Vipassana Insight
After experiencing a 10-day retreat with the late SN Goenka and practicing this specific meditation technique twice a day for over a year, I present the latest addition to the Guided Meditation Treks suite of apps and albums: Vipassana. In this album, we explore the technique of body sensation awareness made popular by the Theravada Buddhists. Go step by step through treks that guide you through the process until you learn the technique enough to be able to practice it on your own.
Start with the breath… a simple shamatha practice to focus on your breathing
Continue with the sensations of breath... two anapana breath meditations which will sharpen the mind
Witness your body’s surface sensations... four different vipassana meditations for sensation awareness
Go deeper into vipassana... bring your awareness to inside the body
Come to place of loving kindness… conclude your sessions with unconditional love for all
Each track builds upon the other, teaching you a toolbox of different vipassana meditations from which you can pull the meditation that works best for any given session. Customize the length of each session based on the amount of time you have available. The album also contains a simple meditation timer so you can practice in silence once you no longer need to be guided through the meditations.
Note about the app: You must complete each track in order before the next track becomes enabled. This means listen to the introduction, then Shamatha will become available. Listen to Shamatha, then Anapana will become available. You cannot skip around. The exercises are meant to be done in order. Patience Pays.
Introduction Track
External Resources
The album focuses on introducing you to the technique, which originated with the Buddha and has been passed through many teachers over the centuries. In addition to technique, the Buddha taught many “wisdom teachings” to go hand-in-hand with meditation practice. There are many resources of wisdom out there in the Internet to take you closer towards enlightenment. Check out these great links while you’re not in meditation…
- Wikipedia’s overview of Theravada Buddhism.
- A place where you can sign up for a free 10-day vipassana retreat with Goenka
- Video of all 10 Goenka discourses from his 10-day vipassana retreat (if you can’t make it to a retreat yourself)