Speaking about Food during this Water Fast / Liquid fast Challenge

What I have realized today during my meditation (May 11, 2020) is that it is not about eating, it is all about cooking... this is what I miss.

Preparing meals, mixing things, making juices, smoothies, granolas, dehydrating, (I am currently sprouting to be able to prepare things in the coming days), that is exactly what I miss, time in the kitchen.

I have experienced many things lately, specially during the quarantine period, I even made bread, from the little ingredients I have.

So the idea is not just make something and find the recipe online, it is more then that... First look in the cupboard, see what is available, check any recipe for any thing I had in mind, and try to see what can I use from what I have. As mentioned in an earlier post, I haven't been grocery shopping for almost a month (and yes, I miss that too.... I love being in the grocery shop... ask my friend Manny, he saw me glowing inside one.. just seeing the abundance of food, the organic produce, and products... oh yes I miss that... soon, very soon I will head to TAU Laval or Mile End Epicery soon.)

Trying to be smart with what is available. Like for example, before my 2:30 pm sitting today, I decided to take out some carrot pupls I saved from juicing almost a month ago, and put it in a pot, with garlic, turmeric, ginger, water and organic vegetable broth, and left it there on very low temperature to cook. What I have realized is that my meditation was really flowing with vibration, from the top of the head all the way down, really nicely with lots of equanimity, oh that was wonderful... until my belly started making noises from the laxative herbal tea I had this morning, but nothing has occured yet. I think, just the thought that I prepared the soup, being in the kitchen gave me the pleasure... not sure if that is a Shila, or what does he call it... it is a nice pleasure to prepare anyways, I feel good, and that helped my mind to be so present & I did enjoy the meditation.

Now having the soup on the stove, waiting so soon I put it in the vitamix to mix it and maybe allow myself to take few sips.

I just wanted to mention this today... as I found another pleasure then writing... which is cooking...
funny I am saying that, and noticing that this Blog was created in 2012 because I loved writing and was truly inspired... and my challenge was to learn how to prepare raw food, as I couldn't afford spending my salary at Crudessence, back in the days... go figure... who thought one day I can mix things without the need for the ingredient book (check one of the first posts...) and follow every recipe in each book that I had to translate so I can post it here ...from french to English...

I guess, all of this is a wonderful reminder, and a great gift to remember.... we all have gifts within us.. dig deeper and they shall blossom.

Love ya!!



PS: I have been food recycling! I find this very interesting... the taste though... definitely needs a lot of adjustments

Carrot pulp - Garlic - Turmeric - Ginger - Dried spices (Onion, celery, rosemary, thyme, herbal salt, Coriander)

Taste was so so - that I had to squeeze a lemon and add black pepper to taste a bit better

So the few things I have prepared during the past days...

A look like miso soup

This one I added water with organic miso broth, plus these algae

I added it because it contains a lot of Iron and Vitamin B12

and it looked like this - had a small cup and froze the rest.

As for this one, I made one small cup, then throw the rest... it was way too expired...

Mouloukia Soup

Viriya, The Pāramī of Proper Efforts

I felt, sharing these info are so meaningful, for whom ever feel the peace within... in JOY

Viriya, The Pāramī of Proper Efforts

- by S. N. Goenka

Pāramīs are virtues—that is, good human qualities. By perfecting them, one crosses the ocean of misery and reaches the stage of full liberation, full enlightenment. Everyone who is working to liberate oneself has to develop the ten pāramīs. They are needed to dissolve the ego and to reach the stage of egolessness. A student of Dhamma who aspires to attain the final stage of liberation joins a Vipassana course in order to develop these pāramīs.

Little by little, one develops these pāramīs in every course. They should be developed in daily living as well. However, in a meditation course environment, the perfection of the pāramī can be greatly accelerated.

A human life is of limited duration, with limited capabilities. It is important to use one’s life to the best purpose. And there can be no higher purpose than to establish oneself in Dhamma, in the path, which leads one out of defilements, out of the illusion of self, to the final goal of ultimate truth. Therefore no effort is more worthwhile for a human being than the exertion of all one’s faculties to take steps on this path.

In a Vipassana course, a meditator makes best use of his energy and of the time at his disposal by developing the faculties of sati (awareness) and of paññā (insight). The student strives to become conscious of everything that is happening within himself, from the grossest to the subtlest level. At the same time, one strives to observe dispassionately whatever reality may manifest at this moment, with the understanding that this experience is impermanent, this will also change. These two faculties, in proper combination, will lead the meditator along the path to full liberation, full enlightenment.

