One thing I like about getting to know people during metta day in the meditation center is that they all come from diverse backgrounds. It’s like traveling the world in one day. Some come from different countries; some are businessmen; some totally renounced corporate jobs but are still blessed; some are still corporate slaves; some are healers; some are influencers; some are full-time moms; some are vegans; some are authors; some are artists. Each comes from a different background, from different social classes, from different countries, from different religions. However, all are the same in one credential—being human.
Per Goenkaji, misery is universal. There is no such thing as Catholic misery, Buddhist misery, Muslim misery, Filipino misery, or American misery. Misery is misery. It is universal. Since it is universal, the solution has to be universal.
When Buddha got enlightened 2,500 years ago and taught Vipassana to people, he refused to be called a god. For him, he was simply a teacher. Out of pure compassion, he taught Vipassana until his last breath. His followers wanted to preserve his teachings after his death, and therefore Theravada Buddhism was established. However, since Theravada Buddhism—the original teachings of Buddha—is focused on personal liberation, others questioned it: “What about people who don’t practice? Everyone should get a taste of liberation.” So, with their existing traditions but still following the Eightfold Noble Path, the Mahayana tradition was established.
Later, it took on different flavors across countries—Zen Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, or Vajrayana Buddhism, which I believe is still a branch of Mahayana. In Mahayana, they believe in the intervention of Bodhisattvas—beings who delay their full awakening or liberation because they vow to help everyone awaken first. They are like “gods” living in higher realms who intervene in human life when asked for help. Examples are Avalokiteśvara, Manjushri, and Tara. They are still within the cycle of samsara because they choose to delay full liberation.
Anyway, enough history. What I’m trying to say is that the technique taught by Buddha—Vipassana—is meant to be universal. Anyone can practice it, whoever you are, wherever you are. Because just like everyone else, you are human, and you experience misery. And if not, then what are you doing here on Earth?
Since the human realm is a sensual realm, we all possess six senses to navigate this existence. (Yes, I said in my previous post that it was five, but my meditation teacher corrected me—it’s six: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or touch, and mind, which includes mental objects like thoughts and memories.) Through these six doors, our experiences of the world enter:
Stimulus → received by sense organ → evaluation (I love it, I hate it, neutral) → reaction (craving, aversion, or nothing).
When we experience something good, it makes our day. We want to have that same experience again tomorrow. However, since the world is constantly changing, tomorrow may bring something different. Because we already developed craving for that experience and it didn’t happen, we become frustrated—and thus, misery arises.
Every day, there are many stimuli. Every day, there are many frustrations. Every day, there are many aversions. When we get hurt and it doesn’t get resolved, it stays stuck in our body and psyche. Time will not erase it unless it is resolved. When we feel overjoyed but the experience doesn’t feel complete, it also gets stuck in our body and psyche. Time will not erase it unless it is resolved.
When we die, all of these sankharas are carried into another body and dealt with in the next lifetime. So we are dealing with multiple lifetimes of mental reactions—what an enormous amount of suffering that is. However, you and I are alive today. We are human. The human realm is the perfect realm to deal with these sufferings, because here we can observe sensations with an equanimous mind. This clears old sankharas and trains the mind to remain equanimous when life tests us again.
On Being a Good Person
What makes a person a good person? Is there any clear criterion?
When I was a child, my answer would probably have been that a good person behaves properly and helps other people. Now that I’ve experienced the world a little longer, my opinion is that everyone is a good person. In our purest form, the light we are all made of is unconditional love. The actions simply vary depending on how healed or wounded we are.
Everyone is a work in progress. Some are born with a heavy stack of sankharas from past lives. Some have lived a few times, some hundreds, some thousands of times. Therefore, we cannot compare someone’s point A to another person’s point D. Everyone has undergone different experiences in this lifetime because our soul contracts and karmic lessons vary. No one should be considered a “bad” person. Everyone is just wounded at different levels.
On Dealing with the Shadow
Carl Jung once said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”Approximately 93–95% of human behavior is driven by the subconscious, which operates on autopilot based on old programming. Without self-awareness, people often feel trapped by their circumstances, labeling recurring negative experiences as inevitable fate.
It always surprises me every time I sit a 10-day course how many mental defilements I uncover and heal. Honestly, during my first sit, I felt “holier than thou.” Oh, I survived a 10-day silent meditation course. Not everyone can do that. I’m already purified. Then I sat again, and the experience became intense. By the third sit, it got worse. By the fourth, the intensity was overwhelming.
