Insight Meditation

Buddhist meditation practices often emphasize mainly concentration,

particularly on a certain person, place or thing. They teach the mind to

focus on one point or object, which achieves strength of concentration. The

results are peaceful states, and in some very rare cases are said to create

supernormal powers. That is no wonder why many people steer in that

direction, in hopes of achieving "superpowers". Insight meditation is quite

different however, and although some degree of concentration is needed, the

meditator focuses more on mindfulness of the situation.

Insight is defined in the dictionary as "the capacity to discern the

true nature of a situation". The basis of insight meditation is the four

foundations of mindfulness. They include contemplation 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 inwardly and outwardly etc. One must be conscious of

mind-objects such as desire, and understand hoe feelings like that come

about and how they are eliminated.

To understand mindfulness as simply as possible, one can look at the

difference between an unmindful person and the opposite. Everyday 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 walking,

such as someone who slips and falls. The state of mind of this person is

unclear and possibly confused.

We can compare this to ourselves in everyday life. Almost everybody

has moments of calmness and moments of panic 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 desolate beach, with not

a single soul around, we would have a higher 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 experienced 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