From time to time, because of the ingrained habit pattern of the mind, the meditator is inundated by waves of craving, aversion, sloth and torpor, mental agitation, and scepticism. These are nothing but the reaction of one’s own mental defilements, trying to stop the process of purification one has begun. The wise student persists in the struggle, using all his or her energy to oppose these enemies. One thereby strengthens oneself in the pāramī of viriya.

Truth is God

- by S. N. Goenka

Not long after I started teaching Vipassana in India, a course was organized at Sevagram. This is the village founded by Mahatma Gandhi as a place for people to carry out his ideal of a simple life of service. Among those who participated in the course were several who had been close to Gandhiji in his lifetime. Near the end of the course one of these people, an elderly man, came to me and said, “Now at last I understand what Gandhiji was doing, after all these years!” And he told me the following story.

It had been the custom of Gandhiji to hold mass prayer meetings to which tens of thousands of people would come. At these meetings he would tell all the people to chant prayers or hymns and to clap their hands. But while they did so he would sit silently in front of them, with closed eyes and hands folded in his lap. He did not clap his hands not utter a word himself.

“One day,” this man told me, “I asked Gandhiji, ‘Why don’t you chant and clap with everyone? What are you doing as you sit there with closed eyes?’ He replied, ‘I am witnessing God within me.’

‘You witness God within yourself! That is wonderful! Please tell me what form God takes in your inner vision.’

‘Well, throughout my body I can sense change taking place, a constant flux or flow. This is the true nature of this body. I observe this truth. And for me this is God. Whether it is really true that there is a supreme God I cannot say, but there cannot be any doubt that truth is real. For me truth is supreme, truth is God. I experience this truth moment by moment within me.’”

Gandhiji had never even heard the word “Vipassana”, but he had spontaneously started practicing the technique. After all, what is Vipassana except observing the truth about ourselves, the truth of our ever-changing nature? And whoever observes this truth is naturally transformed by it to become a pure-minded person who is fit to experience ultimate truth.

Questions and Answers

Student: Aren’t there any chance happenings, random occurrences without a cause?

Goenkaji: Nothing happens without a cause. It is not possible. Sometimes our limited senses and intellects cannot clearly find it, but that does not mean that there is no cause.

Student: Are you saying that everything in this life is predetermined?

Goenkaji: Well, certainly our past actions will give fruit, good or bad. They will determine the type of life we have, the general situation in which we find ourselves. But that does not mean that whatever happens to us is predestined, ordained by our past actions, and that nothing else can happen. That is not the case. Our past actions influence the flow of our life, directing them towards pleasant or unpleasant experiences. But present actions are equally important. Nature has given us the ability to become masters of our present actions. With the mastery we can change our future.

Student: But surely the actions of others also affect us?

Goenkaji: Of course. We are influenced by the people around us and by our environment, and we keep influencing them as well. If the majority of people, for example, are in favour of violence, then war and destruction occur, causing many to suffer. But if people start to purify their minds, then violence cannot happen. The root of the problem lies in the mind of each individual human being, because society is composed of individuals. If each person starts changing, then society will change, and war and destructions will become rare events.

Student: We’ve talked quite a bit about anicca, impermanence. What about the teaching of anattā, which is ordinarily understood as “no self” and “no abiding self?” Ordinarily we think that we need a self in order to function in the world. We have expressions like “self-esteem” and “self-confidence”, and we believe that “ego strength” is a measure of a person’s ability to cope with daily life. What does this “no-self” teaching mean?

Goenkaji: For those who haven’t experienced the stage of “no-self,” it is true that in the apparent world there must be an ego, and this ego must be stimulated. If I don’t crave anything, I won’t get the stimulation I need to function. In my courses, whenever I say that craving and attachment are harmful, people say that if there were no attachment, no craving, what would be the fun of living? There would be no life. We’d all be like vegetables.

Being a family man who has done business in the world, I can understand their concern. But I also understand that when you work with this technique and reach the stage where ego dissolves, the capacity to work increases many-fold. When you lead a very ego-centred life, your whole attitude is to do as much as possible for yourself. But this attitude makes you so tense that you feel miserable. When, as a result of doing Vipassana, the ego dissolves, then by nature the mind is full of love, compassion and goodwill. You feel like working, not only for your own benefit, but for the benefit of all. When the narrow-minded ego-stimulation goes away, you feel so much more relaxed, and so much more capable of working. This is my own experience, and the experience of so many people who have walked on the path.
This technique does not make you inactive. A responsible person in society is full of action. What goes away is the habit of blind reaction. When you work with reaction, you generate misery. When you work without reaction, you generate positive feeling.