Now, I don’t know anymore. I know nothing.
In just a few months, I’ve done three 10-day sits, and at this point, all I feel is compassion for myself—for how many mental defilements I carried that caused me suffering all these years. And I think I’m not the worst person you’ll ever meet. I’m actually a sweet person if I care about you. But what I unloaded was… gross.
When I relate my mental defilements to my natal chart, they really coincide. There were things affecting me that I wasn’t aware of before—my chart pointed to them, but I couldn’t see them until Vipassana revealed them. There are still many things about me that I’m not yet aware of. And then it crossed my mind: how much suffering are other people—especially those not practicing self-awareness—experiencing right now?
One tool I often use to understand people better is reading their natal charts—my long-time crush, my friends, new acquaintances, my family, my officemates, and just about anyone I meet (if they’re interesting enough). So yes, to all the people I’ve asked for birth details—especially birth time—I care about you 🙂
What I’ve discovered is that even with many positive indicators in their charts, everyone carries hidden struggles that are often invisible to the world. Some people project a composed, capable image at work, but their moon placement shows deep emotional sensitivity that they struggle to articulate their emotions and cautious to show them. They suppress emotions until burnout. Some are prone to overthinking. Some project a bubbly persona, yet their charts reveal heavy family burdens. Others appear capable of commitment, but their intensity fades quickly. Some carry mother wounds. Some carry father wounds. Some feel abandoned. Some feel unappreciated.
When you look at people’s birth charts, you see that everyone is a work in progress. The universe prepares lessons for us to surpass and master. All people are suffering. All people need kindness. All people need Vipassana.
Mind–Body Phenomena
Emotions are stored in the body and in the psyche. If you can’t control your mind, then work with your body.
For example, you were once anxious about something. That anxiety was stored in your mind and body. When a similar stimulus occurs, the mind and body remembers it, and the old wound is triggered again—heart racing, lightheadedness, muscle tension, nausea, shaking hands, waves of panic.
In Vipassana, you scan your body from head to feet and from feet to head with an equanimous mind. As you scan, you feel different sensations. With continuous scanning, old emotions may resurface, and physical symptoms of anxiety may arise again. If you continue scanning with equanimity, these sensations dissolve and are processed by nature.
What happened is that during the first occurrence, the emotion wasn’t fully processed—often because it was too intense or we lacked the capacity at the time. Residual emotions get stored in the psyche and body. This is why many emotional imprints originate in childhood, when our minds were not yet capable of handling them.
Vipassana gives us a second chance to face these emotions through body awareness and equanimity. Equanimity is the purifying agent. During the original experience, the mind wasn’t equanimous. During Vipassana, it is—and so the emotional process completes.
Emotions demand to be felt. Suppressed emotions become your shadow. When you acknowledge what you felt, it loses its grip and no longer controls your life. It’s like a child demanding attention—all it needs is acknowledgment. When acknowledged, it stops crying. Your shadow dissolves and becomes part of your light.
Residual emotions can even manifest as physical illness. As shared by my reiki teacher, some patients have illnesses that are difficult to diagnose because they are very private and don’t disclose much. Doctors sometimes ask for help through “bio-hack” scanning—or reiki, in simpler terms. When blockages are identified, doctors test those areas and often find disease.
If one digs deeper into patients’ lives, patterns emerge: liver disease linked to unresolved anger; breast cancer or heart disease linked to deep emotional hurt—often in married women who were betrayed by their husbands.
Final Thoughts
I personally believe we all need to undergo Vipassana. Every day we are exposed to stimuli. Every day we react. Every day we deal with stressful situations—and people. Our nervous system gets overloaded. It needs to be defragmented from time to time.
Even if you don’t plan to exit samsara anytime soon, as an act of kindness toward yourself, you need a practice that minimizes suffering. After reading chart of some people, I can’t help but felt compassion. Some blessings of the universe are stuck because they haven’t conquer yet their own internal battles also and therefore prone to self-sabotage. There are times the universe doesn’t ask us to wait further but to finally take action.
While everyone—including myself—is fighting internal battles, the least we can do is offer kindness and send loving, healing energy. At the end of every meditation, especially at night, I send metta to the people I care about. (If you think of me at night, now you know why 🙂)
Though many people are willing to help, freedom from misery is ultimately an individual responsibility. I hope that through this blog, more people will try Vipassana. And though it may take numerous lifetimes, may we all eventually exit samsara.
See you in nothingness.
— G.A.