IMPACT OF VIPASANA MEDITATION ON MENTAL HEALTH

IMPACT OF VIPASANA MEDITATION ON MENTAL HEALTH

ABSTRACT

In the present competitive world, the human beings are leading their life as a machine, engaged in their daily routine mechanical life, to fulfill the wants and desires of man made earthy things round the clock, though they don’t have proper mental health. Man himself has lost the peace of mind in search of material things of earthly life. Under such stress of life he has forgotten everything and became lonely. Accept running after name and fame in the fast day to day modern life. For him all the relations of family and friends, have disappeared and became blind in front of material world. Man is moving for away from himself. As a result he lost the pages of his happiest movements of life, by an increased pressure of work, environmental pollution, adulterated food, polluted air all these things contributed to suffer from mental and physical illness and ear by end of life.

In a country like India, with a population of 120 crores every 82% of people for 100 in urban and 48% of people in rural, (MHA 2001) suffer from severe mental stress.                  Continued surrounding agglomeration busy – moving society, noise pollution and soon add up to the causes of this illness, due to which people suffer from mental and physical inactivity. Therefore, he/she regain his/her mental and physical equilibrium, has to indulge himself/herself in yoga or meditation, only then he/she can have a control over themselves. This was practically and preached by Goutam Budha in the 4^th BC and many saints are practiced and now also it is continued. But how I have taken up Vipasana meditation in my research. This was initially used and practiced by Lord Goutam Budha to maintain his mental well being and to keep a healthy tack of his senses. This Vipasana meditation till today is one of the most prevalent forms of meditation in the India and around the world.

Keywords: Mental health, meditations, vipasana.

IMPACT OF VIPASANA MEDITATION ON MENTAL HEALTH

*Chandrakant Srimant and ** Prof. S. P. Melkeri

The word Vipasanameans, by derivation seeing in an extra ordinary way from the word ‘Passati’ to see, denoting, special, partiuarl, Vipasana, therefore means, seeing beyond what is ordinary, clear vision.  It is not surface seeing or skimming, not seeing mere appearance, but seeing things in their proper perspective, that is in terms of the three characteristics or signs of all phenomenal existence, viz., impermanence or change; suffering or unsatisfactoriness and non self or egolessness (anicca, dukha and anatta). It is this insight meditation with calm concentration of mind as its basis, that enables the yogi to purge his mind of all defilements, to remove the ego-illusion and to see reality and experience Nibbana (Nirvana).

Totally Vipasana means, to come and see, (Echee pissico) ‘to watch your breath with awareness’.

Illustrations for practicing vipasana

• Create a calm atmosphere of meditation around you it will help you to concentrate better.
• Wear loses clothes to be comfortable while practicing Vipasana.
• Avoid smoking, alcoholism and indulging in illicit behaviour while practicing vipasana.
• Concentrate on breathing from your nostrils
• Pay attention on different parts of your body from head to toe.
• Avoid reacting to the sensations of your body and just observe them.
• Avoid paying attention to any one part of your body for a longer time.
• Try practicing this activity daily for 45 to 60 minutes.

 

* Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga.

** Professor, Department of Psychology, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga.

Methods of vipasana meditation

This method main focus is breathing. What is different are the points on which we should focus is on breathing. What is different are the points on which we should focus our attention while breathing. Initially you will required to try this method in a separate, silent room. However, as you practice them regularly, we will able to use them at any place, anytime.

1) Watching the belly

The belly is considered as the location of the hara centre. Just behind and bellow you navel lies the hara, which is a point of consciousness that is considered as the center of your subtle body.  By focusing our attention on the hara centre, we can easily attain a meditative state of mind. As you meditate upon hara, your thinking process starts slowing down on its own.         You achieve a state of choice less awareness.

We can use this movement to attain a meditative state. Practice the above meditation daily. As you practice daily, 15-20 minutes you will start recognizing the presence of hara centre – a sort of ball of consciousness around the belly. That will help the person increase the awareness of meditatorsinner self which is the main thing in meditation.

2) Watching the coolness in the nostril

This is the second method of Vipasana. If you observe your breathing closely, then you will find that whenever the air enters inside our body through nostril, it produces a little soothing coolness in the nostrils.  Experience it right now. As you breath, see the nostril. Though it is a very little almost unnoticeable coolness, but it does exist.  In this method focusing the attention on this coolness during breathing. Our breathing is a continuous process. It just goes on: and along with the breathing, the soothing coolness is our nostrils also keep emanating itself as if it a by-product of inhalation. If we focus our attention on this coolness we can achieve a meditative state.

