I have concluded that, with very rare and fleeting exceptions, ninety-five percent of the sensations that make up our experience are really no problem at all, even in the difficult stages, but seeing this clearly is not always easy.

This stage, called Path (magga in Pali) also lasts just a moment, and after the first completed progress of insight it marks the first moment of the newly awakened being's awakened life. It marks a permanent shift in baseline perception and brain function. It is as if you have flipped a huge switch that you can't unflip, and new circuitry hums to

Another quick digression here: a dangerous notion that pervades many spiritual circles is that it is bad to want to awaken, and that no discipline, effort, or application of a technique could produce awakening. These notions are completely absurd and have paralyzed or preempted the practice of far too many. I believe these ideas have come from an

Some of my favorite places to go on retreat are: The Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts; Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia; the Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre (MBMC) in Penang, Malaysia (teachers vary there: check before going); and Gaia House near Totnes, England. Worth mentioning are the Mahasi centers in

A quick digression here: awakening is about understanding the fundamental nature of all sensate experiences, and what they happen to be is ultimately completely and utterly irrelevant to awakening. Thus, very awakened beings understand something fundamental about whatever arises or however their lives manifest, that is, its impermanence, emptiness,

Now, it is true that the battle is not always to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but that's the way to bet. In other words, those who: 1) do lots of practice in daily life; 2) go on more and longer retreats; 3) are more consistently able to concentrate and investigate quickly and precisely; 4) pay attention more often during their daily

In short, when doing insight practices, constantly work to perceive sensations arise and pass as quickly and accurately as you possibly can.

By training in insight, we can improve how we fundamentally perceive reality at a bare sensate level, such that our actual sensate experience becomes progressively clearer. This increased clarity can become hardwired into our brains, such that our baseline degree of sensate clarity increases.

The hindrances are formally listed as: sensory desire ill will or malice sloth/torpor restlessness/worry doubt Each of these states of mind will inhibit meditative progress if we are not aware of them as sensate objects for investigation as they arise.