B. VIPASSANA ABSORPTION

We have said that the application of Concentration in Insight Meditation is made easier by previous experiences with Samatha Meditation. However, access can be attained by skilled practice of Mindfulness of Breathing.

In the meditations, the discernments show the arising and passing away at each moment. We call this the rising and falling away of mind moments. They are seen to arise and fall away from the mind without external substance as far as their sense forms are concerned.

This, we said, is called the Stage of Reflection.

In this stage there occurs upon discernment a series of clear realizations concerning the illusory true nature of these events. Mind, it is said, then "begins to know itself." There may occur sharp flashes of light, which should be ignored, and Rapture.

With stability in the perception of the rising and falling away there arises a strong Mindfulness and Equanimity towards the retrieved traces of the meditation and the Energy used is steady without the presence of stress or tension.

There is a clear understanding that the mind witnessing its own workings is quite different than the final product of Cognition, which is bound by language. It is also quite clear that the Cognitive Self is illusory and that there is a constant Impermanence of all phenomena.

  This then allows the elevation of the meditation to what can be called the Absorption.

Not all would agree, but I prefer to consider that the Absorption begins when within the Discernments of Insight Meditation there is the realization of the unsatisfactory and wearisome nature of all phenomena that arises from the mind, is caressed by Cognition and falls within the stream of Consciousness.

There is a fast and flawless discernment of the illusion of all mind-objects and the dissapearance of all the experiences of lights and rapture. Equanimity and an effortless insight persists with regards to Suffering, Non-Existence and Impermanence and the previous experiences of mind-moments become an unattached state.