3) Watching the breathing like a river

            Just like the above two methods, find a comfortable, peaceful place, sit their silently in a comfortable position. Now close your eyes and take some deep breath. Now close your eyes and take some deep breath. Now start observing your breathing. Focus your entire attention on the breathing and follow it as it travels inside your body and comes out. Follow the breath in its entire route of inhalation and exhalation. Watch the breath as if you are watching a river.                Just watch your breath as it moves in your body. Don’t be attached with it. When it comes – watch it. When it goes watch it, be a watcher, be a witness. This is not easy. There will be distractions as you watch. There will be floods of thoughts but don’t get discouraged. If your attention is diverted 100 times, bring it back to breathing 100 times.  Slowly all thoughts will start setting down. As you watch your breath, soon you will realise the witness in you. The one who is watching the watcher itself. Your true identity. You are not body, you are not mind, you are not breathing you are self. The knower who knows everything. Yet remains pure and unattached. Watch your breathing. Keeping watching and you will be in meditation.

In all the above three methods a little bit of perseverance is required. However, if you practice them sincerely, then these three methods may be your best friends in this highly demanding and stressful life. All the above three meditation can be done anywhere, anytime in any posture.

Benefits of vipasana:

• Practice of vipasana regularly helps control greed
• Helps face lesions and problems
• Increase awareness and helps make peace with yourself.
• Helps attain self control.
• Helps control or stop day dreaming.
• Helps face fear
• Helpful for stress management and anger management.

Mental health

            The word “mental health” conjures up the image of mentally ill persons in the public mind. The WHO (1978) has stated quite clearly that mental health is not a state of absence from disease but as state of well being encompassing our physical, social and emotional lives.                This concept also implies that a healthy person must actualize all the potentialities of growth and development without being unduly tense or unhappy. This concept needs some reiteration, as overburdened medical professionals, who are solely preoccupied with relief of immediate human suffering, have dominated this field too long. It is only in recent years that a consciousness is dawning on workers in this field, that almost every form of community activity has direct bearing on the state of health of its citizens.

Improving mental health:

• Developing a sense of humour
• Becoming more and more aware of our emotions as and when they came.
• Introspecting an how we are managing our strong emotions on a day to day basis.
• Periodically getting rid of past baggage of deep hurts, spoilt relationships and unresolved issues, by resolving them within our minds.
• Consciously and progressively developing a positive daily routine balancing one’s own needs with those of other
• Rewarding ourselves on a regular basis with things we like and enjoy.
• Developing a positive mental attitude, doing positive affirmations and listing out the good events that are happening in our life.

All the above are continuous process, as in physical health. There is no point in just doing them causally at one odd time. Repeated introspection and continuous efforts will ensure a balanced life with overall satisfaction and fulfillment through vipasana meditation.

METHODOLOGY:

Problem

To study the impact of vipasana meditation an mental health.

Variables

Vipasana meditation, age, gender and mediator and non-meditators are independent variable. Dependent variable is mental health.

OBJECTIVES:

1)      To assess and analyse the vipasana meditation on mental health.

2)      To find out the differences between men and women.

3)      To know the mental health of vipasan mediator and non mediators.

HYPOTHESIS:

1)      There is significant impact of vipasana meditation on mental health.

2)      There is significant difference between men and women.

3)      There is significant difference between mediator and non mediators.

SAMPLE DESIGN:

Category	Male	Female	Total
Age group – I 20-30 years	30	30	60
Age group – II 31 – 40 years	30	30	60
Age group – III 41-50	30	30	60
Total	90	90	180

TOOLS USED:

Mental health inventory (Jagadish and Srivatsav) is used for purpose of study.                     This inventory consists of 56 items, with 6 dimension. There are four alternatives, always, after, rarely and never the positive items are scored, 4, 3, 2 and 1 and vice verse negative. Items the maximum scale state higher mental health and vice versa.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

Appropriate statistical measures like SD, t-test is used for interpretation of data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

To see through the mode of impermanence means to examine things to determine whether they are permanent. To see through the mode of unsatisfactoriness means to examine things to determine whether they are satisfactory or are embedded with suffering. To see through the mode of non-self means to examine meditation objects to see whether they are healthy.                   Positive attitude, through vipasana, they got good mental health and physical health. They are satisfactory in their life. The following tables depicts the mental health of the people.

