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    Way Of Insight: A Guide to Meditation
    Way Of Insight: A Guide to Meditation
    Way Of Insight: A Guide to Meditation
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    Way Of Insight: A Guide to Meditation

    By Quyen Ngo

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Are you curious about meditation but have been too intimidated to try?

    In this comprehensive meditation guide, Buddhist studies scholar Quyen Ngo has drawn on his years of meditation practice and studies to show you how you can get in touch with the radiant mind and how you can turn the mundane into a source of reflection and joy, no matter your experience level.

    Way of Insight: A Guide to Meditation is a succinct and concise meditation manual with guidance on the most important meditation techniques aimed at developing mindfulness, concentration, and insight. For the first time, Quyen Ngo reveals his method of Systematic Progressing to show you how to develop your meditation systematically and monitor progress in a structured way.

    Whether you are a total beginner or an experienced meditator, if you seek transformative practices, realizing your full potential, and deepening insights, you’ll love Quyen Ngo’s handbook to exploring the universe within.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherQuyen Ngo
    Release dateApr 17, 2020
    ISBN9780648517122
    Way Of Insight: A Guide to Meditation

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      Book preview

      Way Of Insight - Quyen Ngo

      Introduction

      Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy... the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.

      Whatever a mother, father, or other kinsman might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better.

      —The Buddha²

      We all want contentment in our lives, yet only a few of us can honestly say that we are truly content under most circumstances. This is because most of the time we are running in the opposite direction! Instead of enjoying living in the present moment, our minds are forever chasing something else that might make us even happier: When I get this… Once I obtain that… Once I win the lottery… Happiness, then, is an illusion that is rarely fulfilled. Even when we get what we want, we are still not content, because the mind has already moved on to other desires. Our never-ending tasks create an undercurrent of something lacking or unsatisfactory in our lives. Similarly, we might suffer anxiety over something that might never materialize. And all of this comes from unrealistic expectations — illusions we created from our own wandering mind.

      This has been humanity’s dilemma for centuries. Fortunately, there were people bold enough to dedicate their lives to tackling this quandary. Over 2,500 years ago, the Buddha realized the way to attain serenity wasn’t to fulfill every one of our desires, but rather to look into our own mind to assess whether those desires were justified, or were they, in fact, the source of our suffering. The insight he uncovered was one of letting go rather than accumulation. He thus liberated his own mind from mental bondage. And although his teaching was completely contrary to most people’s way of thinking, there were those wise enough to listen, and they too were liberated.

      You could say what the Buddha discovered and taught was the art of contentment and liberation. As with any art, it requires training and effort. Here, the training involves observing the mind. Only through observing it can you understand that the mind’s unrealistic tendencies invariably lead to disappointment. The insights you obtain will be from your own verifiable experience, so you do not have to take anyone’s word for it. This is crucial. Only you can change yourself — nobody else can.

      This book on the art of contentment presents you with a set of skills designed for you to master your own mind and to obtain insights that will bring equanimity wherever you are and whatever situation you find yourself in. It will help you to realize contentment here and now. You don’t have to be anything or go anywhere — you’ve already got all the tools you need to succeed. You just need the craft to shape your mind, and this is what the art is all about.

      Your mind is like a garden; landscape and cultivate it so you can enjoy its beauty. Left untended, it will be filled with weeds.

      Over these pages, I will share with you the wisdom of the sages: how to observe the mind to obtain insights. Of course, you cannot observe the mind without the power of concentration, so that forms the foundation of our training.

      I will show you how you can recognize harmful and beneficial states of mind, how to cultivate positive mental states, and how to weed out the negative ones. You will learn how to calm your mind to become concentrated. When the mind is concentrated, insights will naturally arise.

      Also, when your mind is concentrated, every aspect of your life will be better. Your memory will improve, your work will be more productive, your interactions more meaningful, and your senses heightened. Even the trees and the sky will appear more vivid and colorful. The clarity you’d get with a concentrated mind will make your previous mental state seem dull and drowsy. This is because a concentrated mind is more engaged in the present moment.

      The practice will also help you to develop compassion, and the heightened empathy will help you to become more tolerant and less stressed. This in turn fuels concentration.

      With continued insight practice, you will start to uproot the negative tendencies (such as phobias, fears, insecurities, and anxieties) as they are now seen under new perspectives. You will have a better understanding of yourself, others, the natural world we live in, and the interconnectedness of all things.

      The book begins with the benefits of meditation, then moves on to techniques in how to practice concentration and insight, and finally how to select and combine techniques in a program suitable for your needs, similar to the way you would employ certain exercises to develop strength or stamina that is unique for your sport. Therefore, it is important to read the final chapter before you begin to practice.

      It is important that you adhere strictly to the instructions given. Please do not mix with what you have been doing or what you have read elsewhere. This method is structured to work exactly as prescribed below. You will not get the results as intended if you mix with other techniques. So forget all that you have known and empty your mind before you begin this practice.

      The techniques outlined in this book I drew from the teachings of my two renowned Burmese masters in the Theravada tradition, Sayadaw Venerable Eikdi Bala³ and Venerable Baddanta Dhammapati. I am very grateful for their patient guidance and for allowing me to share their knowledge with others. Thus, you can now benefit from their teaching in the comfort of your own home without having to ward off pesky mosquitoes in the sweltering forests of Myanmar.

      After months of guidance with daily interviews on the art of mindfulness and concentration, I distilled the most salient points to share with you. I hope this teaching will be a big eye-opener for you, the reader, as it was for me.

      You might ask: what makes this book any different to hundreds out there on mindfulness meditation? In fact, even the word mindfulness is such a cliché now. Well, from my own experience, I was embarrassed to admit I had many years of experience in meditation before I met my teachers. They made me feel like I knew nothing at all! Mindfulness of breathing was so profoundly subtle that after months of all-day meditation, I still had so many questions to ask. Bearing this in mind, I have made the instructions as detailed as possible to the point of repeating myself in places. I suggest you read the instructions repeatedly, because each time you read, a certain concept may become clearer after you have had some practice. The depth, scope, and the way you employ the techniques is what makes this book

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