpetrator in this instance was someone I also know very well in this lifetime.

As I was thinking about how these events were related (and also feeling rather bad because I knew my previous transgression was true), I felt what I call "the voice feeling" which is hard to describe. I don’t audibly hear actual words but I "feel" the words instead (and I have to admit that I am just a little envious of Neale Donald Walsch and Barbara Rose who do actually hear God's voice audibly). And the "voice" said to me, "Do you judge the one who wronged you?" And I thought no I don't, it doesn't make any difference to the way I feel about this person at all. And the "voice" said, "Well why are you judging yourself so harshly for your wrongdoing when you can accept it in another?" And that's when I realised that all of these events occurred so that I might learn to accept myself as readily as I accept others. It is not a lesson totally learnt even now and I do still tend to berate myself for not doing everything I set out to do but I have definitely made some progress and have somewhat relaxed my expectations of myself to a level which is more humanly achievable.

As an extension of these events and realisations, it also became apparent to me that in three different lifetimes, one can be the perpetrator, the victim and the observer; a trilogy of human existence to aid divine understanding. By "observer", I don’t mean that one physically watches a transgression or crime taking place. I mean that one comes to an understanding of how it all fits together. There is no room for blame, shame, regret or judgement. Learning includes the bad as well as the good. We are all in the same boat living as we are in a duality existence here on earth. We are all comprised of good and bad, generous and mean, sharing and selfish. When one understands and accepts that no one is better than another regardless of the way people act, then we are beginning to understand the necessity of duality and can rise above it towards enlightenment.

About the Author

My aim is to help as many people as possible realise their full potential from both a human and spiritual perspective. My website provides resources for personal and spiritual development including articles, newsletter and help available by email.

Pat Campbell
"TheArcher"
http://www.eyeofthearcher.com.au

Ouija Board Psychic Readings by Chris Miller

Psychic readings can come in many forms both in person and online. There is of course horoscopes, palm reading, tarot cards, numerology and crystal ball gazing to name a few. However there are few that can come close to the accuracy of Ouija Board readings when used by a trained professional psychic.

When used properly the Ouija Board becomes a powerful psychic tool in finding the answers to your questions. It can also be a very objective tool when used properly in conjunction with a double blind reading process. This Double Blind System prevents the actual operator of the board from knowing your specific question preventing them from forming, either consciously or subconsciously, the answers that you may want to hear.

While this double blind system is not in common use it is well worth searching out as it prevents a lot of fraud and lies perpetrated in the psychic reading business where cold reading and statistical analysis can be used to create the feel of a genuine psychic experience.

By using the Ouija Board a psychic does not have to claim to have super natural or super human powers. The board becomes an extension of everyones natural psychic abilities and easily allows those often neglected aspects to easily come to the surface. With constant practice the Ouija Board can strengthen ones natural abilities, and while some people are more psychic than others just as some are more gifted athletes, anyone with a strong desire and dedication to practice on a regular basis can see positive results.

As an operator of the Ouija Board you should look for someone that always attempts to either channel positive spirits or truly believes that the board is a tool or aid to the users own natural psychic ability. While there are many people out there that believe the simple use of the Ouija Board is opening a gate for evil spirits to invade our world this is simply not the case. It is true that improper use can result in some negative consequences, just as driving a car without first getting a drivers license can be dangerous. But a trained psychic will have the knowledge and experience necessary to perform a safe and positive reading.

As with any psychic reading, however it comes out, always remember to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism. This isn't to say that your reading will not be accurate or to discount psychics however they operate, it is simply a reminder that what means something to one person can mean something completely different to another. While using the Ouija Board for psychic readings will cut down on the mumbo jumbo or psychic babble that can confuse you as to the true meaning of your reading, it is how you use the reading that will determine its true value.

About the Author

The Ouija Board, or Yes Yes Board, can be a powerful tool in psychic readings when used properly by trained professional operators. Find out more how you can get your own Free Ouija Board Psychic Reading

Do you wish that your website got more hits? by Keith Baxter

Do you have difficultty having a steady flow of buy website traffic to your web site? Are you in search of traffic targeted towards your website so that you can sell more?
Would you be interested in knowing how to do this if I could show you exactly what needs to be done? These are the best days of my life. and get google searchers to easily find your website? I talk excessively everyday... Are people interested in the products or services that you are offering?
Can we be frank?
Regardless of your experience with traffic, you will want to know more about this. When you expand your knowledge, you can guarantee that you will have more traffic on your site, thus putting more money in your pocket.

About the Author

Keith Baxter runs http://www.mommymoney.org/. For more information on home based jobs for mothers, please visit her site.