To forget the self does not refer to the elimination of personal qualities or self-experience. It is also certainly not to eliminate a sense of self, which has wonderful capacities and can give us that strength that allows us to hang in there, let go, tolerate pain, and encounter suffering. To forget the self is to drop our cravings, learn to see through our reactive patterns of behaviour and judgements as many time these are the causes of our own suffering.
Vipassana is usually interpreted as the practice of the development of "Insight" by applying awareness and understanding of what precisely is happening as it happens. "Concentration" or "calm abiding" can be translated as Samatha. It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, centred on one thing only so as not the wandered away and remain focused to achieve single-pointedness. A profound relaxation pervades the body and mind when single-pointedness is finally achieved, described as a state of calm that must be witnessed to be appreciated. The meditator uses this focus as an instrument in Vipassana meditation . He directly applies this concentration to his consciousness, through which he chips away at the delusion wall that cuts him off from the living light of reality. Vipassana involves a progressive development of knowledge into the mind's inner workings over several years. The student's interest is carefully drawn to an intensive an
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