Vipassana meditation does not adhere to any particular form of faith. Many people from various religions have had excellent results from Vipassana and no interference with their specific faith occurred. Vipassana meditation is a method to eliminate suffering, increase mental purification and assist the individual to handle life's tensions and stresses in a calm, peaceful manner.

One the oldest techniques of meditation, Vipassana was discovered by Buddha about 2500 years ago. At that time he used to live in the northern part of India. Buddha helped millions of people to come out of their miseries by teaching them this wonderful technique.

This meditation teaches the middle path to life just as Lord Buddha had propagated. It helps us realize the emptiness of the human body and that the real Self is the soul. It teaches patience and benevolence towards all humans and things. Vipassana meditation is rooted in Indian scriptures and hence is an ancient technique of meditation which is practiced to this day.

The technique of Vipassana essentially involves watching the breath and the breathing process. Through this watching, the mind calms, the awareness of the meditator improves dramatically over time. He is able to witness the reality and true nature of things as they are, without any mental bias whatsoever.

Generally our conditioning is done is such a way that we react with negative emotions whenever we have negative sensations and react with positive emotions when we have positive sensations which puts us in the vicious cycle of misery and more misery.

This technique aims to eradicate suffering by working at the deepest part of the mind and purifies mental impurities resulting in pure happiness and satisfaction. It can be simply described as self transformation through self observation.

Vipassana meditation has been used for prison inmates to improve their behavior and well-being. Inmates who participated in the Vipassana sessions were found to be less depressed. Their willingness to co-operate improved and they were less likely to smoke.

Vipassana also means to see things as they really are. There are courses offered in vipassana and are offered at no charge for the ten day course. Amazingly enough even room and board are included as all expenses are covered by the donations of those who have taken the course and benefited from it. They provide the support for the course in the hopes of more people realizing their true potential.

Vipassana Meditation, or: Witnessing the mind, is a simple yet challenging exercise. Especially in the beginning phases of the learning curve, Vipassana can be quite a challenge. While the principle is not difficult to understand or to apply, the challenge lies in maintaining the state of awareness and alertness as opposed to slipping back in identifying with the arising thought-forms.

Vipassana is an insight into the true nature of things; seeing things as they are. The path that leads to this insight or realization is awareness or mindfulness. It is exclusively found in no other religion rather than Buddhism. In this meditation, four objects are considered for concentration of mind: body, feelings, thoughts and mental states.