Insight Meditation :: essays research papers

Buddhist meditation practices lots emphasize mainly concentration, particularly on a certain person, gunpoint or thing. They teach the mind to focus on one point or object, which progress tos strength of concentration. The results are peaceful states, and in some real rare cases are said to create supernormal powers. That is no enjoy why many people steer in that direction, in hopes of achieving "superpowers". appreciation meditation is quite different however, and although some degree of concentration is needed, the meditator focuses more than(prenominal) on mindfulness of the situation. Insight is defined in the dictionary as "the capacity to discern the true nature of a situation". The tush of insight meditation is the four foundations of mindfulness. They include expression of the body, contemplation of feelings, contemplation of the mind-state and contemplation of mind-objects. To achieve mindfulness one must try to be aware of these foundations as they exist in their bodies. For example to be mindful of the body, it is necessary to be aware of breathing in, breathing out, posture, bodily movements in spite of appearance and outwardly etc. One must be conscious of mind-objects much(prenominal) as desire, and understand hoe feelings like that come about and how they are eliminated. To understand mindfulness as simply as possible, one croupe look at the difference between an unmindful person and the opposite. day-by-day we see people who are unmindful of their actions, unmindful of their movements. Someone on the street who steps into a large puddle is unmindful of straitsing, such as someone who slips and falls. The state of mind of this person is unclear and perhaps confused. We can compare this to ourselves in everyday life. Almost everybody has moments of calmness and moments of scourge in their lives. When we are calm and composed, our minds are bright and clear, and our actions involve more thought. If we were to take a long walk on a gross(a) beach, with not a single soul around, we would have a higher(prenominal) degree of mindfulness than say, a walk to the subway station. A walk along the beach is much more peaceful, thus easier for us to achieve that mindfulness. On the other hand most of us have see a time in our lives when we have been panic-stricken, for whatever reason. In those cases, are mind is cluttered, we cannot think clearly and make rational decisions. In a way we are separate from our mind