Table No. 1

Showing mean, SD and t-value of the mental health in categories of age

(N-180)

Category	Mean	SD	N	t-value
Age group –I (20-30 years)	132.50	10.13	60	2.61*
Age group – II (31-40 years)	137.73	11.62	60	2.18*
Age group-III (40 and 50)	142.03	9.75	60	5.27**

* Significant at 0.05 level

** Significant at 0.01 level

Table No. 1 showing the mean, SD and t-value on different age group of mental health. Many research works reveal that during vipasana meditation higher age group 40 – 50 meditators are having good mental health. The present research has proved the said hypothesis. In the present table the calculated t-value in all the category respectively 0.05 and 0.01 level, which shows that there is significant difference in age group in their mental health. So according to the above mentioned Table No. 1 the age group of III category has been proved that this age group is found better mental health than the cat-I and II. Thus age is an influencing factor on mental health of vipasana meditation.

As I have observed the three categories of meditations they differ each other in consistency of doing meditation. The following are the reasons of each group of age which varies accordingly.

1)      In the first category of age group i.e., 20 to 30 years, the meditators have so many social pressures imposed on them by their family and the society as a whole. That is why these person are concentrating less than the category II age group.

2)      Same social pressure might have decreased or become less, because of their achievements i.e., what they ought to be in the social status. That is why the II age group meditators are having less mental stress than the Ist age group (30 to 40 years).

3)      It is observed that the IIIrd age group of meditators are more better than the Ist and IInd age groups. They don’t have any stress on them, neither of family nor of a society.              As they have already achieved everything they wished in life, because of such reason they are having better mental health, then the failed one.

Below given graph depicts the same.

Graph No. 1

Showing mean, SD and t-value of the mental health in categories of age

Table No. 2

Shows the mean, SD and t-value of mental health in men and women

(N – 180)

Sex	Mean	SD	N	t-value
Men	140.08	10.47	90	2.21*
Women	136.80	10.48	90

*Significant at 0.05 level

Table no. 2 reveals that men scored a mean of 140.08 and women scored 136.80. The t-value is 2.21 is significant at 0.05 level.  This result predicts that there are gender differences in mental health of samples. 

Women were having more social pressures or bonds then the men, both at home as well as outside in the society. Thus the men may concentrate more freely. Then the women, because the society is male dominated. That is why men have better mental health then the women.

Graph – 2 explains gender difference in mental health.

Graph No. 2

Shows the mean, SD and t-value of mental health in men and women

Table No. 3

Shows the mean, SD and t-value of mental health is categories of meditators and non meditators

Category	Mean	SD	N	t-value
Meditators	139.21	11.06	80	2.61*
Non-meditators	135.00	10.32	100

*Significant at 0.05 level

Table no. 3 states that mean score of meditators have a mean of 139.21 and non meditators have a mean of 135.  The t-value of 2.61 is significant at 0.05 level.  This reveals that mental health of meditators group is the higher than the non-meditators.  Thus, the meditation helps a more to develop of meditators. The graph given below describes the same effect.

Graph No. 3

Shows the mean, SD and t-value of mental health is categories of meditators and non meditators

Conclusion:

·         Age group 40-50 is the good mental health than the age group i & ii

·         Men have good mental health then the women.

·         Meditators have better mental health then the non-meditators.

References:

·         U Maung  Tha –Noe (1981) Fundamentals Of Vipasana  Meditation , Buddha Educational Society, Taiwan  Pp19-22

·         Dr .B.R. Ambedkar (1997) The Buddha & His Dhamma,  Buddha Educational Foundation Taiwan.  Pp510-512

·         Jose Lorenzo-Fuentes (2004) Meditation Guide Book, Llewellyn Publication USA, Pp 42-44.

·         Ven.Piyadassi Thera (2008)  Buddhist Meditation  Buddha Educational Foundation Taiwan. Pp 25-27.

·         William Hart (1988) The Art Of Living Vipasana Research Institute Igatpuri , Robert Shubow (Edited 1986) Pp.6-7

·         Robert Shubow (edited 1986) Positive Health Prajapita Brahm Kumari’s Delhi Pp.66-68

Ven Dr. Bhadant Anand .K. (1986) Essays On Buddhism, Forward Stationer Nagapur Pp.93-