Open-Hearted Insight. Everyday Awakening

The Metta Vipassana meditation retreat was a deeply transformative experience for me. Unlike traditional Vipassana, this practice is rooted in metta—loving-kindness—and that made the progress feel natural and surprisingly fast. The daily one-on-one interactions with Bhante provided profound insights and gentle course correction, helping me deepen my practice with clarity. The emphasis on smiling, love, and compassion made the inner awakening feel alive and joyful. What stood out was that progress wasn’t just meditative depth, but an inner joy that naturally wanted to be shared—even with ‘enemies.’ The daily discourses were beautifully aligned, answering doubts before they arose and preparing me for the next day This heightened mindfulness helped me clearly see my habitual thought patterns and gently rewire them toward more constructive, joyful ways of living. I am sure that even first-time meditators can experience remarkable inner shifts through this practice as it is simple and joyful, focusing on just smile and relaxion.

நான் வகுப்பிற்கு முன் இருந்த கெட்ட குணங்கள்: பொறுமையின்மை, கர்வம், திமிர், அதீத பாலியல் ஈடுபாடு/வறட்சி, சோம்பேறித்தனம், கோபம், சுடு சொல். இவை அனைத்தும் மிகப் பெரிய மாற்றம் அடைந்துள்ளன. மேலும், ஞானத்தின் முக்கிய நிலைகளில் ஒன்றாய், எல்லாம் நமக்குள் ஒன்றாய், நாம் வேறு, மற்றவர் வேறு அல்ல என்பதை நான் உணர்வுபூர்வமாய் அனுபவத்தில் உணர்ந்துள்ளேன். எல்லாம் வல்ல இயற்கைக்கும், புத்தருக்கும், பண்டே அவர்களுக்கும், ராஜ்மஹேந்திரா அவர்களுக்கும் மிக்க நன்றி.

Translation: The bad qualities I had before the retreat were: impatience, arrogance, insolence/haughtiness, excessive sexual involvement/interest, laziness, anger, and harsh words. All of these have undergone a very great transformation. Furthermore, I have consciously experienced and realized one of the key stages of wisdom: that everything is one within us, and that we are not separate from others. Many thanks to the almighty Nature, to the Buddha, to the Bhante, and to Rajmahendra.

முதலில் என்னாலும் கண்களை மூடி தியானம் செய்ய முடியும் என்பதை உணர்ந்தேன். ஆறு ‘R’கள் (6Rs) மனதில் ஆழமான பதிவை உண்டாக்கியதால், மனம் வேறு எங்கு செல்ல முற்பட்டாலும், ‘6Rs’ தானாக உள்ளே வந்துவிட்டது. இதனால், நான் தியானத்தில் இருந்ததை என்னால் உணர முடிந்தது. நன்றி ஐயா. புன்னகை என் முகத்தில் மட்டுமல்ல, மனதிலும் ஏற்பட்டதை அறிந்தேன். எனது ஆன்மீக நண்பர் (Spiritual Friend) சொன்ன மெத்தாவை நான் உணர்ந்த மகிழ்ச்சியை விட, எனக்கு நான் மெத்தா சொல்லிக் கொண்டபோது பல மடங்கு மகிழ்ச்சியை உணர்ந்தேன்.

Translation : For the first time, I realized and felt confident that I am capable of meditating even with my eyes closed. The Six Rs (6Rs) have created such a profound impression on my mind that they automatically intervene whenever my mind begins to wander. As a result, I was clearly able to perceive when I was in a state of meditation. Thank you, sir. I realized that the practice brought a smile not only to my face but also to my heart and mind. The joy I felt when generating Mettā (loving-kindness) for myself was many times greater than the happiness I experienced when my Spiritual Friend shared Mettā with me.

 

 

A wonderful eight-day course of Samath Vipassana was completed.  I also realized after Supriya’s gratefully written post, I also want to express my gratitude. I got to learn important things: that Panchsheel and Arya Ashtangik path are of unique importance in human life, I want to practice them daily.

I have become aware of the qualities and defects in myself, so of course I have started to cultivate the qualities and remove the defects. Manjula madam took this course single-handedly. I have taken their enthusiasm, energy and positivity and of course started using it.  🙏🙏

Just completed this eight days course and returned home yesterday.

 I had heard about Vipassana till today, but I heard about this course from my friend from 9th to 16th March and decided to go for at least two days.  Now I know what I would have achieved in two days..?Really, everyone must do this course.. This is a very useful course for beginners.  In eight days only by observing the movements of the mind, giving a sense of friendship there, a light smile, mastering the art of stopping those movements for a while and experiencing one’s own mind free from thought and calm, the joy has been experienced in life… and this joy is beyond all the joys experienced so far.  Realized that it is much more valuable than moments.  Now I will try to keep this happiness forever by using this art of calming and alerting the mind forever.

My sincere thanks to Manjula madam because I have succeeded in raising my mind by very calmly giving solutions to whatever distractions I had in two days and doing the eight days course fully alert.  And I returned home with an unlimited supply of positive energy.

Physically, my body felt light, and it felt like I didn’t really have a physical body except for the sensations I was feeling on the top of my head.

Mentally, the excitement/pressure feeling from the initial days of the meditation has subsided. Now, the feeling of Metta is more calm in a way without the excitement.

This continues during the walking meditation as well. My mind is more silent and quite with the intention of Metta but not the excitement and the pleasure of it. I am genuinely surprised as to how silent my mind has become, especially during walking meditation and during daily activities. Starting to understand what Bhante meant when he said, “Life is meditation, meditation is life.”

“Today during my morning sit, which was from 8-11am, I could radiate metta for the first hour until my body dissolved and I felt no discomfort at all. And my mind got so quiet that I could see just the vibrations that eventually become thoughts, and I could relax these vibrations before they become distractions. It was so clear how all things in the 6 sense doors arise because of some cause and how ignorantly we tend to react to them and create a mental proliferation about these things in our mind. When none of it is under our control. It’s all just happening, and I could watch this process for many hours today. It was very beautiful state to be in it even stretched into meal time and as I walked. The quiet mind stayed along as I kept 6ring all the distractions before they took my mind too far into mental proliferation. This is a very amazing technique. I’ve been doing Goenka style vipassana for 13 years, and in all my time I haven’t seen dependent origination so clearly”