The Burmese Vipassana system of meditation (purportedly the very one used by the Buddha and his disciples to reach enlightenment) asks the practicioner to note every thought and every movement every waking minute until such a time as the practicioner’s apparatus for notation becomes acute and at the deepest level the following is realized: “all that exists is a series of material objects and mind/body reactions to those objects - the mistaken idea that you exist is an illusion.” The only thing easy about this method is the succinctness with which the instruction can be given to the practicioner. After 50 hours of practice (which is nothing, especially given my lack of discipline/ the low level of quality of my practice/effort): 1) I thought as I itched, realized I needed to scratch myself, raised my arm, touched my face, scratched, lowered the arm, and enjoyed the sensation of satisfying the desire to scratch my face I thought “ my god! Is that all we are? Desires and the satisfying or the pain of not satisfying those desires?” Humiliating and humbling. 2) I did not until now realize the role of the subconscious mind. Everything we do (the details of action) is its’ charge (just try asking anyone about the minutia of eating their cereal). We think we understand something when we can grasp it with the conscious mind – great, but unusable – until we can burn it deeply into our subconscious through diligence and repetition we cannot use this new skill or idea. DILIGENCE + TIME = SUBCONCIOUS IMPRESSION. Once we have made this impression we can move forward with this new skill at our disposal. Not having enough time, or trying to increase the amount of diligence to make up for a lack of time has merit up to the point that any “forcing” or “stress” feeling arises. At that juncture & beyond only damage is done to the learning process. 3) Meditating is like standing at home plate with your bat in your hands. You must look at the pitcher and when your attention wanders from the pitcher you must gently bring it back to the pitcher as soon as you note that it has wandered. The pitcher is throwing your old thought patterns at you: distractions, pains, urges feelings etc. and you hit a home run every time you note this urge (what the pitcher has thrown) and remain at the ready, bat in hand. Be prepared to stand at bat for a long time – you have at least your whole lifetime worth of accrued baseballs to field. “The mind that is flickering and fickle is difficult to guard and control. But the wise person straightens the mind as the arrow-maker straightens the arrow.” Best book “ A Guide to the Mind Purification (Vipassana)” by Dr. Rastral Mahathera

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