By Ann Wegner
Staff Writer

Pay attention to your breath, listen to your body sensations, heed surrounding sounds, feel your tastes and visions. These may not be daily exercises on which the actively occupied student concentrates his or her time but for those who desire to enhance self-awareness, the Morton Community Center provides a Vipassana meditation class.

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's oldest meditation techniques. Although it is uncertain when it was first practiced, this form of meditation was taught in India more than 2,500 years ago as a remedy for universal ills.

Rodney Ball is a licensed clinical social worker and practicing psychotherapist who has spent four years at the Morton Center and eight years teaching Vipassana. Ball said this form of meditation is a Buddhist practice that is primarily taught in this country by American teachers who have traveled abroad to learn the technique.

Vipassana is a method of self-transformation through self-observation, emphasizing the connection between mind and body.

Meditation entails extended thinking, reflection and contemplation. Pamela Smith, who has been practicing meditation for 30 years and has recently joined the Vipassana class, said that engaging in the observatory exercises has allowed her to recognize what her mind is doing and has given her more clarity and objectivity about her responsiveness.

"You're not as driven by your own emotional or mental weather," she said.

"I think for me, specifically, meditation has clarified how much I hate to be in pain and if you're going to work out, you're going to hurt," she said. "Instead of being driven by that 'oh no, I can't hurt,' you're able to say 'there I am.' And you're entitled to never feel any pain at all and you can go on."

Although Vipassana has been deemed hard, serious work, Ball said it is not as challenging as it appears.

"The reason it sounds difficult is that, in our culture, we're not used to doing things that require sitting down and being still for 45 minutes when it's not in front of a video or with a friend talking," he said.

"There's so much that goes on in the mind. The basic difference between (Vipassana) and yoga meditation is that this particularly emphasizes just as much how you continue your mindfulness," he said. "This is training for throughout the day, being mindful, being in the present moment as much as possible."

Wes Ward has been practicing Vipassana meditation under Ball's instruction for about four years and has attended retreats to further his inner awareness.

"It slows a person down so that they focus more on their inner life," he said. "For me, it's been spiritual. You could use this for relaxation, for awareness, insight and you can use it also for spiritual practice."

Ward feels that in our society, most individuals could benefit from meditation.

"There is so much emphasis on being in a hurry, making money, materialism; (meditation) gives you another way to look at things," he said.

There are several levels to this technique, and Ball explained that how one advances depends on the individual's comfort.

"The first level of practice is learning to just pay attention to the breath and anchoring your attention to where you feel (your breath) the most in the body — the chest, nostrils, …" he said. "One of the first insights that comes out of that level is how hard it is to (pay attention) to the breath."

Ball said it is easy to be interrupted by thoughts of what one has done during the day or what lies ahead.

"The second level, you also use the anchor of body sensations so that whenever they arise, your attention is drawn to them; they become an object of meditation. Pain is very different at times; sometimes pain can be sharp, sometimes it's dull, sometimes it feels kind of like prickles, sometimes there's heat, sometimes there's not, sometimes it will move around," he said. "Paying attention to (pain) and not doing anything to the body (is difficult)."

The third level involves paying attention to sounds without discrimination, not pinpointing what the sounds are but just recognizing a hearing sensation. Ball said this is a path to reality.

The fourth and fifth levels are not practiced much unless one attends a Vipassana retreat — usually a 10-day session. These levels pertain to taste and vision.

The last level, which is the most difficult according to Ball, requires paying attention to the mind activity so that one does not get lost in it.

"It's really trying to stop the thoughts, being more aware of (them) so you don't get lost," he said. "There are several layers that people go through before they start practicing the whole gamut of instructions. It really depends on how quickly people want to go; some people want to jump into it and try to do all of it. (It takes) anywhere from a matter of weeks to a few months, depending on the person's tolerance and what they're finding in each level."

Many potential meditators question why this practice is necessary.

"The basic answer is that all the talking and all the philosophizing that one can do isn't really powerful enough to counteract what the mind does. The mind's tendency allows you to jump from one thought to another," he said. "The meditation allows you to recognize that there are five other senses that you experience life through."

By paying attention to all the senses, it is much easier to stay in the present moment — where Ball says happiness is found — rather than in thoughts of the past or future.

Vipassana techniques are a Buddhist practice, but Smith believes that meditation is an important part of every religious tradition.

"It is a property of Buddhism, Christianity (and other religions)," she said. "(It) is part of the tool kit you need to become a mature practitioner of your faith."

Both mental and spiritual health are just as important as physical health, and meditation can promote equilibrium among these aspects of being.

Smith advised that beginning the Vipassana meditation should involve consideration.

"It has to be the right time for someone. They have to be willing to settle down," she said.

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears."

The Morton Community Center is offering a Vipassana class beginning in May. For more information or to register for the class, call the center at 775-5120.