---

May these information enlighten you in your path of life, may you realize that you can start anytime being this, living this, and admiring at all times what life has to give.... Life is magic as I always say.. simply allow it to be.

A noble act

This is how a true meditation is performed...

I truly would like to find the best way to offer the same to my clients who come see me for guidance, assistance in the energy healing I provide... as it is my only source of income.

Vipassana Course Finances

According to the tradition of pure Vipassana, courses are run solely on a donation basis. Donations are accepted only from old students, that is, those who have completed at least one course with S.N. Goenka or an assistant teacher.

In this way course are supported by those who have realized for themselves the benefits of the practice. Wishing to share these benefits with others, one gives a donation according to one's means and volition. Some taking a course for the first time may give a donation at the end of the course or at any time thereafter.

Such donations are the only source of funding for courses in this tradition around the world. There is not wealthy foundation or individual sponsoring them. Neither the teachers nor the organizers receive any kind of payment or favour for their service. Thus, the spread of Vipassana is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.

Whether a donation is large or small, it should be given with the wish to help others: 'The course I have taken has been paid for through the generosity of past students; now let me give something towards the cost of a future course, so that others may also benefit by this technique.'

-----

How wonderful, how mindful, how attentive... may we all live in this generosity of life, may we all find the way to live together as one.

Date - May 11, 2020

Day 6 - 4 more Days to go! Yuppy!

Oh my goodness, time passes to slowly though the the challenge will end soon, though not the journey.

This journey of mind purifying, allowing it to rest, and be at all times equanimous, is a long way to go... practicing in your daily meditations, and day to day life, will help you a lot to be focused and ultimately get there.... to liberation.

Today I finally woke up at 4:22am, only got up at 4:50am to get ready, shower, set for meditation for an hour, morning chanting, then a warm lemon water - following I joined the online group sitting from 7-8am.

At around 9 am decided to get ready for a walk, by the time i got dressed, and make myself a laxative tea, as with no functional enema, & no epson salt, this garbage inside is not getting out... even when you drink water and liquids.. this must come out.

The nice bit warmer weather out there was kind, the wind touching the face, sometimes slow, and sometimes harsh... after a 6.60 km, the sun came out, so I simply sat on the bench and bathed in its warmth... oh how lovely to feel the touch of the sun rays on your face, how rejuvenating to be in that energy, I sat there for 30-40 min enjoying every moment.

Coming in home that was a full almost 2 hours out, it is time to drink something warm & get ready for more meditations. With Vipassana in the process, being equanimous with mind, with everything that arises, to let go, as everything is anicca, impermanent - this is the real challenge... even if you have been a meditator for years... and a vipassana meditator too, this takes time, especially sitting down, trying the full hour not to move, and your legs get so numb, that once you allow them to move, you can feel nothing... & that is tough.

Over the night, last night, most of my dreams where about food, grocery shopping, fruits and vegetables... all that you desire was in the dream... although I do not believe I dreamed of any animal product... or maybe what the animal produces... cheese and eggs. Haven't had these in a very long time.

You know, parts of the precepts we follow upon taking a Vipassana course is abstaining from killing any living creatures, and one of them is killing to eat animals, or have them killed for you to eat them. Although, from even before, I have stopped eating animals since I slowly got into a full plant based lifestyle - which I love & am grateful to be living it.

So here are the precepts we follow:

The foundation of the practice is sila - moral conduct. Sila provides a basis for the development of samadhi - concentration of mind; and purification of the mind is achieved through panna - the wisdom of insight.

The Precepts

All who attend a Vipassana course must conscientiously undertake the following five precepts for the duration of the course:

1. to abstain from killing any living creature;
2. to abstain from stealing;
3. to abstain from all sexual activity;
4. to abstain from telling lies;
5. to abstain from all intoxicants.

There are three additional precepts which old students (that is, those who have completed a course with S. N. Goenka or one of is assistant teachers) are expected to follow:

6. to abstain from eating after midday;
7. to abstain from sensual entertainment and bodily decoration; 
8. to abstain from using high or luxurious beds.

