Tuesday, July 06, 2010

third Vipassana

I left Bali at the end of May and gradually made my way to Dubai, arriving just yesterday. I had a 2-week stopover in Thailand, because I felt that another Vipassana was a must before leaving Asia.


It turned out to be a good decision, those 11-day long silent meditation sittings do amazing things for me. I believe that there are “mental membranes” between unconscious, subconscious and conscious minds. The more I externalize my attention, try to seek satisfaction in stuff and do not take time to settle my mind, the thicker the membranes get. Corporate work, drinking, trying to keep up with social expectations and trying to please others have been my major membrane thickeners. As a result I lose touch with the reality deep down and things get distorted in my mind. Vipassana drills huge holes to those membranes, and things start to flow freely towards the surface. I remember things, I see the reasons why things happened, I understand how my mind works. I get in touch with the relativity of truth, my truth... Sometimes it can get quite overwhelming to see myself as it is; that I am not always the ever so sweet and innocent Snow White, in fact I am very capable of injecting poison into an apple before offering it to a Snow White. It's easier to believe that I am a result of randomness or consequences of stuff that other people do. I am commitment-phobic to men because of my father, I could not complete my masters degree because the dean hated me and did not give me a make-up exam, I am now broke because my last company fired me in a horrible way, etc etc... All these may be true or they may be a result of my exaggerated imagination, it doesn't matter at all. What matters is how I respond to such situations. Vipassana makes me realize that giving the power to the others/situations and pretending to be the victim is actually very comforting and easy. It's scary to take charge of my life and accept that I'm responsible for every tiny bit that happens in it. It's like constantly trying to balance myself on a pilates ball; the minute I think I got it and try to release a little will be the moment that I fall flat on my face. If I want to stay on top, I cannot afford to let things go auto-pilot.


Then where and how does “letting go” come into this picture, I have no idea... How can I take full charge and then let things go in their universal flow is a total mystery to me. That seems to be another fine-balance on the ball that I haven't mastered yet. Tighten your muscles too much and you'll be tired too soon, let go of everything at once and you'll fall. Yep, it sounds perfect when I put it this way but I am yet to experience this perfection.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful piece of truth my dear, very inspiring.
    Be well and I hope we cross path sometime in the future.

    Love, Wid

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  2. As we talked at Uzunya_İstanbul: the reason why we come to this life is to recognise who we are .Right now, all we know and live is what is taught and believed.Now it's time to break the chain and like you said instead of accuse someone /something see the cause inside us.

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  3. @superyogini; thanks baby! I know I will see you again sometime

    @kivircik sacli kiz; so true and now I feel that the real challenge for me is to still maintain that attitude in Dubai .
    It's easy to be empathic, meditative and spiritual in a place where everyone else is the also empathic, meditative and spiritual :) Coming to Dubai where everything is judged by the size of your ego, wallet and car is like the ultimate test

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  4. Really enjoyed your description how Vipassana works. I have heard about similar processes but I enjoyed yours the most since it comes from first hand experience. Thank you!

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  5. @Miuku kiitos :) however everyone's Vipassana experience is so unique and different. I wouldn't want to create any expectations or color your Vipassana experience if you are planning to sit for it.

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