Vipassana Meditation : Lectures On Insight Meditation by Venerable

If you cannot be mindful of daily activities, do not expect progress.Not noting daily activities leads to wide gaps of non-mindfulness.Continuity is needed to carry mindfulness forward from one moment to thenext.The faculty of mindfulness (satindriya) of a yogi involves constant anduninterrupted mindfulness for the whole day.Constant and un-interrupted mindfulness gives rise to deep concentration.Only with deep concentration can one realize the intrinsic nature of mentaland physical phenomenon, which leads one to the cessation of dukkha.There are many new things to discover everyday if you have constant anduninterrupted mindfulness.During a retreat, all you have to do is to be mindful. You need not hurry.The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw compared a meditator to a sick personwho moves about very slowly.Doing things extremely slowly makes your mind concentrated. If youintend to achieve something in your meditation, you must get accustomed toslowing down.When a fan is turning fast, you cannot see it as it really is. If it is turningslowly, then you can do so. So you will have to slow down to be able to seeclearly the mental and physical processes as they really are.When you are surrounded by people who are doing things in a rush, youmust be oblivious to the surroundings and energetically note any mental orphysical activity.Talking is a greater danger to the progress of insight.Five minutes' talk can wreck a yogi's concentration for the whole day.Do not read, recite or recollect. They are hindrances to your meditationprogress.Pain and PatiencePain is the friend of a meditator, do not evade it, it can lead you to Nibbána.Pain does not have to inform you of its coming. It may not disappear. If itdoes, you may cry over it, for your friends has gone away. Some yogis eveninduce pain by folding their legs beneath them.52