Old students will observe the sixth precept by having only herbal tea or fruit juice at the 5 p.m. break, whereas new student may have tea with milk and some fruit. The teacher may excuse an old student from observing this precept for health reasons. The seventh and eighth precept will be observed by all.

----

Even though it is mentioned during the course, I believe this should be abstain at all times.
Why to kill any creature that is alive, specially insects, we live in their environment, so we should learn to live together... and for the last 5 years since I have taken the course, I have not, won't say never as we never know, have intentionally killed an insect... I helped a bee get out of the water, a taranchula to get out of our retreat site, twice - on separate occasions.  I took out a cockroach out of our chalet on the beach - my parents didn't believe I would do that... and so on and on...

Abstain from stealing... shouldn't this be at all times!
Abstain from all sexual activities - it is mentioned during the course because you don't want to get lost in the lust and pleasure, which takes out the mind to a different focus. In the discourse, what Goenkaji mentions is, to abstain from hurting anyone sexually, or doing anything sexual without the consent of the partner. As once anyone does anything that hurts the other, he/she is hurting him/her self more.. this is where the impurities of the mind get stuck.

Abstain from telling lies... why should anyone lie anyways, what is the benefits from lying. A person who lies, is someone who is afraid to be judged, or looked down at... the truth will always come out, so why not say it in the first place.

Abstain from all intoxicants ... speaking behind anyone's back, judging people, or bullying ... we should abstain that during all our life... being kind, compassionate and loving is what humans should be.

Abstain from sensual entertainment and bodily decoration, during the course, this is of important, as you don't want your eyes to start looking outside of yourself... after the course, I believe it is also good to be minimal in your decoration, or smells, being modest, using essential oils instead of chemical perfumes.. ( at the beginning, I didn't get it, later, I realized it makes a lot of sense)

Abstain from using high or luxurious beds, we are all equal, and no one is better then the other in how they live, how you are makes you unique, kind, loving, compassionate and caring. Aim for that.

Off to meditation now, followed by a 2:30 pm group sitting, and again at 6pm, then the discourse of Day 6... Can't wait.. that is what keeps me moving... and looking forward to finish this challenge.

PS: with the liquids I am having, the body gets full, and it stays strong, you just need to be gentle with it, give it all the care and love. Other kinds of nourishment will come soon, once I decide to buy groceries. I realized that since April 12, 2020 I didn't step into a grocery store to fill my fridge.. I have been on an intermittent fast where I eat at 11/12 (breakfast - a granola bowl or a smoothie) followed at 5/6 or 7 a dinner (that can be a salad with lots of sprouts)

So I was able to handle a full month without buying anything, and simply using from what is available, and FYI I live alone now - Had a flatmate and she used to buy her own food - she never liked to share when I proposed to buy organic food that I can prepare plant based food for both.. anyways, life is a choice, and I respected that.

Only time I went was a 10 days ago to get all the ingredients to make kimchi - a kind of sauerkraut - so Green & Purple cabbage, beets, I added ginger, tumeric, garlic. So they get ready by the time I finish this challenge.
Also got an original kombucha, which I prepared my own with that started & the scooby, and they should be ready in 14 days!

Anyhow, living with little, is feasible and very much doable... we don't need much to be satisfied, simply being grateful with the little that we have is enough... what ever comes in more, be happy and thankful.


Here is the discourse of tonight... looking forward to watching it later at 7:20pm.

Adios! Till tomorrow we meet, another day will be born..

 

Day 5 Vipassana Meditation & Water - Liquid Fast

Day 5, & I will tell myself, 5 more days to go!!! Simply hearing that makes me feel almost accomplished.

This is not an easy process, it is one of the big challenge I took on my own, at home alone.
Being on Campus with the group of Vipassana meditators makes a huge difference, even if you are in silent and not allowed to speak to anyone, you simply know that you are not alone, and well taken care of, from food preps mornings and noon time to tea time in the evening, the instructions of every meditations, the morning chanting, and the simple walk around the campus, that is precisely well lay out for you in order not to get lost, or get out of the path.

I totally encourage you to at least try it once in your life, and trust me, the first time I was there... I thought that was enough... then I came again two years after, then again a year after  to serve... and serving is a heavenly experience... so selfless, caring and serving with full love, kindness and compassion.

As for the water fast, that too, don't do it alone unless followed by a medical doctor on campus, like we did in Egypt. Making sure you are flushing all the garbage in your intestines every day... & being with a supportive group whom you share with, talk to, and experience that journey together.

