Last Sunday in my blog post about ?Concentration Meditation I explored concentrating on an object in meditation. Today, I would like to explore the Insight Meditation.

Insight Meditation is when you pay attention to the process, to the experience of changing phenomena rather than one particular object. Mental Noting is a powerful Insight Meditation technique. You can start by noticing your breath. You can either notice your breath as the rising and falling of your abdomen or the sensations around your nose. If you choose to work with your belly, you can start by placing both hands on the belly to feel the rising and falling of the belly.

You make a mental note while it is happening. So you either say: rising ? falling or in and out. From there you can expand and note other things as they occur: Thinking, imagining, intending, planning, judging

When you intend to swallow ? intending

When you swallow ? swallowing

When you hear a cell phone ? hearing

When you feel pain ? pain

HERE IS YOUR TIP:

Applying this technique to your daily life, not just during formal meditation, can benefit you a lot.

When you are starting to get stressed, try to name it and don’t be in it. When you’re walking, say ?walking?. It will help you to be mindful about your experience. When you’re eating, say: ?eating? and don’t read the paper at the same time.

You learn to name the mind state: for example, freaking out: when you become aware, you are no longer freaking out ? you create a space between the observer and the phenomena.

QUESTION:

If an image becomes dominant during Insight Meditation, what should I do?

ANSWER:

Whatever appears, note it. If you don’t, you are not doing the practice.