Buddhist Meditation in Myanmar
Vipassana meditation or Buddhist way of
meditation is an awareness meditation. It
teaches to be with the present moment ... to
live in the present moment. It teaches to be
aware of everything that comes to us and is
happening to us. Only the present moment is
important. And everything that comes to us at
the present moment through the six sense doors
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind — is to
be noted, to be watched, to be observed as the
object of awareness.
When we practice Vipassana meditation, by
making mental notes or just watching the various
things that come to us, we will bring awareness
to a high level so that we will be able to see
things as they truly are. We will come to see
the true nature of mind and body, of the mental
and physical phenomena of which you are
composed. "True nature" means the nature of
impermanence, the nature of un-satisfactoriness
and the nature of insubstantiality or the
absence of an unchanging self or soul. It is
important to see these three characteristics of
nature so that you can have a correct view of
things so that you may have less attachment to
mind and body, and gradually be able to weaken
the hold of mental defilements that prevent
enlightenment.
When we practice Vipassana meditation, we
choose an object on which to focus the mind.
That object will be the "home" object of
meditation. Traditionally, the breath is taken
as the object. We keep our mind focused on the
breath and make mental notes "in-out, in-out"
along with the breaths. During the noting of the
breath when your mind gets lost or distracted,
you make notes of them too, such as "thinking"
or "hearing" or "distractions" or "emotions",
etc. And also we make notes of the feelings in
our body. In this way, we keep ourselves aware
of everything that is happening in us or that
comes to our mind.
By keeping our mind on the object of meditation,
we are able to develop concentration or
one-pointed ness of mind which is necessary for
the penetrative knowledge into the true nature
of mind and body to arise. Without
concentration, this cannot happen. So, what we
need first is concentration. And in order to
have concentration, we must first keep our mind
focused on one object. If we can keep our mind
focused on one and the same object for some time
we can get the necessary concentration. But we
will find that in the beginning this is very
difficult to do even for a short time. That is
because we are dealing with the mind, which is
very unruly and difficult to control.
We can keep a wild bull by tying it with
ropes. But we cannot tie our mind with ropes, so
we tie our mind to the object with awareness or
mindfulness. In the beginning, mindfulness may
not be strong enough to tie the mind down to one
object and we may have many distractions to
interfere with our meditation. But when
distractions come to us, whether through the
eyes, ears or nose, etc., do not get irritated
or upset. Just turn them into the objects of
meditation by making notes of them too.
The beauty of Vipassana meditation lies in
the fact that all things are the objects for
this meditation, the breath is only the "home"
object. If we have no other objects to note,
just keep noting your breaths, and if there are
other objects, we just keep noting them too.
Whether we are keeping your mind on the breath
or on other distractions, we are doing good
meditation if we are aware of them.
When we practice Vipassana meditation, we
have to be patient and persevere. And do not get
discouraged if we cannot get concentration at
the beginning. Everybody has that experience.
And leave all our expectations behind when we
are meditating. Just be in the present moment.
And it these thoughts come to us in spite of the
instructions, just make them the object of
meditation. In this way, we can deal with
everything that comes to us effectively.
Meditation Tour
in Yangon
(2 days in Yangon with
Meditation Centers)
Day 1: Shwedagon
Pagoda and Meditation Center
Breakfast at hotel.
Full day meditation tour in Yangon starts with a
visit to world famous Shwedagon Pagoda in the
morning. This introductory visit to great place
of Buddhist monument expresses mainly Buddhist
way of life. Then proceed to the meditation
center where full day meditation experience can
be obtained. At arrival, welcomed and introduced
by chief monk of center, promptly placed in
assembly hall for self-practice. At your own
ease, seated and standing positions are guided.
Before leaving in the late afternoon, share and
review individual awareness on such noble
practice with senior instructor. Return to
hotel. Overnight stay at hotel. (Breakfast)
Day 2: Full day
program at Meditation Center
Breakfast at hotel.
Drive to meditation center. Full day meditation
program includes feedback on previous day
experiences, full day self-practice. Before
leaving, enrich your knowledge at library
resources of meditation center. Return to hotel.
Overnight stay at hotel. (Breakfast)
Advise:
You are kindly advised that all seasons in a
year that you can come and visit meditation
centers. Any person from any race, deeply
interested on this issue can experience
meditation in Myanmar. English is widely
understood in meditation centers. At the
beginning or the end of other Myanmar tour, you
could start or extend the stay of meditation
experience. You can also tailor the above tour
according to your own desires. Prior
consultations with us for detail information and
approval letter to be sent to the meditation
center are recommended. |
Included services
| |
: Accommodation stay with daily
breakfast at the hotels mentioned as
twin sharing basic
: All transfers and sight-seeing with
private air-conditioned vehicles
including driver service as mentioned in
the
program.
: All entrance fees payable in US$ for
the sites and monuments as mentioned in
the program.
: English-speaking local guide |
Excluded services
| |
: Myanmar visa fees
: Air port tax for international
departure.
: Meals throughout the tour except
breakfasts.
: Personal expenses
: Insurances |
* Surcharge can
be applied for foreign language-speaking guide,
and for full board or half board meal plans.
* Above tour can be customized according to your
own travel nature.
Request price quotation
Send email to Friend
View other classic tours
Meditation Centers
(1) Chanmyay
Yeiktha Meditation Centre
55A Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Kaba Aye P.O. Yangon
11061, Myanmar.
Tel: (01) 661479, Fax: 01- 667050
Email: chanmyay@mptmail.net.mm
Web site: www.chanmyay.org
Teacher: Ven. Sayadaw U Janaka
Tradition: Vipassana using late Mahasi Sayadaw
method
(2) Dhamma Joti
Vipassana Centre
Wingaba Yele Kyaung, Nga HtatGyi Pagoda Road,
Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: (1) 549 290
Contact: Mr. Banwariji Goenka, Bandoola
International Ltd
Office. No. 134, Shwebontha Street, Yangon,
Myanmar
Tel: (1) 72467, 248 174, 248 175, Fax: 289 965
299, Bosundat Street, Yangoon, Myanmar
Email: BANDOOLAMYANMAR@mtp400.stems.com
Tradition: Sayagi U Ba Khin
(3) International
Theravada Buddhist University
Dhammapala Hill, Mayangone P.O, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: 095-1-665673 / 095-1-660171
Fax: 095-1-665728 / 095-1-660789
(4) Mahasi Sasana
Yeiktha Meditation Centre
No 16, Sasana Yeiktha Road, Yangon, 11201,
Myanmar.
Tel: 01 541971, 552501
Fax: 289960, 289961
Email: Webmaster@mahasi.com
Web site: www.mahasi.com
Tradition: Satipatthana Vipassana meditation
(5) Panditarama
Meditation Centre
80 A, Thanlwin Road, Shwe Gon Dine P.O, Bahan,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: (951) 535448, 705525
Web site: web.ukonline.co.uk/buddhism/pandita.htm
Teacher: Ven. Sayadaw U Pandita
Tradition: Vipassana using late Mahasi Sayadaw
method
(6) Panditarama
Forest Meditation Centre (Shwe Taun Gon)
Tel: 0095-1-535448 and 0095-1-705525.
Shwe Taun Gon Forest Meditation Center is about
an hour by road from Yangon; specifically for
Westerners. The kutis (cabins) are spacious and
there is a large two-story meditation hall. |