Unless you want to do it alone, then there are ways to follow, just don't mix Vipassana with Water Fasting. I am stubborn so I did. (95%)

The morning half day course wasn't as easy in my meditations as I wanted to be, "I" the "I"... no more expectations, that is the learning here... experience things as is, here and now.

So in the NOW of my meditations, the first hour in the guided meditation was good... the following hour, the own alone time... my mind wandered around in my past, my teen life, the abusive relationships I had... and so many impurities came out... it was tough to witness all of this again... and to write simply about " abusive" here... in my mind I though wow, I have so many stories and confessions to write about... so many that can empower women out there and let them know they are not alone... so many that I am simply sending love, compassion and forgiveness to these men... From 17 - 23 where the hardest ever...

All that I had to go through, the first birthday surprise ever that I missed for my twenties which was planned by my cousins... because that ex was supper possessive aggressive.... & didn't allow it... & so many stories... I believe he was mentally ill and I was too young to notice & very much afraid to share or tell anyone... I remember after that I said no more boys in my life... I simply want to have friends and be free... no attachments what so ever... until I met a good ones in my early thirties... he showed me love does exist... doesn't have to be abusive... thought that relationship didn't last, I knew God sent him for a reason, to open up to relationships again and not be afraid to be in love... that path also showed me, that the first step to be in love, starts with self-love... & I have been on this path for 8 years now.

Enduring all these thoughts in my mind, & my body's sensations going strangely within... I figured, I maybe know what I would like to do from now on... & what I would like to be

"An Author"
Or maybe I prefer
"A Writer"

feeling an author comes from authority, where are writer feels more right.

To write about all my journeys, the good ones and the hard ones, the empowering ones, and all the path to be here and now... I am simply grateful for all life's experiences, it taught me a lot, even in the hard days.. so the shinny ones can be seen openly and freely.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Today is May 10, 2020, my Birth day is in 10 days... Stepping into my 40ties. What a Gift.

A dream to be fulfilled, maybe from now on, my writings will be the healing journey for so many...in addition to the meditations I put together, and energy healing sessions I offer (www.rawhealing.ca)

Maybe I'll also add more public speaking conferences and support group sessions ... for everything I have endured in my life & learned from... to feel this peace within...

"Early years of Childhood... Teens life... Major Brain Surgery, The Journey into a career, The Awaken Moment, Reborn, , Living with a Meningioma Brain Tumor for 11 years, The path into Raw Food, The Journey into Energy Healing, The Discovery of Self in my own eyes, All the Retreats, Meditations, The Businesses and Events I put together... Volunteering... etc..."

And to be honest, this journey/challenge of Vipassana & Water/Liquid fast, home alone, gave me the courage to write again... after all these years... although I am writing what ever comes to my mind, without checking the spellings, mistakes, grammar or even the sentences' structure... I simply hope the message is well received & you are enjoying my writings... when I decide to publish them after this journey.

I am off to my 2:30 Group sitting meditation... then hopefully should the weather gets warmer outside, I will go for a small walk ( it is cloudy, 7 degrees, feels like 2, and the wind 33km.h & wind gust 50m/h, I can even hear it from here)

I will continue later to add the discourse of tonight...

Day 4, cont'd

 As I wanted to post about this experience... everything was already written and ready to be posted... and all of a sudden - it gets erased... literally... and I can not retrieve it.... so Sad.
 

Today, October 1, 2020, I am posting it for May 9, 2020... Day 4 Self-Course Vipassana Meditation, and I am guessing... it was about the day I went into plus the Discourse of Day 4...

Just to put you into perspective... today October 1, Harvest Moon, and back into Lockdown for 28 days...
Is it a coincidence? wasn't I supposed to share that specific day so it got deleted... I don't know.

In any case, here is the Day 4 discourse:

 

 

Anicca = Impermanence

I promised I will write the descriptions of the words Mr. Goenka uses in the discourses, and also are the fact of what we are practicing.

In a way, it reminds me at all times of all what my body is going through, the sensations, the wandering mind, specially the food thoughts that has been hunting me.

The teacher I connected with, warned me not to mix water fast with Vipassana, as Vipassana is not a simple meditation, it is a deep surgery within the body and mind for purification.

