PUT THE WORLD WITHIN INVERTED COMMAS
| The purpose of insight
meditation is to arouse that clarity of vision which
enables one to see things as they are. It requires
uninvolved detached observation free from biases and
prejudices. One’s involvement with the world is so
subtle that it cannot be seen and eliminated by means of
any demonstrative apparatus. It can only be done through
insight and wisdom. The way to insight lies through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness outlined in the Satipatthâna Sutta. The setting up of mindfulness implied by the term ‘satipatthâna’, is an objective approach to understand the subjective in one’s experience. The ‘search needle’ of mindfulness has to come down right on the present moment so that one can be fully aware of it. Full awareness that goes hand in hand with mindfulness acts as a searchlight revealing the subjective in one’s experience. Attachments, aversions and delusions could then be seen for what they are. While mindfulness stands guard at the six sense-doors, full-awareness attends to the impinging sense-objects, noting them mentally. This method of mental noting opens an avenue of detached observation leading to deeper levels of insight. The world arising at the six sense-bases is put within inverted commas. With serene equanimity one stands apart and sees its rise and fall.
|