Learnings & Experiences

  • Asking Questions

    Asking Questions

    Recently at the Aarohi Campus, there was a conversation around “learning by asking questions.” Ratnesh was encouraging learners at Aarohi’s Coversity to ask lot of questions to industry experts in their domain as a way of getting to know the industry. No doubt, asking questions is a great way to understand the world around us.…

  • Self-Not-Required

    Self-Not-Required

    When one thinks of Self (mySelf, thySelf, herSelf, himSelf, theirSelf and so on), it seems to point to an entity who is in control and calling shots in the region of influence of that Self. “Region of influence of Self” would include mind, body and perhaps some instrument that is at the moment an extension…

  • Equanimity

    Equanimity

    During Vipassana meditation, the idea is to watch body sensations as they are, equanimously — ie. without reacting.  When I first started practicing, I was kind of unclear what “without reacting” or “equanimity” meant. Equanimity is a priced quality of a meditator and it is elusive. Sometimes I feel like I got it, and many…

  • The Practice

    The Practice

    I restarted meditation practice in early Aug 2023. I have written a full post about what led me to restart my practice, after I completely let it go in 2016 when I completed my first 10 day Goenka retreat. It started off small with just 5 min Aana Paana, once a day. Then a week…

  • Seven Years

    Seven Years

    Looking at biographical stories of many enlightened people, I have formed a theory that it takes roughly seven years for a meditator to go from start to complete realisation. After that, according to Frank Yang, it takes roughly seven years for the realisation to be more or less integrated with everything in life. Additionally, it…

  • “Who I am” is “What I see”

    “Who I am” is “What I see”

    During meditation, I have been noticing something interesting. As I observe sensations closely, they seem to behave differently. For instance, the very act of breathing changes when I observe it closely. The vibrations that float around breathing change as I observe them closely. Initially, the vibrations are in sync with breathing and when I watch…

  • The Way of the Mind

    The Way of the Mind

    One of the first things that Goenkaji tells us during the 10 days Vipassana retreat was this: When the mind comes in touch with a sensation, there is a reaction of craving or aversion. Out of ignorance (avijja), one does not understand the impermanent nature of the body and the mind. One therefore constantly goes…

  • Noting

    Noting

    Once we have done some amount of concentration practice, and then some amount of insight practice, we get into the territory where we start noticing things like body sensations, vibrations, emotions and thoughts (memories, plans, ideas). It will become easy to drop into meditation. Gone will be the days when you had to focus and…

  • Observing Emotions

    Observing Emotions

    How do we know that we are angry, or irritated, or sad, or frustrated, or scared, or anxious, or happy, or elated, or excited, or aroused, or horny, or bored, or anything else? No, no.. let me put it another way. How exactly are anger, irritation, sadness, frustration, fear, anxiety, happiness, excitement, arousal and boredom…

  • Observing Thoughts

    Observing Thoughts

    When I first learned Vipassana at the 10 day Goenka retreat in Dhamma Paphulla in 2016, I was taught to practise watching sensations in the body exactly as it is, not as I want it to be. The idea was to watch every sensation as it came and to realise that every sensation has only…

  • Observing the Breath

    Observing the Breath

    What exactly should one observe in the Breath during meditation? That was my nagging question after the first few sittings of Aaana Paana at Dhamma Paphulla in Jan of 2016, when I went in for my first 10 day retreat. I went into the 10 day retreat with a lot of excitement and motivation. But…

  • Vipassana and Anger

    Vipassana and Anger

    I had a violent and angry outburst three days ago, the kind I had not experienced in a long time. I have been consistently practicing vipassana for close to 8 weeks. In the past 4 weeks, its been two sessions of an hour each, every single day. I know that I am making progress on…

  • An approach to getting fit

    An approach to getting fit

    Being fit has a whole lot of benefits associated with it. Getting fit, on the other hand may feel like a roller-coaster ride. The process seems to feel less than inspiring. One has to deal with making new year resolutions, only to break it just a couple of weeks later, while simultaneously noticing other people…

  • Seeing, not with eyes. Hearing, not with ears.

    Seeing, not with eyes. Hearing, not with ears.

    Eyes are not the only ones seeing, ears are not the only ones hearing. Vision is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the eyes.  Hearing is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the ears.  Pain is a sensation, but it is not always something that…

  • Waves of Sensations

    Waves of Sensations

    When one sits by the beach and watches waves in the ocean, it becomes clear that waves arise, do their thing and pass away. No wave stays put. Once arisen, they move, and ultimately pass away. Each wave is made of the same water as every other wave. No new water is created, or destroyed.…