"You should not mix fasting and doing the self-course.  You should follow the regular course outline and code of discipline and do your fasting another time. To have a successful course one should follow the code of discipline and separate this 2 as two different projects."

So all my mind is kind of arguing with my body and thoughts should I or should I not.

Simply to mention, during the group sitting and the half day course that was offered online, I was thinking about texting the fellow of the organic grocery shop to ask him if he delivers to my area, and also had the ingredients in my mind: 2 bags of Celery, 2 bags of Carrots, 6 Beets, 6 Oranges, 3 Grapefruits, 6 Granny Apples... all I thought was because tomorrow is Sunday and now with the COVID, everything closes Sunday, I thought maybe it will be a good idea.

Anyways, I didn't message anyone, I simply wrote an email to the teacher, and waiting for her reply.

Following the course this am, I decided to clean my  place, slowly, as I felt tired, and I remembered that during all this time, I never rested, there is a lot of work that happens during meditation, plus I am all about preparing my water, and the fast, and the walks... so yes that was my realization.

So the group sitting at 2:30 was a success for me, at least I felt that I truly meditated. Usually this happens even during the course on campus... your mind and body are adjusting... plus I have tried so many ways of sitting, all failures until the last one.... Finally.

So to go over the definition:


"

Anicca

- by the Vipassana Research Institute
Change is inherent in all phenomenal existence. There is nothing animate or inanimate, organic or inorganic that we can label as permanent, since even as we affixed that label on something it would undergo metamorphosis. Realizing this central fact of life by direct experience within himself, the Buddha declared, "Whether a fully Enlightened One has arisen in the world or not, it still remains a firm condition, an immutable fact and fixed law that all formations are impermanent, subject to suffering, and devoid of substance." Anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering), and anatta (insubstantiality) are the three characteristics common to all sentient existence.

Of these, the most important in the practice of Vipassana is anicca. As meditators, we come face to face with the impermanence of ourselves. This enables us to realize that we have no control over this phenomenon, and that any attempt to manipulate it creates suffering. We thus learn to develop detachment, an acceptance of anicca, an openness to change, enabling us to live happily amid all the vicissitudes of life. Hence the Buddha said that:

To one who perceives the impermanence, O meditators, the perception of insubstantiality manifests itself. And in one who perceives insubstantiality, egotism is destroyed. And (as a result) even in this present life one attains liberation. The comprehending of anicca leads automatically to a grasp of anatta and dukkha, and whosoever realizes these facts naturally turns to the path that leads out of suffering.

Given the crucial importance of anicca, it is not surprising the Buddha repeatedly stressed its significance for the seekers of liberation. In the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Suttanta, the principal text in which he explained the technique of Vipassana, he described the stages in the practice, which must in every case lead to the following experience:

(The meditator) abides observing the phenomenon of arising . . . abides observing the phenomenon of passing away . . . abides observing the phenomenon of arising and passing away.

We must recognize the fact of impermanence not merely in its readily apparent aspect around and within us. Beyond that, we must learn to see the subtle reality that every moment we ourselves are changing, that the "I" with which we are infatuated is a phenomenon in constant flux. With this experience we can easily emerge from egotism and so from suffering.

Elsewhere the Buddha said:
The eye, O meditators, is impermanent. What is impermanent is unsatisfactory. What is unsatisfactory is substanceless. What is substanceless is not mine, is not I, is not my self. This is how to regard eye with wisdom as it really is.
The same formula is for the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind—for all the bases of sensory experience, every aspect of a human being. Then the Buddha continued:

Seeing this, O meditators, the well-instructed noble disciple becomes satiated with the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind (i.e., with sensory existence altogether). Being satiated he does not have the passion for them. Being passionless he is set free. In this freedom arises the realization that he is freed.

In this passage the Buddha makes a sharp distinction between knowing by hearsay and by personal insight. One may be a sutavā, that is, someone who has heard about the Dhamma and accepts it on faith or perhaps intellectually. That acceptance, however, is insufficient to liberate anyone from the cycle of suffering. To attain liberation one must see truth for oneself, must experience it directly within oneself. That is what Vipassana meditation enables us to do.

If we are to understand the unique contribution of the Buddha, we must keep this distinction firmly in mind. The truth of which he spoke was not unknown before him and was current in India in his time. He did not invent the concepts of impermanence, suffering and insubstantiality. His uniqueness lies in having found a way to advance from hearing truth to experiencing it.

