What is vipassana sadhana?
Vipassana is a meditation practice propagated by the Buddha. It is useful for calming the mind and nerves and removing stress. In this era, most people are not interested in dharma and moksha. Of the four purusharthas, now only two are being fulfilled: artha and kama. When you go into artha and kama without the balancing effect of dharma and moksha, you will have mental tensions, worries, feelings of insecurity and fear. The mind will be troubled, full of passion, anger, remorse and regret. Practices like vipassana can be used to keep the mind calm and balanced.
Can meditation techniques help stabilise marital relationships?
In all relationships there are feelings of insecurity and fear. The mind becomes dissipated, filled with anger, passion and guilt. One moment you are fighting and the next you are friendly again. In the evening you quarrel, and by morning you are friends. You say, "Sorry", and it is over, but all this creates tension. When you come to a really hot point, you have a shower, then you feel better. Similarly, at times of tension, you can do vipassana.
Yoga means to calm the restless mind, and yoga also means the techniques which calm the mind. When the restless mind is quietened, then it is said that yoga has been achieved. So, yoga is a practice and an attainment too. It is very difficult to talk about it. I tell everyone that first it is necessary to sort out artha and kama. King Janaka was liberated though he lived amongst passions. He had immense properties and wealth, position and power. He had everything, but he was calm.
There have been many such people who have lived a disciplined life and still followed the path of purushartha, self effort, while living in the world. They have done their duties, worked hard, but, in the midst of all, they were able to remain calm.
I saw Gandhiji during my youth. Even in old age, he had surprising purushartha. He was always calm and quiet despite political upheavals, clashes and killings. So, a person who can keep himself calm in the midst of money and passion, is worthy of praise. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says: That man who renounces all desires, gives up all ties, and becomes egoless and detached, achieves tranquillity of mind, even while performing action.
Just as all rivers flow into the sea and lose their individual existence at that point, in the same way, let all of your desires and fantasies flow, then anchor them at the point where they cease flowing. That central point has to be located, then you move beyond vipassana or you will remain stuck there.
How can mauna or observing silence succeed in the grihastha environment?
When you play a transistor for 24 hours will the battery go flat, or not? If you switch it off, the battery will last longer. That is the importance of mauna. In speaking, listening, thinking, walking, I am using up the battery's energy.
Our battery is pranic energy. That pranic energy is used up quickly in talking, in worrying, in passions. This pranic energy that is spent on all of our activities should be conserved. Conservation of prana is the solution to our energy crisis. If you can stay silent for some time, then the mental energy is conserved.
