Table of Contents
To my students, who have inspired me so much with their courage and efforts, and to my teachers for their purity and wisdomAW
For all my teachersJS
Preface
WE HOPE this book touches that part of you which has longed for freedom but hasnt given it a name and which has yearned for lasting happiness but hasnt thought it possible. We hope this book provides a gateway through which you meet these yearnings, entering the world of the Dharma, the Buddhas teachings.
One of the remarkable aspects of Insight Meditationalso called Theravada (Teaching of the Elders) Buddhism, or Vipassana (insight meditation in the Pali language of the Buddhas time)is that this path is very simple. Not always easy, but possible. Although no one can know when the results of a spiritual path will manifest, we can be certain that the efforts described here and our endeavors in honor of our hearts liberation will bear fruit. May we find
Grace to live with an open heart and humor amid the turbulence of lifes changes
Presence that illuminates our lives and guides us in truth
Compassion to hold all lifes pain and suffering
Arinna Weisman
and Jean Smith
NOTE: In general, Pali rather than Sanskrit terms have been used, except when Sanskrit termsfor example, Nirvana (Nibbana) and Dharma (Dhamma)are more commonly used in the West.
chapter 1
The Possibility of Change: A Cinderella Story
When I was a child, the Cinderella story made me distinctly uncomfortable. So did Anne of Green Gables.Here were these images of people who were just too goodto be true: They were generous, they were sweet, they werediligent, they worked hard, they were compassionate, theynever seemed angry or judgmental or shaming or hating.At some level, I longed to be like them, but I felt that I wasmore like Cinderellas ugly sisters: They were jealous ofeach other, they were nasty, they were competitive, andthey were social climbers. They thought that they were notgood enough and yet they were self-consciously proud. Notuntil many years later did I learn that within the practiceof Insight Meditation I could embrace such seemingly contradictory feelings with peace and even affection.
AW
MANY PEOPLE experience this rift within themselves. Sometimes we feel anger, jealousy, envy, and desire as the ugly sisters, sort of bad people eventually relegated to the dim kitchen in the Princes palace or a dark place in our hearts. At the same time, we yearn to have the qualities of Cinderella and the Princebeauty, virtue, generosityand to live happily ever after. The good news is that no matter how powerfully we may feel torn between such conflicting emotions, the Buddhist tradition known as Insight Meditation, or Vipassana, invites us to heal that division.
Insight Meditation teachings do not demand that we live our lives as an eternal bliss trip by judging or cutting off what feels difficult or negative. That simply is not a realistic expectation for any human being. Instead, when energies such as anger, hatred, doubt, and anxietytraditionally called the hindrances in this practice (chapter 3)arise, we can learn to recognize them and to hold them in our hearts with kindness and with acceptance. We acknowledge them and even honor them, saying, Aha, here are these energies inside me. May I hold them with kindness. May I hold them with softness. That conscious relationshipit is like Cinderella and the ugly sisters mergedis where transformation happens.
If we could not envision how we would like to live and if we did not have the perseverance to make that vision a reality, no human being could change. One of our greatest advantages as human beings is that as long as we are alive, we can change.
This capacity feels to me like such a critical piece because when I was growing up I was not very happy. I was quite shut down and judgmental. Im not saying this out of any sense of shameit is just a pure acknowledgment of how I was, of how unhappy I was. If it were not for the possibility of change, I would still be caught in those negative energies.
AW
Even though we sometimes feel as if we are being clutched to the bosom of hurtful energies, the fundamentally good part of our nature is always there and can be awakened. The heart of Insight Meditation teachings is that there is a practice that calls upon our inner potential for wisdom, kindness, illumination, and a deep sense of connection to the beauty of all life. When this potential unfurls without obstructions, we are freefree of suffering, living with happiness that is not dependent on any particular thing, person, experience, or circumstance. This is our possibility. It is not just theoretical or something we are asked to accept on blind faith. We have proof of it in the lives of our spiritual teachers and people such as the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Hildegard of Bingen, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Dalai Lama.
A passage varyingly attributed to Nelson Mandela and Marianne Williamson elegantly articulates an invitation to express our possibility.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesnt serve the world.
Theres nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
Its not just in some of us; its in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As were liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
THE NATURE OF SUFFERING IN OUR LIVES
Insight Meditation teachings recognize the challenges we face in living as human beings and the reality that we often experience pain and sometimes tremendous suffering. Suffering does not mean we are failures or awful people or that we should feel ashamed about what is happening to us. The process of healing begins when we acknowledge our suffering and explore it, when we admit what is happeningand accept it.
As we open to our lives, we face the difficulty of illness. Some of us lose our health in a permanent way, for example, through cancer, heart disease, or arthritis. We all encounter the process of aging. Our bodies disintegrate in different ways and at different rates, but the changes due to aging are unavoidable and often painful. And we will all diea scary prospect for many of us.
For some of us our deepest challenges may not be physical but emotional, as psychic wounds keep opening up and bringing with them suffering. Perhaps no great difficulties are confronting us right now, but rather a general sense of dissatisfaction permeates our lives. We may believe things are going well, but we may not feel fulfilled, or we may sense we are not living our deepest purpose, or we may even feel that our life is out of control.