One text that shows this special emphasis of the teaching of the Buddha is the Bāhiya Sutta, found in the Saṃyutta Nikāya. In it is recorded an encounter of the Buddha with Bāhiya, a wanderer in search of a spiritual path. Although not a disciple of the Buddha, Bāhiya asked him for guidance in his search. The Buddha responded by questioning him as follows:

What do you think, Bāhiya: is the eye permanent or impermanent?
Impermanent, sir.

That which is impermanent, is it a cause of suffering or happiness?
Of suffering, sir.

Now, is it fitting to regard what is impermanent, a cause of suffering, and by nature changeable, as being "mine," being "I," being one's "self?"

Surely not, sir.

The Buddha further questioned Bāhiya about visual objects, eye consciousness and eye contact. In every case, this man agreed that these were impermanent, unsatisfactory, not-self. He did not claim to be a follower of the teaching of the Buddha, and yet he accepted the facts of anicca, dukkha and anatta. The sutta thus documents that, among at least some of the contemporaries of the Buddha, ideas were current that we might now regard as having being unknown outside his teaching. The explanation, of course, is that for Bāhiya and others like him the concepts of impermanence, suffering and egolessness were simply opinions that they held—in Pāli, mañña. To such people the Buddha showed a way to go beyond beliefs or philosophies, and to experience directly their own nature as impermanent, suffering, insubstantial.

What, then, is the way he showed? In the Brahmajāla Suttanta the Buddha provides an answer. There he lists all the beliefs, opinions and views of his time, and then states that he knows something far beyond all views:

For having experienced as they really are the arising of sensations and their passing away, the relishing of them, the danger in them, and the release in them, the Enlightened One, O monks, has become detached and liberated.

Here the Buddha states quite simply that he became enlightened by observing sensations as the manifestation of impermanence. It behoves anyone who aspires to follow the teachings of the Buddha to do likewise.

Impermanence is the central fact that we must realize in order to emerge from our suffering, and the most immediate way to experience impermanence is by observing our sensations. Again the Buddha said:

There are three types of sensations, O meditators (all being) impermanent, compounded, arising owing to a cause, perishable, by nature passing away, fading and ceasing.

The sensations within ourselves are the most palpable expressions of the characteristic of anicca. By observing them we become able to accept the reality, not merely out of faith or intellectual conviction, but out of our direct experience. In this way we advance from merely hearing about the truth to seeing it within ourselves.

When we thus encounter truth face to face, it is bound to transform us radically. As the Buddha said:

When a meditator thus abides mindful with proper understanding, diligent, ardent and self-controlled, then if pleasant bodily sensations in him arise he understands, "This pleasant bodily sensation has arisen in me, but it is dependent, it is not independent. Dependent on what? On this body. But this body is impermanent, compounded, arising from conditions. Now how could pleasant bodily sensations be permanent that arise dependent on an impermanent, compounded body, itself arising owing to conditions?"

He abides experiencing the impermanence of sensations in the body, their arising, falling and cessation, and the relinquishing of them. As he does so, his underlying conditioning of craving is abandoned. Similarly, when he experiences unpleasant sensations in the body, his underlying conditioning of aversion is abandoned; and when he experiences neutral sensations in the body, his underlying conditioning of ignorance is abandoned.

In this way, by observing the impermanence of bodily sensations, a meditator approaches ever closer to the goal of the unconditioned, nibbāna.

Upon reaching that goal, Kondañña, the first person to become liberated through the Buddha's teaching, declared, yaṃ kiñci samudayadhāmmaṃ sabbaṃ te nirodha-dhammaṃ—"Everything that has the nature of arising also has the nature of ceasing." It is only by experiencing fully the reality of anicca that he was eventually able to experience a reality that does not arise or pass away. His declaration is a signpost to later travellers on the path, indicating the way they must follow to reach the goal themselves.

At the end of his life the Buddha declared, vaya-dhammā saṅkhārā—"All created things are impermanent." With his last breaths he reiterated the great theme of which he had spoken so often during his years of teaching. He then added, appamādena sampādetha—"Strive diligently." To what purpose, we must ask, are we to strive? Surely these words, the last spoken by the Buddha, can only refer to the preceding sentence. The priceless legacy of the Buddha to the world is the understanding of anicca as a means to liberation. We must strive to realize impermanence within ourselves, and by doing so we fulfil his last exhortation to us, we become the true heirs of the Buddha."  --- Ref: https://www.vridhamma.org/node/2489