The following is my advanced Vipassana meditation script, perfect for going deeper in your mindfulness practice and debeloping imsight.
Advanced Vipassana Meditation Script
Welcome to this advanced Vipassana meditation session. Take a moment to get comfortable and gently close your eyes. Let’s begin with a deep breath in through the nose to a count of four, pause for four, breathe out through the mouth for four, and pause again for four. Repeat this cycle.
Let’s simply allow ourselves to observe the present moment, embracing a sense of purity and simplicity as we do nothing but observe the breath for a while.
We’ll continue breathing in these cycles of four. In traditional Vipassana, we don’t control the breath in this way. However, boxed breathing like this can help us focus at the beginning of our session. Continue breathing in these cycles until you feel calm and focused. Then, let go of your breath, allowing it to come and go naturally. For now, we are simply experiencing the purity of awareness, letting any thoughts or feelings drift by like autumn leaves, as we observe the breath.
Now, we will begin labeling the sensations and stimuli of the mind. For instance, if a thought arises while observing the breath, we’ll simply say, “This is just a thought, and nothing more.” Similarly, if the mind is drawn to a sound in the background, we’ll say, “This is just a sound, and nothing more.” This is the elementary level of Vipassana. We will deepen this later, but for now, let’s continue to observe the breath and label the things to which the mind is drawn, using the breath as an anchor to remain calm and focused.
When labeling distractions, do so scientifically and analytically, saying, “This is just a sound” or “This is just a feeling.” After labeling, gently guide your mind back to the breath. All we are doing is observing the breath, noticing when the mind becomes distracted, labeling the source of the distraction—be it a sound, thought, or feeling—and guiding the mind back to the breath. I liken it to guiding an old friend, as if saying, “You’ve become temporarily drawn to a sound in the background; let me guide you back home, back to the breath.” This is an accepting, non-judgmental, friendly way of communicating with the mind. Now, I will be silent for a short while to allow you to practice this.
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Always remember to come back to the breath when you need to.
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Now, let’s move into the next step of this advanced Vipassana practice. In this step, whatever the mind is drawn to becomes the temporary object of meditation. An example will illuminate this. I’m meditating on my breath, just observing it, when my mind becomes distracted by a sound, perhaps a humming in the background. I will momentarily meditate on that sound, not as a familiar object like an air conditioner, but as the vibrational energy of the sound itself, observing its purest nature. Soon, the mind will naturally return to the breath.
Here’s another example: I’m breathing, meditating on my breath, and a thought of work arises. Rather than thinking of it as such, I’ll observe the thought as colors and shapes. I’m meditating on the pure nature of the thought. We are simply observing the breath and, when the mind is drawn to stimuli, making it the temporary object of meditation, observing it in its purest form. When we do this, the mind naturally lets go of the distraction, and we return to the breath. This is the second stage of our advanced Vipassana meditation session. Again, I will be silent for a short while to allow you to practice this.
Observe stimuli in its rawest form, and you will notice the mind lets go, allowing you to return to your breath. Now, let’s move to the third step of our advanced Vipassana meditation. Here, we will learn how to deal with problematic distractions, like stressful thoughts, while continuing to observe your breath flowing through your body.
Sometimes, we encounter what I call “sticky distractions.” For example, a stressful thought arises, and the mind gets caught up in it, as if the thought were real and happening now. When this happens, we can become unstuck by simply describing the thought. Here’s an example: I’m meditating on my breath, and a problematic thought about work arises. I won’t focus on the work itself but will describe it in sensory terms, saying, “This is just an image with browns and reds, with shapes like a square and an oval.” By breaking the thought down into its elementary parts—shapes, colors, or sounds—we change how the brain processes the distraction, making it easier to let go.
This method also applies to physical sensations, such as discomfort or pain. For example, if I have tension in my neck, I’ll describe it as “a hard, oval-shaped energy that feels warm.” This helps release the hold that discomfort has on the mind. This concludes our advanced Vipassana meditation practice.
Feel free to continue practicing for as long as you like. When you’re ready, follow me in transitioning from meditation back to everyday life. Gradually open your eyes, bringing with you the mindful awareness we’ve cultivated. This is our advanced Vipassana meditation. I hope you enjoyed this session. Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. If you’d like to work with me, why not join me for a private meditation session on TheDailyMeditation.com? Thank you, and I’ll see you next time.